Need Advice - Surgery to Remove Growth

[lbeachstace]

Buddy has a cyst that our vet, a surgeon and two Chewy.com vets have suggested having removed.

It is located on a nipple on his front right arm and started out small and two vets were not concerns. Started out as very small but has become larger (about 1" long) and has ruptured a couple of times.

We aren't sure if it's cancer or a cyst that is benign but the surgeon was concerned that if it is not removed, it could one day become infected.

Blood work (including pre-op) have been done - all looks good.
An echocardiogram was done and he's been cleared for surgery.
(side note: He has had two shots of Solensia over the past 5 weeks.)

His BG numbers has been a bit erratic but have been in the 90-125 range most recently.

Does anyone have thoughts, concerns or reasons we should not do the surgery? We want to do it but we are nervous.

 

[Lisa and Witn (GA)]

My sister's cat recently had surgery to remove one of her thyroid glands that turned out to be cancerous. Libby is 13 and there were no issues with her surgery. While there are always risks with any procedure that requires anesthesia, I really think not having the surgery could potentially be worse. As you said there is always the risk of infection or it may turn out to be cancerous. When they do the surgery they will most likely remove extra tissue around it to try to ensure they prevent it from spreading. They probably will also do a biopsy to determine if it is cancer.

 

[lbeachstace]

Thanks @Lisa and Witn (GA)

We agree with you.

Just wondering, with his diabetes and numbers being up and down - is surgery something we should be concerned about. We will let our vet know but last night, for example - he dropped into the 50s during the overnight hours.

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

Plenty of human diabetics have surgical procedures. As long as the vet is aware that your cat is diabetic and his BG is monitored during surgery, it should be fine. Just be aware that anesthesia can lower BG numbers. It's important that he be monitored and that you keep an eye on the numbers once Buddy is home. It can take a while for anesthesia to wear off.

 

[lbeachstace]

@Sienne and Gabby (GA) - the vet is very aware and the cardiologist who did the echo sent thru recommendations for anesthesia as well.

so if it lowers his BG, do we need to adjust his dose at all? his numbers were really low last night. we will 100% be monitoring him.

 

[Lisa and Witn (GA)]

Thanks @Lisa and Witn (GA)

We agree with you.

Just wondering, with his diabetes and numbers being up and down - is surgery something we should be concerned about. We will let our vet know but last night, for example - he dropped into the 50s during the overnight hours.

If there is an infection or pain, that can affect glucose numbers. Check with your vet to determine if you will give insulin on the day of surgery.

 

[Noah & me (GA)]

there are always risks with any procedure that requires anesthesia...not having the surgery could potentially be worse.

If he's cleared for anesthesia I'd just get it over with now especially if the cyst is getting bigger. The results will also be more accurate regarding cancer than a needle biopsy. We've never had a definitive result from a needle biopsy and have twice had false positives.
Be aware that the stress from any vet visit will throw his numbers off. Our first sugar cat practically jumped in the car and adored our vet but every visit sent his numbers into the Twilight Zone. Good luck and keep us posted.