mammary cancer

Princess is about 10 yrs old, she is spayed but I don't know when she was. She's been abandonded, abused, and neglected before I got her.

I noticed she had a lump by her nipples, about the size of a quarter. Now it's larger and harder. There's also a new lump below it. She has a vet appointment today.

From what I'm reading, it sounds like she has mammary cancer.

I don't have that much money. Y'know, I'm going to do what I can but has anyone here treated that before? How much did it cost? We don't have insurance...

And when do you let go? My mom is tellilng me to put her down but, besides being sick last week, she's doing great. How long do cats her age with mammary cancer tend to live? some site was saying 6mo. to a year...

My Stripe had it at age 4 and she was fixed.
The day I say it on her she screamed when I touched it and bit me.
There was pus coming out.
She had surgery the same day and the vet removed 2 breast.
It had cancer cells in it.
A month later a lump came on the other side and it was removed.
I lost stripe at age 11 to Crf.
She beat the breast tumors.
We did not have insurance and I still do not have it.
I would never put a cat to sleep that is still acting ok.
It depends on the cat how long they live.
Stripe beat it.

HEre is a link to an article I wrote about mammary cancer, fingers crossed for her. When to let go is ultimately up to you, I wouldnt (and didn't) pts immediately upon a cancer diagnosis, i did so when she was losing weight despite eating well, as it was then obvious that it was starting to beat her, and I Wanted her to go with dignity.

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...mammary+cancer

If u catch it early enough...she might just need the surgery to remove it....But that can be costly...I had my Smudge put down in Nov she had her lumps for 8 months..they stayed small for a long time but near the end they grew fast tripled in size in one month...I made the decision not to treat her...the vets bascily told me not to...cause she was 14 and they would prob just grow back or somewhere else and would cost alot of money...They didn't bother her til the day b4 she was pts( it ruptured)..And even then she was still eating and acting normal...Smudge was older when she was spayed....hence the cancer in her old age...Its very important to have them spayed when they are still kittens...I am sorry your kitty isn't feeling well...

Nancy

I'm sorry about your cat's health situation. I hope it isn't cancer and that there is something that can be done.
My dear Emy was 9 when she was diagnosed with mammary cancer. She had a strange nodule on one of her nipples that oozed and bled. By the time that appeared, the cancer had already spread to other parts of her body. We don't know if it originated somewhere else and spread to the mammary or if it was the other way around. She was not fixed, unfotunately. My family was not aware that spayed can prevent certain forms of cancer, despite it seeming like common sense now. (Mind you, she was strictly an indoor cat and never had kittens!) We wanted to get her spayed when she was a few years old, but that vet told us she was too old!
Anyway, with some vitamin shots and some antibiotics, she lived a pretty comfortable life for the next year.
The vet did suggest spaying her once we found out it was cancer, but I decided not to since I didn't know if she could make it through such an ordeal (and the cancer was already in other parts of her body).
If there is something that can be done for your cat that can rid her completely of cancer, I suggest trying it. I would if it would have completely rid my girl of cancer.
I know it's expensive. There are some groups that can help with animal medical bills, especially to save a life.
Here is a directory of some of these groups. If you could use the assistance, please contact some of them:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/vetbills.htm
And here's another group not listed there:
http://www.animalfriendsrescue.org/f...ssistance.html