Treating cancer in old cat - advice please

[notagainnotnow]

Hi

Hoping someone might be able to offer a perspective / experience

Have a 14 year old boy. Generally very well cat. Recently gone totally off food, dramatic weight loss and lethargic - urgent vet trips revealed a cancerous mass in his intestine. He's been hospitalised tonight to get some fluid and nutrition in him. And they will scan tomorrow to see more abler the mass but 'best outcome' is 12 more months (with treatment).

We don't know obviously but we're weighing up the benefits and harms of surgery and chemo in relation to his quality of life. We don't want to make him suffer.

Does anyone have experience of doing chemo / cancer surgery with their cat? What was it like? Positive and negative views all welcome

Thank you

We had two cats with suspected cancer. We did not go on to subject them to invasive treatment - our view was that this would be distressing for them, they had had good lives, and who would we really be doing it for, was it in the cat’s best interest?

Good luck in your decision, it’s a very tough time.

Honestly if the best is he gets another year I genuinely wouldn't. Its a lot to put an animal through and what good is another year at most if so much of it is spent being prodded, poked and unsure of what is going on.

In this situation whilst evidently it would be nice to have the extra time it's kinder I feel to not put them through treatment just so we get a bit longer with them.

Poor puss. Hugs and strokes and treats, then let him go.

We did chemo on a (not that old) cat and I wouldn't do it again. There didn't seem to be any benefit to the cat to be perfectly honest except that he was living a miserable life a bit longer. I stopped it and had him put down and he had a calm death cuddled up to me. The trouble is that vets won't tell you what to do and you feel like a heel not throwing everything at it (especially if insured) but I can't see a scenario where you'd be doing it for the cat's sake, just your own, tbh.

If there are distinct advantages like complete remission or much more time symptom free, sure. But I'm not sure that happens AND I don't know how you would tell with a cat anyway.

Hi OP I’m sorry to hear about this. I’d take the vets advice - ask them what they’d do if it were their pet. The reason is I understand chemo on animals is not always the same as on humans (animals bear it well in the main) but you’d need to know extent of surgery and recovery time. Whenever I’ve asked a vet they’ve given me a pretty good steer on the animals best interests.

if it’s not a good outcome, I’d recommend doing whatever you can to get your boy home to say goodbye (steroids?), enjoying some days and having the vet come out to you. In my experience you won’t regret taking the decision a little early, but you will always regret leaving it too late.

What a lucky cat to have you - many don’t have the same care.

And if course I'm sorry, it's very sad. But there's something honourable and kind in letting him go.

Sorry to hear this. I was in a similar situation with liver damage with my old girl

she absolutely hated being at the vets and having to stay there for treatment. It proper stressed her out, the nurses tried all they could to make her calm but she hated it

rather than another 12 months of stress I took her home for another couple of weeks of calm until it was her time

The same. You must think of the cat's wellfare first. At 14, putting a cat through this sort of treatment would be very cruel, I believe, however tough and upsetting it is.

Thank you all ❤️ for sharing your experiences and the sympathy.

Tbh I'm minded with letting him go gently with a similar view as many of you expressed above. It feels like we'd be doing it for us not him, and I'd much rather let him go on a 'high' than waiting for him to get even more unwell.

It's hard for lots of reasons. One being I have a toddler who's very attached to him and two being that he was jumping around the vets / enjoying a fuss which just felt totally at odds with what's going on As my husband said - he's too alive!

We'll see what the scan concludes tomorrow. I'm hopeful we can bring him home for a little bit of love and fuss although that, in itself, will be horribly painful.

Honestly can't thank you all enough for posting. Been so helpful to read your thoughts and experiences

Bless you @notagainnotnow it won’t be easy, but again - how lucky your cat is to have you. Best of luck with the results, deep breath, you’ll know what’s right and do the very best you can out of love x

I don't really agree with chemotherapy and surgery for elderly cats - it's not fair on them as they just don't understand why they're suddenly in the vets all the time and many of them find it incredibly stressful.

I would be inclined to give him a lovely week at home and say goodbye to him peacefully on your terms and while he still has a reasonable quality of life. You don't want to wait until they're really suffering.

I'm so sorry - it is really shit.

@fieldsofbutterflies @Emmeline1894 thank you for your kindness and support.

Yes poor little cat won't understand what is going on or why he suddenly feels very unwell. He's such a trooper. Arf. My heart feels a bit empty

Our beloved 14 year old was diagnosed with lymphoma in September last year. She was was always hungry, begging for food but still losing weight. They gave her steroid injections to get her to put some weight on and stop the digestive issues, and it definitely gave us another good 4-6 weeks with her. The next month was pure denial, as she then declined quite quickly.

We were offered chemo, but when the diagnosis is terminal I couldn't bring myself to do it to her. Instead, we decided to treat her every day, all the forbidden foods, and just be brave when the time came. We spent about £350 on getting a vet to come to the house and it was 100% worth it to give her a peaceful end at home, if you can afford it.

