Update - cat has intestinal tumor

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AmyB

AmyB

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Hi everyone,
I haven't been on here in years because my older cat has been doing so well but I know this community is supportive and I just needed some advice or words of comfort.

I took my younger cat (5 years old) to the emergency vet last night due to him hiding and having some diarrhea. I knew something was kind of off already because he has been a lot more lethargic and not eating as much as normal but I was going to take him to his regular vet next week. Well the vet went ahead and ran some x-rays and found a large mass near his intestines. I took him to his regular vet this morning and he confirmed he has some kind of large intestinal tumor and his lymph nodes close by are swollen.

So I made the decision based on the vet's advice to go ahead and send samples out to get them tested just to confirm if the tumor is malignant and has spread. I have him home with me now and I've been giving him medicine and just trying to let him relax some. I know I'm going to have to make a decision next week and I'm trying to prepare myself for it I was just so blindsided by this and he's such a young cat. I don't want him to be in any pain but also I feel like I need to at least know for sure that it's malignant and nothing can be done.

Does anyone have any advice for making that decision? I know there's never a right answer but it just kills me to have to make it now when I thought I would get another 10 years with him. I also just don't know how to tell if it gets bad enough before I get the results back. I got him to eat some earlier and he's been drinking water but I worry about him using the litter box since the tumor is pressing on his intestines. Truly just anything is helpful this is my first cat I've had to make this decision about and I always thought I'd have more time.
 
Yeah the eating part I’m trying to work on because he hasn’t eaten much. I honestly don’t know if it’s even worth an oncologist with how large the tumor is. The only option would be to try to surgically remove it if it’s benign. I don’t want to put him through surgery if it’s just going to come back later. Also truthfully I can’t afford it I’ve already spent almost 2k in the last 24 hours.

I’m just wondering if I should even have waited but I was going to see how he does tonight and then call the vet in the morning if I need to.
 
I got him to eat a bit of tuna food and he's back laying in his box. The vet gave me buprenorphine, cerenia, and two different antibiotics to try and calm his intestines down and I just don't know if I should be seeing more results by now. The vet made it sound like it might take a day or two for it to get into his system, plus he was at the vet all last night and this morning so he's been stressed out.

I won't get biopsy results back until possibly Tuesday and I don't know if there's a point I should take him in again, like if he won't use the litter box or stops eating again. It's very hard seeing him so lethargic because he's always been such an energetic cat.
 
I am so sorry you are facing this. It is always a shock, but worse when they are young :bighug:
Depending on what is found, they do have options for treatment of cancer in cats. And they tolerate it quite well. He may not need an operation.
I would wait and see what the results are and what options the vet gives you. And as Wendy mentioned, is there an oncologist near you?
HERE is a link to stimulating the appetite
 
I'm sure there is, I'm in DFW so there are a lot of vets around here. I'm mostly just concerned because he's gone downhill so fast and he's not acting like himself at all, even on pain medicine and anti-nausea meds. He still seems alert but he is obviously uncomfortable and won't come out very much from where he is hiding. I also have not seen him use the litter box yet.
 
AmyB said:
I'm sure there is, I'm in DFW so there are a lot of vets around here. I'm mostly just concerned because he's gone downhill so fast and he's not acting like himself at all, even on pain medicine and anti-nausea meds. He still seems alert but he is obviously uncomfortable and won't come out very much from where he is hiding. I also have not seen him use the litter box yet.
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Depending on what pain meds he is taking…they can make them drowsy.
What antinausea meds do you have. Ondansetron would be the better one. You just need a script from the vet and then you buy it from the pharmacy. It is a human medication but is very good for nausea in cats. A lot of us use it here.
Let him eat whatever he wants. Eating anything is better than not eating.
 
He got buprenorphine which I think does make them drowsy. He's sitting in a fairly relaxed position he just wants to stay in the box. And they gave me cerenia which is fine I just hate giving it to them because it's such a hassle.
 
I would certainly try the cerenia to see if it helps. It’s hard for cats to eat if they are nauseated. Yes bupe can make them drowsy.
 
