Need opinions on surgery for cat

I have a 12 year old male cat. The other day when I was petting him I noticed a pretty big soft lump on his left side. I brought him to the vet today and they found a second lump that was smaller and harder. They took a fluid sample of each lump but told me the samples weren't good enough to determine whether or not they were cancerous. The doctor said she was 'concerned' and wants to have them surgically removed and sent out for biopsy. She quoted me anywhere between $1000 and $1600 for the surgery, anesthesia, biopsy, etc. The cat is acting completely normal. He's eating normally (he weighs 18 lbs so obviously he's a real fat cat) goes to the bathroom, and his personality is the same. Obviously like any business vets are in it to make money. I'm wondering if the surgery is really necessary. If it turns out these lumps are cancerous I'm wondering how much time he'd have left anyway since he is 12 years old and overweight. If I knew this surgery would help him and give him an extra few years of life then I'd do it in a second. I'm just thinking if is cancer they're going to tell me he needs more procedures and I'd have to shell out a few more thousand dollars. Given his age do I just cross my fingers, not have the surgery, and hope these lumps are benign?

Honestly I think you might invest in getting a second opinion. Of course you'll have to pay again for all the scans, etc, but if a second unrelated vet tells you the same thing you might consider it. Your cat might have a good 6 years left in him. One of my cats who was overweight most of her life after being spayed (especially for a female) until the last several months lived to be 18. I'd do anything to save my cat, who's 14, even though he too is overweight (17 lbs) has several special needs, and probably only has one- two years left. But I understand your suspicion because there definitely are vets who make recommendations too quickly before necessary and have $$ signs in their eyes. So... second opinion maybe?

I don't know where you are from, is there a low cost clinic near you could get a second opinion from? I agree with your thinking and putting a cat through all that surgery is not a good way to spend maybe the last year of your life. Maybe you could insist on the biopsy first, not the removal, and if they are benign you have nothing to worry about, if they are cancerous, THEN you can decide what to do. I'll pray that they are benign, give that sweet boy a kiss for me! All the luck!

They are saying they can't do the biopsy unless the remove the lumps. I'm not a doctor but I assumed they'd be able to determine if it was cancerous from analyzing what they extracted with the needle. They said they couldn't get a good sample with the needle so they want to remove both growths and send them in for a biopsy. Is it possible that the cat has cancer and is acting completely normal?

I was also thinking a second opinion probably makes the most sense.

Thanks for your advice