cat tumor

Question
I recently found a lump on my cat's throat and took him to the vet. He said it was a malignant tumor because he could not operate on it. I have asked for a indicator of how much time is left for my cat,but he could not say stating it was up to me to decide when to put him down. I can't tell if my cat who's 13 yrs old is suffering constantly or not to rule how soon to put him down. How can i find out or what do u suggest? My other question is he's not eating anymore i have tried feeding him and smashing it so he does not have to chew because i understand swallowing has become a problem for him. Do you have any other suggestion on how I can get him to eat even a little? My love my cat and am not ready to let him go.

Answer
Melissa,

I can't help but notice how much you love your cat, he must be a very special friend and companion. I really wish that I could give you perfect answers to your questions that would allow your kitty to remain comfortable and healthy with a good quality of life for as long as you wanted him to stay with you here in this world. I've lost many pets over the years for a variety of reasons and it never gets any easier to say good-bye to a loving, loyal companion no matter how long he or she has been a part of your life. I only wish that I could make this situation easier for you and your cat and somehow help you to avoid making difficult decisions about how your kitty's tumor is treated and above all I wish that I could offer advice that would prevent your little guy from passing from this world into the next with the help of a compassionate veterinarian or peacefully in his own time. To be completely honest it's human nature to want to protect ourselves from any kind of painful or traumatic situation by avoiding the difficult times in life entirely and in a perfect world it our lives would all be happy, healthy, peaceful and free of loss, unfortunately our world is far from perfect and sometimes there's nothing we can do to protect ourselves from experiencing heartbreak or other less than pleasant emotions.

At this point based on the history you've provided the way I see it you have a few different options at your disposal and I've listed some of them below.

1) You can ask your veterinarian to refer you to a veterinary oncologist or a teaching hospital for a second opinion on your cat's current condition and prognosis. Sometimes teaching hospitals will have more equipment available to them and they may be able to provide your kitty with much more advanced care than your family vet is able to provide. At a teaching hospital veterinary specialists are more likely to have access to the most current diagnostic equipment and medical treatments that could potentially force the cancer into remission or at least help to alleviate your cat's current discomfort as a palliative measure. Depending on the information that a veterinary oncologist at a teaching hospital finds he or she may be able to offer you the opportunity to start treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy, but these treatments are generally very expensive and there are serious risks associated with their use. Some chemotherapy drugs could potentially cause kidney or cardiac failure, radiation doesn't only kill the cancer cells, it can cause serious damage to normal tissues around the tumor. Since the veterinary teaching facilities often have access to more specialized equipment and highly skilled specialists there is a possibility even if specialized diagnostic tests reveal that your kitty's cancer has spread throughout his body that a surgeon could remove the bulk of the tumor to alleviate the discomfort that your kitty is currently experiencing as a result of the tumor's size and location. There are some times when even the most highly trained veterinary specialist can only offer palliative treatments aimed at improving the quality of life and level of comfort for a beloved pet until that pet and his/her human family have had a chance to feel peaceful with the decision of allowing that pet to die with dignity on a good day.

2) While it's difficult to make the decision to alleviate the suffering of a beloved animal companion knowing that their passing from this world to the next will bring on our own suffering this may be the best decision for both you and your pet once you've had some time to come to terms with his diagnosis. One way to look at euthanasia in the case of the terminally ill pet is that it's an act of mercy, a final gift of love for a beloved companion, family member and friend. There are some ways to help you remember the happiest times from the beginning of your friendship with your precious boy even after he's passed over to the Rainbow Bridge. You may want to start making a scrapbook and what I call a memory box to commemorate and honor your little guy's life. A photo album with pictures of your cat from the beginning of your friendship together to the present will be precious reminders of your relationship. You can even write him letters to help express your feelings for your little furkid and the love you've had for him throughout your life together. Take time to write down details about him that are special to you, the funny little quirks and habits that make him uniquely him. You may even want to purchase a small box for the precious momentos that will remind you of your little boy kitty such as his favorite toy, a package of his favorite treats and anything that was special and unique about your friendship with him. You can purchase a kit that you can make a plaster imprint of his paw with, you can even add his birthday and the date he passes over to the Rainbow Bridge. It's not a bad idea to have a professional photographer take a portrait of your kitty to commemorate his life. If you are able to confide in close friends or family members with a real understanding of just how special your kitty is to you that can listen to all of your thoughts and feelings without judgement it would be a good time to call on them for support. There's no harm in adding your kitty to a prayer list in your local church if you are religious, after all St. Francis of Assisi was the patron saint of animals and it is said that any living being is loved by God and he watches over all lives no matter how small or seemingly insignificant that life may be in the eyes of other human beings.

