My boy is testing the nine lives theory

[RoseCuntedGlasses]

I have the most loving and patient ginger and white tom. He's my 3 year old DD's best friend and we all adore him.

He's been hairballing frequently for a while and the vet had been doing various investigations. A few weeks ago he had a scan. The vet said there was a mass on his liver. He said it was probably cancer, but he could do a biopsy to be sure. So he opened him up and found more masses on his liver. The vet told us he couldn't give a timescale but we should prepare for the worst. I cried on the phone.

To be honest we forgot about the biopsy. It seemed like a done deal. So imagine my surprise when a week and a bit later the vet phoned. Not cancer at all. They're some polyps or something he'd maybe always had. I cried on the phone again

I've just got back from a couple of days away. My boy jumped on my lap and literally the first thing I notice is fucking huge lump sort of on his shoulder. It's golfball sized at least. It wasn't there on Tuesday. I've got one of those grooming mitts and I've been brushing him regularly to try and cut down on the hairballs.

Seriously. I thought he'd dodged the cancer bullet. It's going to be a tumour isn't it? It's hard and doesn't move like I assume a cyst would. How the fuck can something come up so quickly? 😥

Sorry for the epic post, I'm just so sad and it's been down, up, down again. He's got ANOTHER vet appointment tomorrow. His hair hasn't even grown back from the last time he was there!

Could it be an abcess?

Could well be a bloody great abscess if it's come up quickly. Don't poke it in case it bursts. Yuck.
Hope vet goes well.

Would a cancerous lump come up that quickly? I think abscess too. I'm sure he'll be fine

Any news? Hope he's ok.

It could be an abscess. One of DSis' cats had a large, immovable lump appear. He was fine a few days after an antibiotic injection.

Hey everyone, thanks for your kind words. I seem to be having trouble posting for some reason. I tried twice to post a pic of him last night and nothing showed up on here. God knows where those ended up.

He's just got back from the vet. He's had another patch shaved, so he's currently got a grade one on his lump, probably a grade three on his tummy and front leg from his last round of operations etc 🙄

They took a sample from the lump. It was clear liquid, which is apparently good? We'll get the results in the middle of next week. My poor love 😥 so we'll just have to see and take it from there.

The vet said he'd lost more weight - he's been losing for a while now, but they've ruled out kidney failure and problems with his liver. After the cancer diagnosis we were properly feeding him all his favourites but that tailed off after it turns out it wasn't cancer after all 😁

So yes. None the wiser. None the wiser about the lump, none the wiser about the sickness, which was the original reason we took him to the vet nearly a year ago now!

I'm going to try and post another pic...

Here he is, with my all black slinky malinki (who is impossible to photograph)

The black cat does have eyes in real life...

Aw look at his freckles on his nose💕💕 Fingers and paws crossed that the lump is nothing sinister, some cats really do push their luck don't they?! Good luck, keep us posted.

Thanks Posie he had the loveliest little bright pink nose as a kitten and has got more freckled with age. He loves a good nose stroke 🐱

He certainly looks very content in that pic!

The one of mine had a lump on her neck that they had no idea what it was. As the fluid wasn't an abcess and it wasn't lymphoma. It turned out to be lymphadenitis. Which I thought was hilarious as we see it all the time at work in kids. The vets thought it was doom
and gloom, I just laughed. (With relief)

Quick update:

The results came back yesterday and showed inflammatory cells but no cancer cells. However, the pathologist couldn't definitively say it isn't a tumour. So my poor boy has to go back in tomorrow to have a bigger bit taken away under anaesthetic which should be conclusive.

I don't know if I'm being irrational but I feel a bit put out that this wasn't the first action. After they get the results of this biopsy they'll have to have him in again to take the whole thing off. It must be really stressful for him to keep having to go back!

I was a bit at the vet on the phone. He said that he was concerned about him losing weight, like this was news to us. WE KNOW HE'S LOSING WEIGHT, THATS WHY HE'S BEING COMING BACK AND FORTH TO YOU FOR THE LAST YEAR AND YOU STILL CANT TELL US WHY!

And breath. Sorry. I'm just so upset for him.

I'm so sorry. Hoping the proper biopsy will show why there's inflammation. We thought we would lose old girl to a "mass" in the stomach. The vet and We thought cancer. It's wasn't. She recovered well. Good luck.

Thanks Wolfie. I'm so shit at the waiting.

What did the mass turn out to be in your case?

I'm sorry. If it has to come off why can't it just come off ASAP with only one visit and anaesthetic?

It's an internal mass Yet. On the liver. So surgery.
No idea what madam's mass was. We didn't test it and get couldn't tell by looking. It certainly wasn't cancer though. She had to open bowel of old girl and we really expected the worst.

Thanks Spartacus I wondered that too. Apparently if it is cancerous they would have to remove more tissue than if it is just some kind of benign lump, so what it is dictates how they get it off.

How's your old girl doing now Wolfie?

Well the results came back and it's a fast growing tumour. The vet said it's likely to spread quickly. I'm devastated. He's got to go back on Thursday to discuss what's happening next 😢

Oh no. I'm so sorry.

I'm so sorry .

Thanks you two :( just got to see what happens and take it as it comes. He's having a lovely lie down on my pillow at the moment. Given that he keeps scooping up food in his Cone of Shame, I thought about moving him so I don't end up with a meaty pillow but he's just too comfortable

Terribly sad news for you. Spoil him as much as you can

Poor boy and poor you, what sad news. Make a big fuss of him, lots of treats