Help Please!!!

My orange tabby sr. cat is about 12 yrs old. About a few months ago he started loosing alot of weight and now is skin and bones. While he was loosing weight his stomach started to buldge. I took him to our vet and the dr said he has a tumor in his stomach somewhere and thought that it might be in or near his pancreas. he said usually cats don't get tumors and if they do they will only get to be about the size of a walnut but my poor boy has one that is the size of 6 walnuts. the dr gave him about 1 week to live when we had finally taken him in. wednesday was his one week mark and he has lived passed 2 days of that now. He doesn;t seem like he is in pain really but he recently has started throwing up a mucus. at first it was silver and now it looks like someone melted a black crayon and he is throwing up it. it stinks like nothing i have smelt before. not a throw up but something else i don't know what to describe it as. I guess where im going with this is does any one have any experience with this and if so your opinions on putting him down. I think its about time because the vomit keeps getting darker and he is very lathargic. my other question is that i have been doing some research on the wet can food we have been giving him since he was younger. I have heard that the 9 lives can cause different types of cancer in cats. has any one else heard of this? all i really want is some input from other people. I have grown up with cats all my life and this is the cat we have had the longest. he is special to me and i just want to do whats best for him.

ps. sorry for any spelling mistakes. 

I am so sorry that you and your cat are going through this. It must be a difficult time and decision. Have you asked the vet about the black vomit? Could it be blood? I'm sorry that I have no experience to share just lots of support. And lots of hugs.

It just recently started getting bad, the throw up. The office was closed today and if my cat makes it to monday then i will call and ask. Im pretty sure its not blood. it is completly black like if you were to have a black dye and put it in mucas then add some more black dye. Im hoping that he does make it to monday so i can at least just figure it out. I hate not knowing whats wrong. when the cancer was diagnosed i was relived but still sad i finally had an answer. now that his throw up is black i just want to know if its his insides breaking down or something. he usually throws up a few times a day every other day for the last month or so.

Dried blood will look black. If you still have the vomit, you could put it in water to see if the water turns red. I'm just concerned that he's in pain if he's throwing up blood? Many many vibes for you and your kitty.

Internal bleeding often shows up as black vomit or diahrrea. I am so sorry you are going through this - it is a difficult time.

On monday i am going to call the vet. I think that everyone in our family has decided that its time. He has been a loving cat and has had his own personality. Im going to get the vets decision and im pretty sure he will say its time. It will be hard on the two kids who are 4 and 6 but they will have to learn about death so this will be a good thing in the long run for them. Oh and his name is Angel he was named after my cousin who was going to take him but then got deployed. He has lived a long and happy life

God love him. So sorry your baby is sick... My cat lived to 13 and died of kidney failure in 2006. Then my big boy Blake died suddenly at the age of 2 last summer. I know how horrible this is for you and I am sorry that he's going through this. My cats are my babies and it hurts to see them suffer or in pain. Much love to you and your family. <3

I am so sorry to hear of your babies troubles. It doesn't sound very good and I would feel that putting him down is best for him.
I recently had to out my 16 yr old baby down and still cry about him he had kidney failure and although I didn't see that he was in pain he was throwing up alot too. When I took him to the vet he was very dehydrated and very very skinny. My poor baby was not a happy boy and I had to decide at that time to put him down. It was one of the most difficult things I have ever had to do, but it was best for him. I had him for the entire 16 yrs so he was like a child.
Please don't keep your boy alive for selfish reasons. If he is throwing up black stuff or blood, he is not doing well. It would be amazing if the vet could help him some how but think about him okay.
Hugs and prayers for you little cat.

That is all excellent advice. If he is suffering and has low quality of life, check with your vet. Cats CAN be surprising. Sometimes they swallow something bad by mistake tho cats have a pretty good nose for poisons. And yes, old blood or blood that is obstructed in his digestive system can look black. But I hope your vet will have good bees. We can prepare for the wordy and pray and hope for the best!! Take care!

