A little bit of history first:
About a month a half ago, Cindy started acting odd. She acted very frightened of a bedroom upstairs, and also the upstairs hallway. She got to where she only wanted to be high up, on the back of a chair, table, etc. Then she urinated on our bed (never done anything like that before), so we took her right away to the vet. While feeling for her bladder, the vet noticed a "mass." She took an XRay and said it looked like an enlarged lymph node. We scheduled an ultrasound and needle biopsy. That came back as probably a reactive lymph node and there was no cancer in the sample they took to biopsy. Vet put her on prednisolone 5 mg, twice a day for 7 days, once a day for 7 days, every other day for 14 days, then bring her back. Monday we took her back, and not only has the lymph node not shrunk, it may have actually gotten bigger! Coupled with the fact that she is losing weight (.7 since last weighing), I am extremely worried.
We scheduled a second ultrasound to see it has gotten bigger or anything has changed, but it is a mobile unit and the only appointment they could give us was Thursday the 17th.
We then decided to take her to another vet in the area for a "second opinion" and consultation, which we did yesterday. The new vet was very thorough in her exam (no blood tests), but she checked things my regular vet to my knowledge never has. I was very favorably impressed, and I think if they had laser surgery available there I would be very likely to switch vets. But that's an issue for another thread.
We were with the new vet for probably over two hours. She told us that before considering surgery we should have a chest XRay, because if there were any masses in her chest or lungs it probably wouldn't be the best thing to put her through surgery. She also told us that if the ultrasound revealed that it had grown significantly in just a month, or had expanded to other lymph nodes, we also might not want to put her through surgery. Turns out the mobile ultrasound unit is going to be at that clinic today, so we scheduled with them for the ultrasound. She also took the chest XRays yesterday, and there are no masses in her chest or lungs. The only issue was there might be another enlarged lymph node, based on something that showed up on the left side XRay, but it didn't show up on the right side XRay. She is going to have the radiologist look at the XRays as well as the ultrasound.
Cindy is eating, drinking, using the litter box normally. She is not vomiting. Hur fur looks good (probably the pred) She is not as active as she used to be, and she is still frightened to go out into the hallway. She also doesn't seem to want to go into the family room unless she can get on the table DH uses for his work table.
I know we can't make an informed decision until we get the results of the ultrasound today, but I would like any advice or kind words anyone has to offer in this situation. We are devastated, needless to say, we love her with all our heart and soul. My instinct says to do everything within our power to get her better, but in reality, the quality of her life is just as important as her longevity. If the surgery wouldn't really buy her anything and would end up making her miserable while she tried to recover, I don't want that. But I guess the biggest problem is they can't treat it if they don't know what it is.
Oh, one more thing. We don't know how old she is. We adopted her in Dec. 2005 from a shelter, which estimated her age at somewhere between 3 and 5 years old, which would make her now somewhere between 10 and 12, I guess.
I apologize for my rambling. If anyone has taken the time to read all of this, thank you
and please say a little prayer for Miss Cindy.
About a month a half ago, Cindy started acting odd. She acted very frightened of a bedroom upstairs, and also the upstairs hallway. She got to where she only wanted to be high up, on the back of a chair, table, etc. Then she urinated on our bed (never done anything like that before), so we took her right away to the vet. While feeling for her bladder, the vet noticed a "mass." She took an XRay and said it looked like an enlarged lymph node. We scheduled an ultrasound and needle biopsy. That came back as probably a reactive lymph node and there was no cancer in the sample they took to biopsy. Vet put her on prednisolone 5 mg, twice a day for 7 days, once a day for 7 days, every other day for 14 days, then bring her back. Monday we took her back, and not only has the lymph node not shrunk, it may have actually gotten bigger! Coupled with the fact that she is losing weight (.7 since last weighing), I am extremely worried.
We scheduled a second ultrasound to see it has gotten bigger or anything has changed, but it is a mobile unit and the only appointment they could give us was Thursday the 17th.
We then decided to take her to another vet in the area for a "second opinion" and consultation, which we did yesterday. The new vet was very thorough in her exam (no blood tests), but she checked things my regular vet to my knowledge never has. I was very favorably impressed, and I think if they had laser surgery available there I would be very likely to switch vets. But that's an issue for another thread.
We were with the new vet for probably over two hours. She told us that before considering surgery we should have a chest XRay, because if there were any masses in her chest or lungs it probably wouldn't be the best thing to put her through surgery. She also told us that if the ultrasound revealed that it had grown significantly in just a month, or had expanded to other lymph nodes, we also might not want to put her through surgery. Turns out the mobile ultrasound unit is going to be at that clinic today, so we scheduled with them for the ultrasound. She also took the chest XRays yesterday, and there are no masses in her chest or lungs. The only issue was there might be another enlarged lymph node, based on something that showed up on the left side XRay, but it didn't show up on the right side XRay. She is going to have the radiologist look at the XRays as well as the ultrasound.
Cindy is eating, drinking, using the litter box normally. She is not vomiting. Hur fur looks good (probably the pred) She is not as active as she used to be, and she is still frightened to go out into the hallway. She also doesn't seem to want to go into the family room unless she can get on the table DH uses for his work table.
I know we can't make an informed decision until we get the results of the ultrasound today, but I would like any advice or kind words anyone has to offer in this situation. We are devastated, needless to say, we love her with all our heart and soul. My instinct says to do everything within our power to get her better, but in reality, the quality of her life is just as important as her longevity. If the surgery wouldn't really buy her anything and would end up making her miserable while she tried to recover, I don't want that. But I guess the biggest problem is they can't treat it if they don't know what it is.
Oh, one more thing. We don't know how old she is. We adopted her in Dec. 2005 from a shelter, which estimated her age at somewhere between 3 and 5 years old, which would make her now somewhere between 10 and 12, I guess.
I apologize for my rambling. If anyone has taken the time to read all of this, thank you
