Cat has cancer - WWYD

[catonabin]

Our girl moggy is about 11-12 and has a mammary tumour.

I feel like I'm not getting very clear advice one way or the other from our vet on the best thing to do for her.

It sounds like it's quite an aggressive form a cancer in cats and she probably needs two surgeries to remove the entire mammary chain on both sides and her lymph nodes, and even then it seems very uncertain how successful that will be.

We're insured but will max-out our insurance cover with the surgeries.

I've been through similar with our first cat (bowel cancer in that case) - she had multiple surgeries but still died within a couple of months - with hindsight I wouldn't have put her through so much.

WWYD? I feel like putting her through a lot of surgeries which might not extend her life that much is maybe not in anyone's best interest. But then also feel maybe I'm letting past experience cloud my judgement and maybe we should try to give her the best chance.

Grateful for any advice or other experiences!

It’s a really difficult decision, but personally I think I agree with your your gut instinct that it might be time to let her go peacefully rather than go through quite intrusive procedures to prolong a life that is pretty reasonably long already.

I think cancer treatment in animals is v different to cancer treatment in humans. We can understand and consent to procedures that are quite aggressive and involve pain/side effects to produce positive outcomes regarding cancer. Cats and dogs cannot.

Equally, this is a well loved part of your family, and I also wouldn’t judge you wanting to do anything to help her survive and stay with you for more years. If vets - animal medical professionals- feel they can administer these treatments/procedures then it isn’t irresponsible to try them, just make sure you try and get all info re possible outcomes.

Im so sorry you’re in this situation - it’s so tough and no one has a crystal ball. I understand why vets can’t advise on which decision to take but it makes it so difficult for pet owners.

Disclaimer- I, like you, also have experience of a pet going through pretty invasive treatments and still not recovering/surviving so this also might be clouding my judgement.

If it were me, I would keep her comfortable for as long as possible and as soon as I felt her quality of life waning I would give her a peaceful pain free end. I would not inflict a painful and frightening experience like major surgery on a cat of her age.

I would email your vet and ask for a written prognosis. Timeline, likelihood of cure through surgery and what will happen if you choose a palliative route. Then go from there.

Wishing you well. These are tough decisions. Hope your girl is OK.

I would do this.
Are there medications that can be tried to shrink it a bit and then just make sure she isn’t in pain and can eat etc until it’s time for a peaceful end.

I had two sister cats who both had mammary tumours. One had a single nipple and lump removed and was fairly well quite quickly. The other had both sides of nipples removed and I won’t lie, it was barbaric. She had stitches all along her abdomen from top to bottom. The wound became infected and she had to have the scar cut out and restitched. She looked like an overstuffed sausage as it was pulled so tight.

I wish I hadn’t let her have those operations as she was completely miserable for about 6 months. If any of my cats were diagnosed with something similar then I wouldn’t have them treated.

I completely understand the urge to do everything you can. That’s what I did so it’s slightly hypocritical to say you shouldn’t but it is a major operation.

I would only consider putting a cat of that age through treatment that extensive and distressing if the chances of it being curative were assured or very high, e.g. 90%+. Below that I wouldn't consider it worth the risk of putting her through it only for it to be unsuccessful in the end and would look towards comfort care. Ask your vet for a clearer prognosis with and without treatment and what the chance is that it would be curative. If it's in any way uncertain, I personally wouldn't do it.

Yes this sounds like the surgery my cat is likely to need - both sides removed. That's really helpful and honestly I'm very reticent to put her through it.

The previous cat who had cancer was my first cat, she was our baby and we were so devastated we just wanted to try anything we could. This cat is a loved and cared-for part of our family who we will be sad to lose but we've owned and fostered numerous cats over the years so I'm more used to saying goodbye.

It feels easier to be in a position that I think I can make a clear-headed decision about what's in her best interest, but then I'm second-guessing myself and feeling like I'm being too hard-nosed and uncaring.

So sorry, it's so hard

I wouldn't put my girl through the surgery.

I've just had a call from the vet - they've x-rayed her and it's already spread to the lungs so there's nothing more we can do for her, she won't have long. Poor thing.

I’m so sorry.

Oh @catonabin

I'm so sorry. I'm sure her remaining time with you will be filled with love, comfort and dignity (& extra treats)

And yes I agree I think it's very different between animals and people because for us the extension of life by a short amount of time, even if in pain, is meaningful because we spend it with family in knowledge of what lies ahead. But for a pet that's not aware its mortality in the same way, extra months or weeks isn't the same for them and quality of life is the overriding consideration.

