I wonder if a 2nd opinion is worth consideration

My 13 year year old cat Charlie, wasn't feeling well and I took her to the vet last week. She had  a lot of fluid build up in her abdomen as I could see on the X ray and it was visible in looking at her. The vet also did an ultrasound and through the fluid saw a mass that is assumed to be a tumor (and the cause of the fluid build up). The vet showed me some wavy lines on the edge of the mass and said that it probably was an uneven edge to the tumor and that it may be attached to her organs.

I got some pain medication for her and took her home.

She hadn't been eating very well and this is a cat that doesn't eat much in the first place, but she has lost a pound since Christmas. All the signs point to a terminal case.

She perked up big time over the weekend and the swelling from the fluid has clearly gone down. She's still pretty quiet most of the time, but hopping around, socially engaged and eating a little bit--clearly something because she passes stool. She's urinating fine.

I haven't given her the pain medication since Saturday and she isn't acting like a cat in pain now.

I'm wondering if I should take her back for a 2nd look or get a referral to an oncology vet? My vet didn't take a biopsy because she looked so bad that it seemed like I had maybe a day or two at the most with her. The vet visit was last Thursday 7/14. This morning she was acting her usual self and not her sick self. Her belly still looks a bit swollen, but not like it did.

She's not a fan of fresh canned food but she hasn't really had the motivation to eat any dry kibble either. Baby food is a no go. By eating I should clarify that its a few bites of food probably not even a tablespoon at a time, except when I happened to see her eating out of one of the other cat's dishes Sunday night and she was taking full mouthfuls. (She's usually dainty in dipping her paw in the food and then scooping it and bringing it to her face).

You need to take her back to the vet and figure out a treatment plan. I would probably go to the oncologist and try and get a definite answer. And soon. Either your cat is in pain and it will only get worse of there is a treatment that will prolong quality of life.

I second the oncologist. It will at the very least give you some piece of mind or there might be some treatment options available.

The vet and I are trying prednisone. It will reduce the inflammation associated with the tumor and make her life easier by reducing the symptoms also. It will increase her appetite. So she will be comfortable for a while.  If she still had the severe fluid build up, I wouldn't consider this. And it still may not show any improvement. But when she rallied and started eating and drinking and hopping up to her favorite spots, it was something the vet and I decided to try. Apparently prednisone is used as palliative care for cancer in cats.

It's in a liquid form in "Pet-tinic" which doesn't taste so bad. There are chicken liver flavored tablets but there is no way she would eat those.

This morning when I saw her enthusiastically eating a piece of chicken, we had to offer something that would both help her feel a bit better and perhaps give her a few more weeks.   She really didn't enjoy getting the medication. So that's a factor too.

My fella found some info from VetInfo and a couple of other pet vet sites that talked about prednisone to help cats with cancer feel better.

Tonight she was enjoying the nice breeze in the window. 

Laura Mae said:

 
The vet and I are trying prednisone. It will reduce the inflammation associated with the tumor and make her life easier by reducing the symptoms also. It will increase her appetite. So she will be comfortable for a while.  If she still had the severe fluid build up, I wouldn't consider this. And it still may not show any improvement. But when she rallied and started eating and drinking and hopping up to her favorite spots, it was something the vet and I decided to try. Apparently prednisone is used as palliative care for cancer in cats.

It's in a liquid form in "Pet-tinic" which doesn't taste so bad. There are chicken liver flavored tablets but there is no way she would eat those.

This morning when I saw her enthusiastically eating a piece of chicken, we had to offer something that would both help her feel a bit better and perhaps give her a few more weeks.   She really didn't enjoy getting the medication. So that's a factor too.

My fella found some info from VetInfo and a couple of other pet vet sites that talked about prednisone to help cats with cancer feel better.

Tonight she was enjoying the nice breeze in the window. 

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I'm so tickled you found a way to make her life better for a while.

I like the idea of pet hospice where you alleviate symptoms and pain while getting to spend some extra quality time with your pet. I know this is hard. Sometimes it's just about making the most out of the time that you have left.

Thanks! I feel unreasonably optimistic that it will help her quality of life for a while. It's sad that my sweet cat has a tumor. I'm not sure how the giving of the medication is going to continue to go. She has historically been very easy to medicate but not so much tonight. She may have been concerned it was the opiate which she really hated. The pet-tinic base is something she hasn't historically minded as a way to deliver whatever medication she's needed.

She had a good poop so clearly she's been eating something when I'm not hovering over her :-)

Laura Mae said:

 
Thanks! I feel unreasonably optimistic that it will help her quality of life for a while. It's sad that my sweet cat has a tumor. I'm not sure how the giving of the medication is going to continue to go. She has historically been very easy to medicate but not so much tonight. She may have been concerned it was the opiate which she really hated. The pet-tinic base is something she hasn't historically minded as a way to deliver whatever medication she's needed.

