cat with suspected meningioma

[bletza]

hi all,

not really looking for advice, just trying to see if anyone has dealt with similar experiences. I have a 13yr old cat (her name is Eris) who started having balance problems a few months ago. after going to multiple vets trying to find answers, i was referred to a veterinary neurologist. I elected not to get an MRI (can't afford it, and I don't plan on doing surgery even if I could afford it either,) but the neuro thinks she has a meningioma on her cerebellum (balance issues, intention tremors, eye movements, etc.).

We put her on prednisolone and she responded great with no side effects, she was on 2.5mg daily until a few days ago until we switched to 2.5mg every other day, and she got worse almost instantly. still not falling as much as she was, and not hiding or anything, but I can tell she's frustrated and is having a harder time jumping onto things. I know daily prednisolone isn't good for her, but I'm worried the every other day dose just isn't enough. I'm going to talk to my neurologist about it tomorrow.

I just hate that there's very little out there about this, about what to do for palliative care, about what to expect. My neuro says the average lifespan after diagnosis is around 4 months, but it's "on a bell curve" but no one has the information to actually tell me what that means. I'm trying to take everything one day at a time, but it's hard not knowing how long I'm going to have her. I'm in my late 20s now and have had her since I was a teenager. i don't know what i'm going to do without her.

Thanks for hearing me out - I've been having a lot of processing to do lately and it's difficult to do that by myself.

ps: I know there are payment plans/etc., but I've decided I don't want to put her through surgery/radiation/chemo. I just want her to be happy as long as she can be.

 

[epona]

I don't know how treatable meningioma is tbh - I did have a cat die (well he got very unwell from it suddenly and we had to have him pts - he was 13 years old at the time too) from a brain tumour, but I cannot recall which type - it was detected at a very late stage unfortunately and there was nothing we could do.

I think your decision to try to keep her as well as possible without invasive or stressful treatment is absolutely fine.

It's not even about it being expensive, when a cat is older it's as much about their welfare, what could you hope for with long-term and sometimes difficult treatment? - if the best hope is to extend their life for a bit for us but might be hard on them, then it is not always the best thing for their welfare to go in with aggressive treatment.

Was the reduction in steroid dose done after consultation with your vet? I would talk to them about it.

I would in your situation (not for financial reasons, but given the age of the cat, the seriousness of the condition, and the fact that treatment might just be to extend life rather than to bring a cure, I think?) try to be content to do your best to keep her comfortable and happy for as long as that is possible without suffering.

I can't really say what is the right thing to do- you know your cat best and only you can make those decisions for her - but I just want to sympathise as I have been in a similar situation with a similar condition in one of my cats and lost him to it, I know how much it hurts.

You speak about her with a lot of love, I am sure you will make good decisions for her welfare - and it isn't always about having money to throw at a situation and fix it - you could be a billionaire and wouldn't necessarily be able to fix this as it is more serious than needing x amount for treatment or a cure - I don't doubt for a second that you are doing right by her. It is OK to not go ahead with invasive or difficult treatment if it would impact their quality of life for only a small chance of survival or a short extension to their life expectancy.

Much love.

 

[bletza]

epona thanks so much for the kind words. Regardless of finances, I told the neurologist immediately that I wouldn't be doing an MRI or surgery. The tumors can come back, the surgery can sometimes only extend their lifespan by a short amount of time, and at the end of the day she doesn't understand things like medical procedures and having to go to the vet all the time. it'd just feel like hurting her for no reason. it's such a hard decision, but at some point I feel like I'd just be doing these things for me, not her. she'd much rather just be happy for as long as possible.

I did decrease the dose based on my vet's advice, but I'm going to tell her about the sudden relapse of symptoms and see what we can do. she was doing great on the 2.5mg/day, so I'm wondering if the symptom management outweighs the potential risks (kidney issues, etc.)

It's helpful to hear that you have similar thoughts to what i've been grappling with, even though I'm so sorry you've dealt with something similar. the not knowing is just so hard. people i've talked to agree that it's not cruel or selfish of me to refuse any more invasive treatments, which has really solidified my thoughts that we're just doing medication and keeping her happy until we can't anymore. not knowing when that'll be is the hard part, i guess.

thank you again

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. I am not sure every thread in this link will apply to your situation, but you may want to look through them anyway.
Search Results for Query: meningioma | TheCatSite

 

[fionasmom]

I completely agree that this is your decision regarding Eris. Several years ago, I stopped doing any "academic" testing or imaging, meaning if I were not going to proceed with some course of action based on the tests I simply did not do them. I think that you are at this point with Eris and I understand your reasoning.

Ask your vet for some information about palliative care. You may need to increase the pred again, based on your discussion with the vet, but there may be some other suggestions as well.