Abdominal masses/surgery in older cats

[emineminem]

Hello fellow cat lovers!  I'm writing here today to hopefully gather some insight/advice/experiences so I can best help my ailing baby.  According to the vet, my cat has a mass in his abdomen and the next step is exploratory surgery to determine what it is.  My cat is 12 years old, and I'm seriously concerned that the surgery will be too much for him, and by electing to do it, I'd be putting my baby through unnecessary torture.  I'm also stumped for more information about "abdominal masses."  It's such a general term that Google isn't helping, but to get something more concrete, we'd need to do the surgery!

If anyone has any experience with abdominal masses that they would care to share, it would be appreciated.  Also, has anyone had an older cat go through surgery, and was it worthwhile and not just a traumatic experience for the cat?

Thank you in advance for any information!

 

[darkhorse321]

I haven't had to deal with this, but I would speak to your vet about options:

1. Can they ultrasound/xray and see what it is?

2. If they have, do they feel they have to operate?

3. Can they do just a needle biopsy?

4. Is your kitty sick?

Many vets will not perform surgeries if they feel the cat is at an age where it's a risk. So, that being said, if they feel it is in his best interest to , they obviously feel he will handle the surgery.

Hugs to you!!! I wish I had more information to offer!

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Are they suspecting Lymphoma, is that why they want to do the surgery?  Is it more of a biopsy?  If they suspect Lymphoma, there are lots of threads here on that, of you just do a search from the top of the page.  And depending on the type they might suspect (if that's the case), the treatment is different, but you should know that chemo for cats is much different than for humans, and they can usually tolerate it better.

 

[emineminem]

Thank you.  Your response is much appreciated!

 

[tinybash]

My 10 year old girl had an abdominal mass. The only way to determine what it was for definite was to do surgery. She recovered from the surgery very quickly but unfortunately they determined it was a tumor that was in a awkward position and couldnt be removed so she had to have chemo instead. I've never regretted having the surgery done as it gave Daisy the best possible options.

I hope everything goes well for you and your wee boy x