Our darling girl was diagnosed with intestinal lymphoma (maybe the same?) but actually had no symptoms other than vomiting which we’d been back and forth with her over about ten months for and the vet was never concerned. When the vomiting got more frequent we pushed back a bit and £3,000 worth of tests later it transpired she had large cell lymphoma - the worst kind.

We were given three options - IV chemo administered at the specialist vet place which is a 40 minute drive away. Oral chemo and steroids administered by our own vet. Just steroids administered by our own vet. Best case scenario with top level (££££) invasive treatment was 12ish months.

Our girl HATED the car/vet. Option one was out right off. We were going to do option two, and then she started throwing up with blood in it, and I thought, no, we are not having this. We had her pts that same week, so just a week or so after the diagnosis. She was still “well”, exactly as you say, “too alive”, other than a great fuck off cancer (eating, playing, happy in herself) but I couldn’t bear the thought of her going downhill and losing weight and getting frail and wobbly - we loved her far too much.

Did we say goodbye too soon? I don’t know. I think it was selfishly influenced by the fact that DP had an overseas work trip coming up and I was worried about her taking badly and having to rush her to the out of hours vet alone and make a terrible decision by myself. But I do think we did the right thing by her even if it was the very worst thing for us. On her last day she lay out in the garden, ate tuna, and Philadelphia, and I held her as she went to sleep.

I miss her so much. She was only ten. Sending lots of love, OP.

And as the vet told us - better to be a week too soon than a week too late.

Hope there are some meds that will give you some more time together. If not, know you're doing your very best for him.

My (human) friend has just died after a short cancer diagnosis. She had chemo to extend her life but her death was long, drawn out, inevitable and excruciatingly painful. She vocalised that she wished euthanasia was legal more than a few times.

Your cat won't understand any of the life prolonging treatment, just the pain. Do the right thing.

Also - this probably sounds awful, but we adopted a little ginger boy from CP indecently quickly after she left. He is an absolute pain in the arse (just over one year old so a very different proposition to our gentle girl!) but such a joy, and despite being an absolute racket he does share many of her traits. I’m sure she lined him up for us, with his white socks on.

I wouldn't (for a cat of any age). They will feel awful undergoing the treatment and won't understand that there may be some light at the end of the tunnel. I'm so sorry.

Are you me @Judystilldreamsofhorses ? We did the exact same thing - adopted a yowling termagent within a month. She’s so different it didn’t feel like getting a replacement, but giving her a home helped fill all those cat-shaped spaces we were suddenly left with. We now love her for herself, but i was so grateful at the time.

We could never, ever replace her, but the house felt so sad and empty with no cat. This little guy is keeping us on our toes - he’s very cute!

Our 17yo cat was diagnosed with tumours in multiple places when she seemed very well in herself. We decided against any intervention, but the vet gave her steroids and metacam, and said she might have a couple of good weeks in her.

It gave her 9 months - she defied all the odds! She was at the vet for regular checks, and every time they were happy for her to continue the regime as long as she seemed 'well'.
She had a lovely last summer - ate the nicest food, slept in all the forbidden places, had all the treats, sunned herself in the garden, caught the occasional mouse, was generally spoilt rotten and loved the attention. And then one day she was very much not herself, and didn't make it to the litter tray for a wee (had never happened before), and we knew straight away that it was time. We all had one more afternoon together where she slept peacefully on our laps and enjoyed all the cuddles, and we said goodbye the next day.

It was the right thing for everyone, and I wouldn't hesitate to do the same again.

@Judystilldreamsofhorses he has lovely pink beans! Ours is an arabian Mau - she is all of the naughty tortie stereotypes, plus an extra noisy vocalness that amuses and exasperates. She’ll never replace our previous lady, but she is herself, and she has enough joie de vivre to help us look forward.

Gosh what lovely if very sad stories. These cats sounded like they loved their absolute best life while they could.

I came back to update - they haven't been able to confirm cancer but it looks like it's feline infectious peritonitis which has meant an inflamed mass of lymph nodes mistaken for a tumour. The vet wouldn't be drawn on the phone - as it hasn't been 'confirmed' and he said he wasn't an expert but my google searches would suggest this is largely a terminal diagnosis but will depend on what form he has and how progressed. So..more waiting and uncertainty.

He's happy though and settled so at least out of pain and discomfort. Thank you all so much for your comments and experiences, it is so genuinely helpful to hear. And sending so much love to all the paws over the rainbow bridge ❤️🐾

She’s a beauty @Lemond1fficult - our boy must have a bit of bengal in him I think as he has quite a yowl-y miaow, particularly when he is playing. The first time he did it I got a fright and thought he was in pain!

@notagainnotnow the waiting around is the worst. Sending good thoughts your way 🤍🧡