Hi
What does your vet tell you to do...is there any followups to recommend a program to help this problem? Your vet should be giving you some direction to a possible solution. Please let me check on this, I'll let you know. I'll call my vets office, and find out something for you. I think my vets office is open tomorrow, I'll post you, and let you know what they say. I can tell you, what they will say I need to see this cat... I'll tell them what you said. Its worth a call!
blueeyes

My vet pretty much just gave me the option to let him live the rest of his life out or put him down. He knows the whole situation and i very much trust this vets whole staff and him. my vet doesn't think he is in pain and said if for what ever reason i think that he is then i can bring him in and they will put him down for me. I love this vet. a little back story on them. It was christmas morning and the kids had just started to open presents the paper boy comes flying up the road (Dirt road, i live in the middle of nowhere) hits my dog and snaps her leg in half to where the bone is sticking out. Of course normal vets offices are not open chirstmas morning so we had to take her to a pet emergency hospital. It cost us almost 1000$ just for them to take xrays and have them put a soft cast on her and "Confirm" it was broken. it was the only place open and i wasn't going to let my dog be in pain all day and night to save money. any ways. i called up my normal vets office and they don't do anything other than vaccinations and examinations now. so they referred me to another low cost animal clinic. I waked in and felt at home. the try every way to save your money. so for my appointment they called it a second opinion so it was free. they checked her every week from new years to valentines day. never charging and always taking really good care of my dog. then we had to take her to get another set of xrays that being the first time i have paid since the initial accident.150$. then they broke the news to me that my baby was going to have to have her leg amputated or have pins and all that to have it heal since she was so old it hadn't started healing at all. they re wrapped it. it was going to be about 800$ to amputate or 1000"s$ for the pins. so we decided amputation. it ened up being cheaper like 700$ and i brought her back one week later she got her bandages off and now is all healed. so total for 2 months of going to see them weekly and then xrays and amputation and medication oh and a cute little jacket after her bandages came off so she didn't bleed all over my car (which was free) was less than what it cost for the emergency room to wrap it. so this place knows me very well and they were surprised when i came in unexpected with my cat and told me the best of what could happen is that i just let him live his life. Today he has been alot more active and he still hasn't stopped eating or drinking and i think thats a sign that he isn't ready yet. he hasn't thrown up since saturday!!! i know he is still sick and i doubt there will be some miraculus recovery but one can hope right?? <3

Oh my gosh, what a lovely place. They sound like they really care more for animals than for the money which is great. It sounds like ur pets are in good hands there.
If your cat isn't in pain then keeping him with you sounds like a good idea. Giving him lots of love and cuddles is great too. Good luck with ur boy and I pray that he does get better.

Adrianna

Well he has hit his two week mark but when he went to jump up to his food today he hit is stomach and fell down. As a family we talked and decided that it is time. If he cant jump up 2 feet to his food he is in pain along with throwing up black stuff. Tomorrow will be the day. Its sad but is best for him. He has just slept for the last week and ate when he was hungry but hasnt eaten as much as he normally has since this all started happening. He gets a can of food a day and used to eat it all and wanted more before he got sick. When he got sick he ate about half and now its like 1/4 if not less than that. He is just getting worse. Its time. He keeps loosing weight. His quality of life isnt good. He is just surviving. But i can tell he is starving and not getting any nutrients from what he is eating. Im assuming the tumor is takeing all of it. Thank you all who have commented on this. It has helped me prepare for this.

I'm so sorry. 

I'm very sorry. Having had to have a terminally ill cat put down a little over a month ago, I know how hard it is to make that decision. I found this thread written by a long-time member very helpful: When the moment comes

I'm so very sorry. Its so hard to do have to do (((((hugs))))))
 

Poor little guy. :-( I'm sorry for all of you... [emoji]9829[/emoji][emoji]128532[/emoji]

I'm so sorry to hear that. I know exactly how you feel as I put my baby down a couple months ago. I am still so upset and miss him dearly. I question myself everyday whether it was the right decision. Reading more stories like urs and others on here, I know he was very sick and wasn't happy anymore. May your kitty RIP and play with mine and other kitties on the Rainbow Bridge.
Adrianna.

Hi
I'm so sorry your cat is sick! Its sounds like cancer! If this post is late, and you have already made you decision already ..I'm sorry for your loss! The good thing, you may not feel right now but the memories are special and it will get better! I'm here if you need to talk.......anytime please let me know.
blueeyes

It does indeed sound like cancer but Aa a human oncologist, I would never presume anything sans tests. You know your cat and his quality of life. If he is in pain and really suffering and cannot eat (why does he have to jump 2 feet to eat or is this a thing he likes to do?) . The only other option is paliative -give him an easier way to eat (feed him yourself if necessary) and give him lots of pain meds. Unfortunately, that just prolongs the inevitable and as I indicated, you know him best!! Take care!! My heart goes out to you all!!!