Hi,
I found this place when googling info for mammary cancer and tumors, which my cat has. I really want to talk to other cat lovers about it and I guess just vent. Most of the people in my life are not animal people, so I get frustrated talking to them when they all have this attitude of "well I guess you'll have to put her down" and think I'm crazy for spending money for care. I think they are crazy for questioning spending money on her care.
My cat is 6 years old, female (my avatar is her), and I've had her since she was a baby when I was only 19. I'm 25 now so I've had her for the majority of my adult life. I feel so guilty, as great of a pet owner as I am now, when I got her at 19 I did not give her the full attention and care she deserved until I matured more. I didn't get her fixed until she was 3, which I am just so upset at myself for now as I've read that this could have been prevented if I'd done it earlier. I've always lived in little apartments and I'm so close to getting enough money to finally move into a house with a backyard and garage, and she deserves to be around to enjoy that. I've been going to college and working full-time for years now, so I have little time at home with her and when I am home I'm doing homework, housework, or just exhausted, so I haven't had much time to play and spend with her.
It's hard to not just want to quit my job, quit everything and spend 24 hrs a day with her now to make sure she is ok all of the time. Being 6 years old, she's not young, but she's not old either.
Two months ago I noticed two small (nickel sized) lumps in her right breasts, and I took her to a nearby vet. He felt her belly and recommended immediate surgical removal, and said that they would send the growths they remove to a lab to be tested so we could find out what was wrong. I paid $600 for the surgery, it was a difficult recovery for her (she kept getting uti), and weeks went by without me hearing anything from the vet on her lab results. Finally after me calling repeatedly for days they told me that there was a mix-up and they lost the tumors. The lab said they never got them, and the vet says they sent them, so there was no way for us to find any answers. They refunded me the $15 lab fee and pretty much just said "sorry".
Even though I was upset because of that, I thought even without any results, maybe she would be fine now and no more tumors would grow back. Unfortunately I was very wrong, because just weeks later they were back with a vengeance in number and size. Now she more than 5 growing along her right breasts, and they are ping pong ball sized.
I have an appointment with a vet oncologist tomorrow morning, and I'm so worried about what she'll say. I make an ok salary at work so luckily I think I'll be ok on the cost of treatment, but I'm just hoping that treatment IS an option. I'm just so sad for her right now, it's hard to concentrate at work and school. I should have taken better care of her when I got her years ago.
I found this place when googling info for mammary cancer and tumors, which my cat has. I really want to talk to other cat lovers about it and I guess just vent. Most of the people in my life are not animal people, so I get frustrated talking to them when they all have this attitude of "well I guess you'll have to put her down" and think I'm crazy for spending money for care. I think they are crazy for questioning spending money on her care.
My cat is 6 years old, female (my avatar is her), and I've had her since she was a baby when I was only 19. I'm 25 now so I've had her for the majority of my adult life. I feel so guilty, as great of a pet owner as I am now, when I got her at 19 I did not give her the full attention and care she deserved until I matured more. I didn't get her fixed until she was 3, which I am just so upset at myself for now as I've read that this could have been prevented if I'd done it earlier. I've always lived in little apartments and I'm so close to getting enough money to finally move into a house with a backyard and garage, and she deserves to be around to enjoy that. I've been going to college and working full-time for years now, so I have little time at home with her and when I am home I'm doing homework, housework, or just exhausted, so I haven't had much time to play and spend with her.
It's hard to not just want to quit my job, quit everything and spend 24 hrs a day with her now to make sure she is ok all of the time. Being 6 years old, she's not young, but she's not old either.
Two months ago I noticed two small (nickel sized) lumps in her right breasts, and I took her to a nearby vet. He felt her belly and recommended immediate surgical removal, and said that they would send the growths they remove to a lab to be tested so we could find out what was wrong. I paid $600 for the surgery, it was a difficult recovery for her (she kept getting uti), and weeks went by without me hearing anything from the vet on her lab results. Finally after me calling repeatedly for days they told me that there was a mix-up and they lost the tumors. The lab said they never got them, and the vet says they sent them, so there was no way for us to find any answers. They refunded me the $15 lab fee and pretty much just said "sorry".
Even though I was upset because of that, I thought even without any results, maybe she would be fine now and no more tumors would grow back. Unfortunately I was very wrong, because just weeks later they were back with a vengeance in number and size. Now she more than 5 growing along her right breasts, and they are ping pong ball sized.
I have an appointment with a vet oncologist tomorrow morning, and I'm so worried about what she'll say. I make an ok salary at work so luckily I think I'll be ok on the cost of treatment, but I'm just hoping that treatment IS an option. I'm just so sad for her right now, it's hard to concentrate at work and school. I should have taken better care of her when I got her years ago.