This is never easy. Your profile says you're 29 so it's likely you haven't been through this as often as some of us. It doesn't mean I have some words of wisdom you've never heard, that I can make it less painful or know of some miracle cure.
First off make sure it's a tumor and that it's malignant. We were put through Hell once when two vets and a canine oncologist all confirmed Hannah had a malignant tumor and had two months to live, another Christmas down the toilet. This was all based on failed needle biopsies but in their minds what else could it be? We were "lucky" that surgery and chemo weren't options, take her home and treat her like a Princess they said. That got a little old hand feeding her chicken six months later when she got all her weight back. It was a stomach cyst.
When and if the day comes. We always take them in, I've heard too many horror stories about at-home euthanasia. We pick a day when we know we can unplug the phone and just turn the world off. We usually try for a Saturday so we'll have the room to ourselves for an hour afterwards. We brush them, talk to them and leave them with their favorite things. Ask to sneak out the back door if possible.
Pain management. Nigel had cancer and went downhill fast. We doubled his BUPE, then doubled it again. We just kept him in our big bedroom and away from the stairs. Noah was different, he just got old and lost so much weight. The techs could never understand why we never wanted him weighed. It's too long of a story but he just hated oral meds and being fussed over so his lifesaver was transdermal BUPE. Life is a lot easier when the worst part of your day is having your ears tickled. It never affected his numbers, constipated him and he was always fine with our many stairs. Our only mistake was waiting one day too long. That's twice in my life I've done that and my only regret.
Guilt, shame, regret. Forget about all that. You know in your heart you did your best and he knows that too. I see these words too often in Grief and it's the very last thing you deserve and you know your cat would not want that for you.
Remembering We have lots of old urns upstairs that have come to look just awful over time. Years ago we switched to these cedar boxes. The color never fades, the wood never splits, they can be ordered sealed or with a hinge. Let me know and I can get you the manufacturers name and address.
Safe journey my friend, it's never long enough is it? :bighug:
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I they are not acting like a cat/companion that is another sign. Not eating, as already discussed is another. My Dulce had those symptoms last summer due to intestinal mass even with meds and I made the decision to say goodbye. Same for my civi Mia a couple of months ago. I could feel that tumor and size of at least a golf ball.
I was sort of lucky earlier this year with my civic Moxie. She was 13 years old and had a vet visit w/blood work a week previous. She was fine in the morning and at her normal amount of food (really she has been only eating ¼ of required food and I had to syringe the rest for the last 4-5 years or so). Later in the day I was looking for her to give her her Adequan shot and she was in her bed lifeless and cold.
 
Thank you for all of your kind words.

He's doing okay this morning, he's been eating small amounts of food throughout the night. My only concern is I don't think he's pooped yet but he also hasn't eaten too much so maybe he doesn't need to yet. He's just been laying in a comfy box and he'll come out occasionally and look around. I'm just going to keep him as comfortable as possible until we get test results back, because I want to be sure it's a malignant tumor. I'm trying to be realistic but there's a small part of me hoping it's a benign one I can have removed. But if it is malignant I don't want to put him through all of that and I'll probably make the choice to put him down.

It's just so hard knowing when is the right time. I'm telling myself just to wait for test results and then go from there.
 
Hi Amy, me again. I never got around to answering "when is it time" because there is no answer. I can tell you of a few times it was different enough for us the story is worth repeating. Yes these are all sad but if it helps you or anyone else it's worth it.
Jasper was the last time we did the "move Heaven and Earth" thing. He had a neurological problem that nobody ever did figure out. He had an MRI, a spinal tap and some needle biopsies and it was all for nothing. He was always a proud cat very fussy about grooming himself and he just ended up making a mess of himself living between his basket and the litter box. One day we had to ask ourselves what the point was and the next day he was gone. It wasn't the money, he just had no dignity left.
Kobiashi was a 28 pound gentle giant who got old, had heart problems and one day an embolism almost killed him. We knew he wasn't well but didn't know he had at least two cardiac events. That was on a Thursday night and a long weekend was coming up. That meant an hour long trip to emergency which he never would have survived. What was the point? That very night we decided he deserved better and decided to let him go.
I got lucky that Leroy lived to 23 but made a very selfish and stupid decision when his brother BJ had cancer. I should have just let him go in peace but instead kept hoping for a miracle I knew would never come. That's something I'll never live down, causing an animal to live in pain because I couldn't see the obvious. No one has known that until today, not one of my prouder moments.
Keep talking to us Amy, you'll need friends and people who have been through this. I always tell people little miracles happen all the time and they've happened to me but I've also learned to be realistic and when to be my cat's best friend. Sorry if I made you cry, not much fun for me either.
Dickson.
 
My main thing is he’s kind of not been himself for the last month or so. He’s always been a very energetic cat and loves to play with my other cat and get into things. He’s also very cuddly and likes to come lay on the bed and couch with me. Lately he’s just been sleeping in a few particular spots and that’s kind of what he’s doing this weekend. I have a box with a blanket set up that he’s been laying in and he’ll come out to eat but not much else.