Personally I don't agree with extensive and traumatic surgeries on cats. They rarely succeed, and just put a lot of pain and anxiety on the cat. Much better to let nature take its course, and keep the cat comfortable and happy at home with pain support until the time comes. I would much rather spend money on that.

This has to be in the back of my mind constantly because Tobias has some kind of thickening of the walls of his lower bowel, but as he has FIV we can't really operate even for a biopsy as the chances of any infection are likely to be terminal for him. We can't even treat with the standard for when they aren't sure what it is, as that's steroids which are also strongly contra-indicated for cats with FIV.

So it's a case of just keep an eye on him, get my DSis to come round now & again to see if she spots any difference over time I may have missed seeing him every day, and get him to the vets for 4-6 monthly checks & weigh ins.

I read up on cancer in cats when the possibility was first mooted. Basically radical surgery to remove the growth with large margins around the area and regular follow ups for any spread for life. Though chemo for cats tends not to affect them quite as badly as it does humans, it has an exceptionally low success rate and of course you're putting your cat through frequent regular vet visits for treatment throughout the course.

I came to the decision long ago that any pet I owned who had a potentially terminal condition like cancer or CKD (lost my previous boy to that) I will just monitor and when I feel they don't have a good enough quality of life then PTS.

Better a week too soon than a day too late.

Better a week too soon than a day too late is something I need to remember - we left it too long with our first cat and she died at home the night before she was due to go to the vet to be PTS. It's so hard to tell with cats when they are suffering - a few hours before she died she was curled up in my lap purring away but they can purr when they're in pain.

I’m sorry to hear this but I agree. We have to make tough decisions for our pets. Invasive treatment isn’t normally in their interests but it’s so hard to come to that decision.

I prayed fiercely for my cat - it worked!💗

Remember that your cat doesn’t have any expectation of life beyond today. Extending life is not beneficial to the cat, it’s to help you process the idea of life without them.

If you decide to PTS, you will be doing the cat a kindness. The question is whether you’re ready to bear it. Have been there, it’s a tough one.

My little cat had mammary cancer at around the same age. The surgery was new then (90s) and although it went well it was so hard afterwards. She died of kidney issues fairly soon afterwards.

i wish I had just let her be happy and saved her all the stress and pain. I miss her still.

my last cat had lung cancer; the vet was mad keen to operate. They rang after she died (about a week after diagnosis) all excited trying to persuade me to go for surgery.

I think vets get fixated on “having a go” because they want to try out the surgery, not look after your pet. If she’s happy leave her be and enjoy her last days. So so sorry xxx

I’m so sorry, OP. Different flavour of awful, but we opted not to treat our cat with large cell intestinal lymphoma - the vet offered chemo to prolong her life, but it would have been only for a short time, not to cure her. She found going to the vet (and in the carrier, and in the car) incredibly distressing, and we would have needed to haul her out to a specialist treatment place about 40 minutes away rather than our local vet.

If it had been treat to cure maybe we would have done it, she was only ten and my sweetest heart, but we opted to pts a week later. I couldn’t bear to think of her suffering in any way, so maybe we went in too soon, but I see it that we took the pain so she didn’t have to. I am 100% certain she had the best, loveliest life with us, and that we gave her the best, loveliest last week, and the most dignified, peaceful goodbye, surrounded by love. That was just over two years ago and (surprise) I am crying typing this. Cats are magic and it’s so, so sad that they can’t live forever 🤍

Animals are not aware of their mortality, they are very much aware of pain and suffering though. I would give my cat a peaceful and painless death if he gets seriously ill.

This is such a true statement about life expectancy from the cats pov. I would have mine PTS if I found they had cancer and I would do it straight away. We recently had to make the decision for our cat, not cancer but life threatening illness and as soon as we found out we made the choice to let him go there and then. Bringing him home would have been for us, not him.

I would definitely put to sleep in these circumstances, it’s not fair on the cat to put them through major surgery with an uncertain outcome.

As Measuringtaep has said, I would euthanise now, I don't want my cats to get to the stage where they have to show that they are suffering just so I can spend longer with them. Quality not quantity is important in my view.
I also had a cat with a mammary tumour. My vet said that in cats surgery is rarely successful and. often returns, he recommended euthanasia. Apparently it's much more successful in dogs. On examination he said as it was tiny he was prepared to try, but once on the table he found another small growth. I made the decision to let her go then.
If your cat has substantial growths I wouldn't hang about, I'm sorry.