3) You could ask your veterinarian to provide palliative care for your kitty that will help to keep him more comfortable until God decides to call him home. These measures may include things like referring your kitty to a specialist to have all or part of his tumor removed to increase his comfort (such surgery may not offer anything beyond temporary relief from the discomfort that this kitty's tumor is causing him). If the specialist isn't able to surgically remove the tumor then you may opt to have him/her or your own vet place a temporary feeding tube in your cat in order to help get food and nutrition into his body without the discomfort of being unable to swallow interfering with that process. The problem with depending on these measures long term is the fact that your kitty's tumor will eventually make it very difficult for him to breathe well on his own which may mean that his condition could deteriorate very suddenly leaving you with little or no time to say good-bye to him.

It's never easy for us to say good-bye to those we love even though we all know that passing from this world to the next is inevitable for every being on this earth. Unfortunately as far as your vet is concerned the location of your cat's tumor makes it impossible to remove and at this point he's already in some degree of distress. In my experience there's no simple way to prepare yourself for the loss of a precious animal companion, but in a situation like this where a kitty has been diagnosed with terminal cancer there are important things to consider, in my opinion the most important is quality of life versus quantity of life. The overwhelming impression that I'm left with after reading your question is just how much you love your cat and the fact that you want to know for sure when it's no longer in his best interests to continue on and the short answer to that question is that nobody else can tell you when to make the decision to euthanize your cat. At this point I'm sure that veterinary specialists could offer some different treatments and procedures aimed at improving the quality of your cat's life, where your love for this little guy becomes very important is deciding just how far you are prepared (emotionally and financially) to go with different surgeries and medical procedures that may cause him additional pain in an attempt at helping him to feel a bit better.

What I usually do in situations like this is to try and step back as if I'm an objective observer in a situation, then I do my best to look at proposed treatments and procedures from my cat's perspective. Remembering that all cats have individual personalities it's important to consider things like whether or not a visit to the vet or handling by the veterinary staff causes your cat considerable stress under the best of circumstances. Some cats are more tolerant when it comes to having different medical procedures done or being hospitalized and handled by veterinary staff while simply travelling to the vet clinic creates absolute panic for other cats. If your cat's stress levels increase considerably when you take him to the vet that becomes an important consideration in how far and how invasive you want to get with treatments, medical procedures or palliative care. Don't be afraid to ask your vet exactly how your cat is feeling right now

    - Is your cat in severe uncontrollable pain?

    - How much discomfort does your cat's tumor cause him?

    - Even if it's only for awhile can the vet do anything to make your cat more comfortable?

Other questions that are perfectly reasonable to ask a vet since your cat is terminally ill include:

  - Can your kitty be euthanized at home where he'll be more comfortable?

  - What steps does your vet follow when he euthanizes a beloved pet?

  - Can you arrange to bring your cat's body home for burial if you own property?

  - If you can't bring your cat home to be buried can you get his ashes back?

In a situation like this it's not unreasonable to ask your vet what he would do if his pet was as sick as your kitty is, the vet's opinion doesn't necessarily have to be taken as the law, this is a question that's more about gathering information in order to help you make the best decision for your kitty. Over the years I've seen some vets who will stop at nothing to make a profit, but for the most part veterinarians get into veterinary medicine because they love animals and want to help them live the longest, healthiest life possible. If you're concerned that your vet may be among the few less than ethical vets out there who are more concerned about making a profit than they are about the welfare of the pet then ask about ballpark success rates for any given treatment that's suggested as well as what the potential risks and side effects associated with that treatment are. Sometimes when our animal companions are terminally ill the last gift of love that we can give them is to allow them to die with dignity on a good day without pain. Other things that you need to consider when making your decisions about the next step of care that you might agree to for your kitty are:

- Based on the history that you've provided I'm assuming that your cat isn't able to get nutrition into his body on his own as a direct result of his tumor being too large for him to swallow well. That having been said your kitty will go into multi organ failure as a result of not getting the nutrients and fluids he needs and although it's not up to me to make decisions for you my suggestion would be to spare your beloved companion that kind of pain and suffering if at all possible.

- Any medical intervention that you consider should be weighed against the impact on your little guy's quality of life, if the procedure is invasive and/or painful with little use in improving his comfort then my recommendation would be to avoid it.

- Unfortunately in today's economy where prices rise constantly while jobs disappear finances sometimes come into the picture depending on a pet parent's situation. Sometimes as heartbreaking as it is pet parents are forced to make decisions about the medical care their pets receive based on their financial position. Since the vet has told you that your little man has a malignant tumor the reality is that you can spend every cent you have and go seriously in debt without saving his life and keeping him around for as long as you'd like. It's never easy to say goodbye to someone we love, it's even harder when that loved one is an animal companion that we love very much.