Obviously I want to see what the vet thinks when we get results back but it’s a very large tumor and if it’s cancerous then I can’t imagine there’s much of a point in making him go through surgery and chemo when it’s likely already spread. I don’t want to let him go but at the same time I hate seeing him like this.
 
Don't mistake something simple for tragedy. I've seen all kinds of things in the 40+ years I've had cats that look like death and are actually something stupidly simple. My list includes an abscessed tooth, nails that have grown way too long, ticks almost as big as your thumbnail and Andrew swallowing a staple. That was discovered by accident, he was being X-rayed for something else and he just pooped it out but those are things that will make any cat not want to eat, hide in a closet or just plain old "not been himself for the last month or so".
The unfortunate part is cats can't talk so they make terrible patients. I agree that if it's spread and it's painful then what's the point. Your cat would tell you the same thing.
 
So he’s actually been pretty okay for the last 12 hours or so. He actually woke me up a few times last night to feed him and pet him and he came out and played a little.

I’m still worried he hasn’t pooped though does the bupe do anything to slow down their intestines? He’s definitely been peeing okay and he’s not in there straining or anything he just hasn’t even tried to go. But I also know what a severely constipated cat looks like so I’m keeping an eye on him for those signs.
 
My experience with BUPE was short term with oral and long term with transdermal. Neither affected their GI tracts. A severely constipated cat is an emergency, we just had one a month ago. That's something for an X-ray to tell you. Are you sure he's not going somewhere else? Cats are very good at hiding this. Keep track of how much he's been eating (every gram if you can) and if he poops take a sample to the vet to check for blood.
This is not science. A cat that still wants to play and eat is a good sign. When do the test results come back?
I'm in desperate need of some sleep. If you have an emergency start a new thread and go to emergency. At this point all I can do is give you moral support.
 
Oh we’re definitely not at emergency level, please get sleep and don’t worry about me lol. I’m mostly just posting to talk to people about it but I don’t want anyone staying up for that.

He’s still acting okay and wanting to eat and do things so I’m not worried yet. I’ll call the vet first thing in the morning and if he goes downhill tonight I’ll take him back to the emergency vet. My other cat got severely constipated once so I kind of know what to look for.
 
Hi everyone I just wanted to update now that I have more information. The vet is fairly positive Nyx has lymphoma and it has likely already spread to his nearby lymph nodes. They found large of amounts of large cell lymphocytes so it’s likely large cell lymphoma. He thinks that especially since Nyx is such a young cat it’s probably a fairly aggressive cancer.

I didn’t really want to put him (and me) through chemo and surgery unless there was a high chance of it working so I’m electing to just give him steroids and see how much time that buys him. Thankfully, the vet said his intestines are still working properly around the mass so we’re not worried about it causing blockages yet.

I didn’t know if anyone has any advice for managing cats like this, he’s still been acting okay but my concern is always that it’s harder to get him to eat. I have cerenia to give him when I get off work because he’s acting like he’s hungry but he won’t actually eat any of the food I give him. The vet gave him a triamcinolone shot if anyone has any experience with that.
 
Just now reading through this thread. Bron mentioned ondansetron, I just want to bring that up again. That's usually much better for cats that don't want to eat due to nausea. Cerenia never did much for my cat. I suppose you could also add an appetite stimulant possibly. I do also worry about possible pain.

Outside looking in, my thought is this - I'd be looking at quality of life weekly, and writing it down in some way. Wendy posted some links way above for knowing when to make the decision, if I recall correctly there's "score sheets" in that link. It can be very difficult to realize how much worse they've gotten when it's just slow things week after week. Just watching the 5 Ps, overall pleasure they take in things, comfort. Some people say "better a minute too soon than a second too late"; while I don't entirely agree with the sentiment, the gist of it is important.

Good luck to you :bighug:
 
Don't let the word "chemo" put you off of treatment. Cats handle it much better than people do. I'd have a good talk with the vet about what this entails and the odds of remission. I'm currently dealing with a cat with small cell lymphoma, who has been in remission for 4 years. Small cell is less aggressive for sure, but the chemo is not bad. I just treat with ondansetron around the time of dosing. It's a better drug than Cerenia for nausea.
 
AmyB said:
acting like he’s hungry but he won’t actually eat any of the food I give him.
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Please ask your vet to give you a prescription for Zofran orally dissolving tablets to be filled at a human pharmacy (generic name Ondansetron.) This is the most effective anti-nausea drug. It works very well for cats. It can be given every 8 hours, if needed. It's not a large pill. Do not try to dissolve it into your cats mouth (despite the name) but just pill kitty as normal. Using this anti-nausea medicine is a quality of life issue. I'm so sorry you've been through all of this and especially sorry for your sweet kitty.
 
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