17 Year old Cat with Disc Injury - Neurologist recommending surgery

My wonderful cat Rawley (who looks like this avatar) started limping a week and half ago and it progressed over a couple of days until he was almost doing a rabbit/crab walk unable to extend his back legs.  We saw a few vets and got we referred to a neurologist who diagnosed him with a sublumbar disc herniation that is severely pinching his spine. We tried steroids and they didn't help. We are winding those down and doing pain meds but I'm scared he's still in a lot of pain and walking is really hard for him. The neurologist (who conferred with a team of other neurologists today) is recommending surgery but due to his age I am very reluctant. He would be the oldest cat they ever operated on by many years. He has kidney disease but is otherwise in good health. He went under for the MRI and came out okay. The surgery would be expensive (we've already spend nearly $3500) but my main issue is just putting him through that. His recovery would be hard and is unlikely he'd get back 100%. I just wish I knew how much time he had left and what his recovery would be like. I love him so much and don't want to lose him or torture him by trying to fix him. Has anyone had this issue with an older cat? What did you do?

CatMom1977 said:

 
My wonderful cat Rawley (who looks like this avatar) started limping a week and half ago and it progressed over a couple of days until he was almost doing a rabbit/crab walk unable to extend his back legs.  We saw a few vets and got we referred to a neurologist who diagnosed him with a sublumbar disc herniation that is severely pinching his spine. We tried steroids and they didn't help. We are winding those down and doing pain meds but I'm scared he's still in a lot of pain and walking is really hard for him. The neurologist (who conferred with a team of other neurologists today) is recommending surgery but due to his age I am very reluctant. He would be the oldest cat they ever operated on by many years. He has kidney disease but is otherwise in good health. He went under for the MRI and came out okay. The surgery would be expensive (we've already spend nearly $3500) but my main issue is just putting him through that. His recovery would be hard and is unlikely he'd get back 100%. I just wish I knew how much time he had left and what his recovery would be like. I love him so much and don't want to lose him or torture him by trying to fix him. Has anyone had this issue with an older cat? What did you do?

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A tough decision to do...    I myself believe its better to let them go when they still have their dignity...    I did my tries to save what could be saved, and brough them to the best vet available.  In wain, as the vets in question hadnt no good solutions, so it just prolonged the suffering till they got the unavoidable pts.  This prolonging wasnt long, but yet.    Awkward feelings.

CatMom1977 said:

 
My wonderful cat Rawley (who looks like this avatar) started limping a week and half ago and it progressed over a couple of days until he was almost doing a rabbit/crab walk unable to extend his back legs.  We saw a few vets and got we referred to a neurologist who diagnosed him with a sublumbar disc herniation that is severely pinching his spine. We tried steroids and they didn't help. We are winding those down and doing pain meds but I'm scared he's still in a lot of pain and walking is really hard for him. The neurologist (who conferred with a team of other neurologists today) is recommending surgery but due to his age I am very reluctant. He would be the oldest cat they ever operated on by many years. He has kidney disease but is otherwise in good health. He went under for the MRI and came out okay. The surgery would be expensive (we've already spend nearly $3500) but my main issue is just putting him through that. His recovery would be hard and is unlikely he'd get back 100%. I just wish I knew how much time he had left and what his recovery would be like. I love him so much and don't want to lose him or torture him by trying to fix him. Has anyone had this issue with an older cat? What did you do?

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Even with humans there is a lot of evidence coming out that back/spine surgery doesn't help better than other therapies.  Have you actually had a consult with a surgeon?  That's who i would want to talk to next, and get their opinion as to likelihood of success, recovery time, risks, etc.

Rawley has no thoughts of the future, only today so you have the hard job of making decisions about his future.  Even if surgery works,  a reasonable question remains which is how much time are you buying a cat at his age with kidney disease.  You might also look at acupuncture and hydro therapy (swimming in a harness under medical supervision) or other types of physical therapy.

The hardest thing to consider but something that he needs you to think about is whether or not to let him go.  It's hard to find the perfect time, so i think its generally better to be a little early than doing it too late.  Very tough times....

Personally, I would not put a 17-year-old cat through surgery, knowing the recovery would be painful and the time bought by doing the surgery would not be that much and he might never be pain free even with surgery.  I made that same decision with my own 17-year-old when she developed mammary cancer.  I kept her comfortable as long as I could, and when it was getting too hard for her to keep her body going, I held her in my arms while she went to sleep, purring, at the vet's office. 

There are alternatives to surgery, including pain medications (buprenorphine worked for my girl's last two weeks).  Have you considered the possibility of chiropractic adjustments?  There ARE animal chiropractors, and I do know that when I had a serious back problem and my doctor was talking surgery, my chiropractor was able to get me realigned and keeps me pain free now with only monthly visits, and I'm 73 and have two old crushed vertebrae in my back from being walked on by a horse!  There are also all sorts of new nerve blocking stimulators etc. that I've read about, and there is an electromagnetic ring, too, for animals, called the Assisi Loop.  Read about it here:  http://www.assisianimalhealth.com/

Good luck with making whatever time he has left comfortable and rewarding for both of you.

Someone mentioned in another thread that Neurontin is used in cats.  That was requested by my PT for pain relief when I was misdiagnosed with a herniated disc.