- Joined
- Jul 7, 2022
- Messages
- 101
- Purraise
- 216
Hi, all. I just joined this site, and posted our introduction on the New Cats on the Block Forum. My 15 year old Casey, who I adopted 2 years ago, has been diagnosed with mammary adenocarcinoma. I have read all the stuff online, and know it's not good. It started with a little bump on her chest (she had it when we found her) that the first vet I saw said was only a cyst. The vet I am seeing now, removed it and sent away for pathology when it grew suddenly and started bleeding and oozing. The pathology report confirmed cancer. I opted not to take her to the veterinary university 2 hours away where she would have to go to get chemo or any other aggressive treatment because of her age and that the prognosis is poor regardless. My goal is to keep her comfortable and happy for as long as possible.
The problem is she has gone downhill rapidly since her last surgery (about two weeks ago). Eating and drinking very little (but not completely stopped), sleeping a lot, hiding more than usual. The vet is not sure if she is still recovering from the surgery or if this is the natural progression of her disease, although he got all of the tumor in her surgery and does not see or feel evidence of any further tumors. (x-rays and ultrasounds have not been done, but that is the next step). I took her in to the vet today, honestly thinking he was going to say to put her down, and I was prepared to do that for her if so, although I was devastated. But he checked her over and honestly could not see that she was imminently terminal and encouraged me to give her a steroid shot to see if it would perk her up and get her eating more. So we did. I was so grateful to bring her back home. But I know the inevitable will come eventually if not today.
Anyway, I know you cannot give any medical advice here! (I read the post about giving medical advice before posting here! ). I guess I needed mostly somewhere to get this all out and find emotional support from people who I believe will understand. Most of my friends/family are doing their best to be supportive but they are either tired of listening to me, or they are grieving too, or they are not particularly cat people and so they care but don't "get it", know what I mean? I just never thought this would be so hard at the end. I have never had a pet that I saw through to old age and illness. I had pets as a kid, but my parents made all the decision then, and I didn't really get what was going on. I had a cat and a dog when I was a young adult, but the dog had to be re-homed when he got aggressive with my toddler, and my cat died suddenly at a relatively young age due to a blockage, and I did not grieve for him as much probably because I was having babies at the time. This journey with Casey is a whole different ball game, and more complex than I ever would have imagined. Bless you if you have taken the time to read all this. I just had to get it out.
The problem is she has gone downhill rapidly since her last surgery (about two weeks ago). Eating and drinking very little (but not completely stopped), sleeping a lot, hiding more than usual. The vet is not sure if she is still recovering from the surgery or if this is the natural progression of her disease, although he got all of the tumor in her surgery and does not see or feel evidence of any further tumors. (x-rays and ultrasounds have not been done, but that is the next step). I took her in to the vet today, honestly thinking he was going to say to put her down, and I was prepared to do that for her if so, although I was devastated. But he checked her over and honestly could not see that she was imminently terminal and encouraged me to give her a steroid shot to see if it would perk her up and get her eating more. So we did. I was so grateful to bring her back home. But I know the inevitable will come eventually if not today.
Anyway, I know you cannot give any medical advice here! (I read the post about giving medical advice before posting here! ). I guess I needed mostly somewhere to get this all out and find emotional support from people who I believe will understand. Most of my friends/family are doing their best to be supportive but they are either tired of listening to me, or they are grieving too, or they are not particularly cat people and so they care but don't "get it", know what I mean? I just never thought this would be so hard at the end. I have never had a pet that I saw through to old age and illness. I had pets as a kid, but my parents made all the decision then, and I didn't really get what was going on. I had a cat and a dog when I was a young adult, but the dog had to be re-homed when he got aggressive with my toddler, and my cat died suddenly at a relatively young age due to a blockage, and I did not grieve for him as much probably because I was having babies at the time. This journey with Casey is a whole different ball game, and more complex than I ever would have imagined. Bless you if you have taken the time to read all this. I just had to get it out.