Senior cat needs expensive surgery

Hi, all. This is my first post here. I'm looking for opinions on treating my senior cat.

She is nearly 17 years (in a month or two). Back in November/December, I noticed that she had been losing weight. Also, she is long haired, but her hair had not grown back after having her shaved in August. I took her to the vet and they thought she might have Cushing's disease. They did an all day blood test but it couldn't confirm that. So they sent me to the Vet Specialty center where they did an X-ray and ultrasound. They found a tumor on her lung but couldn't say if it was cancer or not. They suggested doing a Fine Needle Aspiration to collect cells from the tumor to determine the treatment. Even though there was some risk, I eventually went ahead and did it. The results showed that it is actually a granuloma and it may or may not be walling of cancer cells. Anyway, they say they can remove it with surgery and see that as hopefully a cure. Unfortunately, the surgery would be very expensive...at least by my standards. They are estimating for the surgery and 36 hours of aftercare, it would be around $8400. And she would actually need to stay at the hospital for at least 3 days so it would probably be closer to $9000-$10000. And if there are complications, it could cost even more.

Has anyone here seen such high surgery costs for a cat? Is this something I should even consider. Also, she has had long term diabetes and hyperthyroidism. I have spent around $1500 just to reach this diagnosis. This is in addition to spending a lot for her diabetes treatment including blood testing than often costs up to $400 each time every few months, thyroid medication and prescription food.

I would like to do what I can to keep her healthy and happy but also think I need to have some kind of a limit. Her sister died a year ago from cancer after I spent $2500 on her. And then I had to euthanize my other senior shortly after that. I had the three of them since 1995, so to not have any of them is difficult to imagine. I also have kids to support and am driving a 12 year old car which I may need to replace this year. I know that no one can make my financial decisions for me, but what would you do in my shoes. Is $10K too much to pay for a cat this old? She still gets around pretty well and is eating. The vet says should might live anywhere from a couple of months to a year without the surgery.

Thanks for reading.

This is a bad situation and it's one that you will have to decide what to do.  I have had some high vet bills for chronic illness with one of my cats mainly because of a long winding road to get the right diagnoses and treatment.  I really hesitate to tell you what I would do because it is an individual decision.  For just me in this situation I probably wouldn't have it done but please make you're own decision.

I've not had such a high estimate for treatment, but I have faced your decision a number of times with all the cats I've had over the years.

I'll share my hard lesson with you to give you more things to think about. I had a cat diagnosed with cancer and since he was relatively young (13), I started down the path of chemo, surgery, etc. While it was only a couple thousand of dollars later, the question I failed to ask was the simplest one of all. So what if I put him through all of this? What is the prognosis if all goes well with the treatment? Turns out in my case, it gave him about another month to live, and he was traumatized going thru all the treatment. If I had to do it all over again, I would not have done it.

In these moments, I always look at the quality of life from the perspective of giving the treatment versus keeping them happy and comfortable. I more often than not chose the "Love and Cheese Danish" method of treatment, invented when my old dog Ellie Mae contracted terminal cancer and was given 30 days to live. During the biopsy they removed the core of the tumor but said there was nothing else to do for her. 18 months later, she finally crossed from a stroke at age 14. In the mean time, she got everything she ever dreamed of in life (including cheese danish off a plate while lounging on the sofa), and she was so happy she didn't want to let go.

I do not envy your decision. My old boy Stumpy turns 17 in a few months and the age scares me at times. He lives with an auto-immune disease and has been on love and cheese danish for 4 years now.

Many vibes that things will work. Please keep us posted?

Mom of Many said very well what I was trying to say. You mentioned that your vet said she could live a couple of months to a year without the surgery - will that time be hard on her? And if you do the surgery, how much time will she get and how will THAT time be in terms of quality of life? A 17-year-old cat who could live another year without expensive surgery is still a good long life for a cat.

I'm sorry you have to make this decision.

As far as surgery costs, the only surgery I've had to deal with was when I got my girl's teeth pulled, and that was $2000 for the surgery, no hospital stay required. I used Care Credit, but I'm still paying it off, and I wish I had the sense at the time to ask for a reduction in price, or to get a couple other estimates.

Situations like these are always so difficult.  At her age and with her already existing health issues, is there any guarantee that she will survive the surgery?  It seems to me that it would be fairly invasive.   (Of course, there are never any guarantees, but do they think she could come thru the surgery just fine?)  

I would have to echo everything that Momofmany and Mystik Spiral said.  To me, it's all about quality of life.  And each cat is different.  Of my four cats, I know right now which one's would "fight to live" and which ones would not.  I wish we could help you with your decision, but when it comes down to it, really, only you can decide, knowing your personal finances, knowing your cat, knowing your heart. 

Seventeen years is above average life span for a cat, so you've done well by her.  But, at that age, cats are much less resilient and even an illness that would be minor in a much younger cat can make an older cat much more miserable.  You will have to make the "quality of life" decision, but no one here would criticize your decision to release her from her pain.

Having been in your shoes, I do not envy this decision you are faced with. Your kitty has lived a very long, love-filled life and only you can make a decision based on your financial situation. If it were me, I'd take the kitty home, keep her happy and spoiled and when it is time to let her go, know that I was there for her in her hour of need. It is an awful, heart-wrenching decision but $10,000 is a lot of money and we wouldn't be ablle to do it. 

Make peace with your decision, whichever it is.