Does anyone have any experience with rectal cancer in cats?
I took my 15-year-old cat Snowball to the vet Monday for a checkup and the vet found a black mass on her rectum which is suspicious for cancer. The vet did a biopsy but the results were inconclusive. The vet is recommending surgical removal regardless of what the mass is. Snowball does have a heart murmur but it is well controlled with medication. Monday's labwork also showed Snowball is in the early stages of kidney disease. The surgery would cost $1200 - $1400. The recovery period would be about 2 days so I donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t think the surgery would be too invasive. The vet said she would take as little of the rectum as possible. The cardiologist recommended we do another echocardiogram before the surgery but our vet said she would do the surgery if we chose to skip this as they would do a continuous EKG.
My heart says to have the surgery but my head says not to. At 15, Snowball is probably near the end of her lifespan anyway and Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]m worried the cancer has probably metastasized anyway. On the other hand the surgery could be successful and add several good quality years to her life. She is not in any discomfort at the time. Does anyone have any experience or advice on rectal cancer or surgery in older cats? Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks!
I took my 15-year-old cat Snowball to the vet Monday for a checkup and the vet found a black mass on her rectum which is suspicious for cancer. The vet did a biopsy but the results were inconclusive. The vet is recommending surgical removal regardless of what the mass is. Snowball does have a heart murmur but it is well controlled with medication. Monday's labwork also showed Snowball is in the early stages of kidney disease. The surgery would cost $1200 - $1400. The recovery period would be about 2 days so I donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t think the surgery would be too invasive. The vet said she would take as little of the rectum as possible. The cardiologist recommended we do another echocardiogram before the surgery but our vet said she would do the surgery if we chose to skip this as they would do a continuous EKG.
My heart says to have the surgery but my head says not to. At 15, Snowball is probably near the end of her lifespan anyway and Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]m worried the cancer has probably metastasized anyway. On the other hand the surgery could be successful and add several good quality years to her life. She is not in any discomfort at the time. Does anyone have any experience or advice on rectal cancer or surgery in older cats? Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks!