A tough decision

I have a rescue cat I came across last august. A handsome blue point Siamese with the most amazing personality. I spent 6 months nursing him back to health. I found him lying in the road after being hit by a car and left for dead. He and I have become best buddies. He exits the house during the day through my office window. I open and close it for him as he comes and goes. He often keeps me company by sitting on my desk as I type. In the evenings he plays with my yarn as I crochet. He sleeps in the curve of my back when I sleep on my stomach.

He has recovered well from all of his injuries but one. He tore his diaphragm and now there is pressure on his lungs that doesn't allow them to fully expand. He breaths in short rapid breaths. He seems perfectly happy despite this. He runs and climbs trees and plays just like all of the other cats. He just can't do it for as long. A cat can live a long healthy fairly normal life like this and just suffer from shortness of breath.

What I am faced with is should I have the surgery done to repair this and subject him to more pain and recovery time or leave him as he is since he seems to have adapted. I'm really really hesitant to have anything else done to him after all he has been through.

My first question: Are you & the vet 100% sure that this will not get worse? It seems to me that if he cannot breathe 100% properly, that it is best to do the surgery now while he is younger than find out when he is older that he MUST have the surgery. But, I do not know, I have no experience with this type of thing....other than holding a gorgeous white kitty while he died of the same thing.

I am not sure what you should do but would like to tell you that you have done an amazing job with that baby already and even though this will be a tough decision you will make the right one for him and you! I hope someone ids able to point you in a direction good for that precious boy!

I also would be most concerned about long term problems if the surgery isn't done. Has he been under anesthesia before? If not, not knowing how he may respond to it may be a concern also.

If he is relatively young the discomfort of recovery may be worthwhile if it will increase the quality of life as long as there isn't excessive risk associated with the surgery.

Either way he is a very smart little boy to have adopted you!