Hello all.
We got a 10 week old ginger tabby almost 3 years ago. Gorgeous little thing, with the sweetest personality ever. A day later it became obvious he already had cat flu. He became very ill very quickly, and the vet told us he was unlikely to last the night as he was so small and his breathing very poor. Me and the 4 C's were so upset, yet the next day he was still going and gradually we helped nurse him back to health and he seemed to thrive.
Then last year, he became developed a dribble and the vet found he had a heart murmur. Further tests showed he had feline cardiomyopathy, that was quite advanced, so the prognosis long term wasn't great. However, he was put on medication which he seemed to respond well to so we hoped we would have a few more years with him at least.
But last week, I took him to the vets for his jabs and to book his next heart Xray, and the vet commented on a lump he has on his nose. This had been picked up by a previous vet who seemed to think it was nothing to worry about (though it has grown since then). . However, this vet was very concerned, and told me she thinks it must be a tumour as she can't see what else it could be. He is now booked in for an op to X-ray it on the 28th, but she told me the prognosis is very poor indeed 
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I am so upset, and also worried about how the DC's will cope with it. It may sound silly, but we are all so very attached to him, in part I think because he has been so poorly at times - it has made us very protective. We've had a terrible few years, with several deaths of friends and family (including my Mum and 2 who were under 13), and this lovely little cat has brought us nothing but comfort and happiness during the (nearly) 3 years we have had with him. It just seems really cruel, he's so young but has been through so much. I'm also worried I won't be able to tell if he's in pain, I realise at some point I will have to consider getting him put to sleep but it will break my heart . It won't be the first time I've lost a cat or had one PTS, but they all lived quite a long life and it didn't seem so bad. He's so small and looks almost like a kitten still, to look at him you'd think he was so healthy, his fur is still so shiny and gleaming, it doesn't seem possible we are going to lose him so soon.
Any advice anyone? Do you think I should see a different vet and see if they could maybe do more? Or perhaps do the op a bit sooner? I'm not too sure what to do.