Although this is a slightly different scenario I've taken the liberty of sharing the details of a situation that I went through where I was forced to euthanize a dog that was under a year old as a result of a congenital defect with a poor prognosis. Several years back I had a beagle puppy named Snoopy, he came into my life when he was only 5-6 weeks old. I was thrilled to see how intelligent my little guy really was, he mastered basic commands and was nearly potty trained when he was around 10 weeks old. Up until that point all indications were that Snoopy was a healthy pup who was going to lead a long, healthy life then suddenly things began to change. My pup began having severe diarrea, producing huge quantities of clear urine, having more accidents in the house and forgetting the basic commands that he'd been taught and mastered so easily in the weeks before. I took my little guy to the vet and described his symptoms, our vet figured that he'd just eaten something he shouldn't have as dogs often do and that a special homemade diet would help to get him back on track. A week later we were back at the vet hospital and we were worried because my sweet, happy-go-lucky pup had started being aggressive shortly after every meal. It just so happened that our boy opted to urinate on the floor in front of our vet and once she saw the urine's appearance she was able to make a difficult diagnosis. Our puppy had a rare congenital liver defect that would definitely prove fatal without treatment and the gold star treatment of the time was complicated and risky surgery with a low survival rate that cost well over $4000 at a specialty vet for the first 5 days he was hospitalized which I couldn't afford (later when I saw the same surgery on a vet show on TV I was very glad that I hadn't opted to subject my dog to this - the dog on television died as a result of an uncontrollable seizure which was common for this type of surgery). We started off with minimally invasive treatments and we came to a point where these treatments no longer had any effect on our little guy and he was beginning to fall behind in terms of normal weight gain and development. As my Snoopy's condition continued to deteriorate rapidly I eventually had to make the decision to let my beagle boy go when he was only 7-8 months old, it was a difficult decision partly because my pup was so young, but I just couldn't put him through the trauma of a surgery that was likely to claim his life and cause him incredible suffering before he passed away. Luckily our vet believes in allowing pets to pass from one world to the next when it's necessary to euthanize them with a minimum of trauma to pet and pet parent so she administered a medicine that made my boy sleepy over a period of time. I had the opportunity to say good-bye to my dog and come to peace with the decision to let him go in spite of him being so young before the final injection that would help my boy over the Rainbow Bridge was given, by that time he had curled up and was sleeping peacefully. He passed from this world into the next in a heartbeat and although it was difficult to leave him behind when I left the clinic I knew that he didn't hurt anymore and he was free of a body that had failed him for so long.

For most pet parents putting a beloved family member and companion to sleep is a difficult decision and sometimes it helps to have a reasonable idea of quality of life so I've taken the liberty of making a list of signs that you can watch for that might mean that it's time to make the decision to end a pet's suffering:

- The cat isn't able to perform basic life support activities any longer such as eating, drinking, urinating, defecating or sleeping as a result of his condition.

- The cat no longer grooms himself as often as he normally would or in some cases at all. Grooming is a very deeply ingrained behavior that cats perform from the time they're tiny kittens, loss of this behavior often means that the cat is so seriously ill or in so much pain that he's suffering to the point where euthanasia should be seriously considered.

- If your cat is terminally ill and you're unable to afford treatment (as in palliative care) that might make him more comfortable or the veterinary profession is no longer able to offer anything to help ease your cat's discomfort it may be time to consider letting him go.

The specific signs I've mentioned above unfortunately may already be here for your kitty based on the history that you've provided and although I know that there's no easy way to prepare for euthanizing a beloved feline companion I've tried to help you have a better understanding of what's happening, what some of your options are and when I would personally consider euthanizing my own cats. I also believe that it's important to recognize that your kitty is a member of your family and the love that you have for him is real. In spite of what many people with good intentions say (it's just a cat....get over it, etc) it's healthy to acknowledge the love you have for your kitty and grieve his loss when the time comes for him to pass from this world into the next. In the meantime I've taken the liberty of including you and your cat in my thoughts and prayers, I've also included a few pieces of writing that might be helpful to you when the time comes to let your precious little guy go off to the Rainbow Bridge to wait for you. These are a few pieces of writing that I've found comforting over the years when I've lost much loved animal companions, I truly hope that they offer you some comfort too.

The Rainbow Bridge

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.
There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together.
There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.
The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

Author unknown...

Fragile Circle


"We who choose to surround ourselves with lives even more temporary than our own, live within a fragile circle, easily and often breached. Unable to accept its awful gaps, we still would live no other way. We cherish memory as the only certain immortality, never fully understanding the necessary plan."

Irving Townsend

May your whiskers be ruffled by only pleasant breezes,
May your bowls be filled with tuna and sweet cream,
May your dreams be blessed with legions of mice,
And most of all,
May you forever purr in peace.

Amen

Please feel free to contact me again at any time, I'm more than willing to offer a supportive ear if you need someone to listen. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your little man during this difficult time.