She had a good poop so clearly she's been eating something when I'm not hovering over her :-)

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The person who invents a pill/mediciaton that cats eat on their own will be right up there with the person that finds a way to disguise the taste of bute in a horses feed. Meanwhile we just make sure they get their medication and remember that few minutes of pissed off is sometimes a whole day of quality life.

Little Charlie didn't keep last night's prednisone down. This AM, she got 1/2 a dose and I'll give her the other 1/2 tonight see if that makes a difference. She was drinking water this morning. Took a good drink. She stared at her food and then scampered away. I gave her a warm towel bath, which she liked and a brush which she also enjoyed. I'm disappointed. I'd hoped it would help her feel a little better. Her torso looks completely normal though--no fluid build up right now.

is she on an anti nausea med?

often pred makes them pucky on an empty stomach. often we give Cerenia or Ondansetron (Zofran) a half hour before pred. also sub fluids administered as needed will also perk up your pet. the fluids will help the meds circulate faster and better. Most cats do well on fluids-if cardiac issues you scale the amount back but they still benefit from it. Also if she is sniffing and walking away that's classic nausea.

Fluids n meds usually take 15 to 30 min to kick in=you should see an improvement within an hour after these are given-once she eats then give the pred. So many things to memorize it seems but I have seen these meds make a big difference in quality of life.

I have an old girl who has been sick lately and lost weight. We dont know what is going on-still have to do an ultrasound. we got her stabilized on sub fluids, Cerenia and Pepcid. she also has a heart issue and kidney disease=for now she needs the Pepcid daily otherwise she wont eat. sometimes excess stomach acid makes them nauseous when they smell food. kind of like us when we get sick to our stomachs-we don't want to smell anything.

if your girl has issues with pooping it can make her nauseated too. so usually vet will advice something to keep things moving-plain canned pumpkin or miralax. in extreme cases they could prescribe lactulose but this is after the other stuff doesn't work.

no. We were the ones who searched and found information on the possibility of prednisone as a way to help support her. So no suggestion for anti nausea medication from the vet who we informed about her eating lightly. I'm reluctant to keep after this. She feels worse than she did without it.  I am also annoyed that my stupid vet can't simply make the appropriate suggestions for something saying the predisone will make her nauseous. She's had it before for asthma and there weren't these effects from it, but she was healthy then otherwise.

Sometimes you just have to let go. I need to find a vet that actually understands and gives a crap about geriatric cats instead of seeing them in terms of their entire population and so individually disposable(there's always a cat that needs help).

This isn't the first time that a 1/2 hearted effort was put into an issue that a cat had for me with this vet. Granted, Charlie is a terminal case and so there isn't a lot of options. But in 2013 we took in a stray who had been hit by a car and had pelvic fracture. Their first advise was to consider putting him down. We didn't. He healed but as a result has constipation issues because of nerve damage. The first course of action at that time was to give him a stool softener when what he needed was an enema. 

I shouldn't have to extract out the information I need to take care of the cats. Finding a good vet can be a challenge because everyone has a full range of good and bad experiences with all vets, I imagine.

I really think fluids and anti nausea meds will make a difference. They wont eat if their tummy is upset. You can always try it for a week. if things don't get better then you can think about the next step. I call it hospice care. Yes it may be terminal but you can keep them comfortable until its time.

Laura Mae said:

 
no. We were the ones who searched and found information on the possibility of prednisone as a way to help support her. So no suggestion for anti nausea medication from the vet who we informed about her eating lightly. I'm reluctant to keep after this. She feels worse than she did without it.  I am also annoyed that my stupid vet can't simply make the appropriate suggestions for something saying the predisone will make her nauseous. She's had it before for asthma and there weren't these effects from it, but she was healthy then otherwise.

Sometimes you just have to let go. I need to find a vet that actually understands and gives a crap about geriatric cats instead of seeing them in terms of their entire population and so individually disposable(there's always a cat that needs help).

This isn't the first time that a 1/2 hearted effort was put into an issue that a cat had for me with this vet. Granted, Charlie is a terminal case and so there isn't a lot of options. But in 2013 we took in a stray who had been hit by a car and had pelvic fracture. Their first advise was to consider putting him down. We didn't. He healed but as a result has constipation issues because of nerve damage. The first course of action at that time was to give him a stool softener when what he needed was an enema. 

I shouldn't have to extract out the information I need to take care of the cats. Finding a good vet can be a challenge because everyone has a full range of good and bad experiences with all vets, I imagine.

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http://www.catvets.com/guidelines/practice-guidelines   Look for one with gold status.