I know kitties are not human...of course...

But about two weeks ago, I took our 15 year-old kitty--Gabi (after Gabriela Sabitini) for her annual, and our vet found some mass in her stomach!

The bloodwork, ultrasound, and biopsy confirmed something was going on--but everything came back inconclusive.

She's lost weight... her platelet numbers are not good, but other than that she's the same ol, same ol terrorizing our dogs and the vets if the truth be told!! She had to be sedated somewhat for all her tests and shots-- as always--- but she came through showing no signs of illness.

Anyway, the long and short of it is both of our vets have advised us that surgery isn't going to fix anything.

I have NEVER in all my years just let a pet... die.

She is eating... showing no signs of illness. She's not vomiting. But she's got this mass in her spleen.. Like I said, she's the queen--showing our dogs no mercy.

We called our vets again over the past two days, they said it was better just not to do anything--just letting her live her life.

It is very difficult for us to just accept her situation is terminal---to wait until she deterorates.

So any advice any of you might be able to offer will be helpful.

I don't post all the time. But I would appreciate your input.

love her as best and as long as you can. sorry that's all i got

Poor old thing she has had a good innings though this far!

If you start with treatments etc, that aren't 100% guaranteed to help, you might shorten the QUALITY life has in her yet to live. Even at best she has probably 4-5 years left anyway Let her live it out the way she has always, and when she starts to suffer, ease it and end it.

I'm sorry, this totally sucks!!

XxAxX said:

love her as best and as long as you can. sorry that's all i got

Thank you so much!

To tell you the truth, I have NEVER encountered this before, and I've had a lot of pets.

I just want to "do" something, ya know? My husband called the vet today because he was off for Good Friday. I called the vet yesterday, and I just got this annoying response!

To just let her go... it's just so difficult. But my husband told me this evening... that's what BOTH of our vets advised.

She is just a cool kitty-cat. She "hangs" with our dogs. She is just .... such a character. I want to help her... but at the same time I want her life to good, too. And the vets seem to think removing "the tumor" would do more harm than good.

I was just hoping somebody here might offer...an alternative...

It's just so difficult to know she's deteriorating even though right now... it's very difficult to detect. I would have NEVER even know she had lost weight. It's not like she's skinny or anything.

Thanks for your support. As you can see... I'm panicked.

deadmansbones said:

XxAxX said:

love her as best and as long as you can. sorry that's all i got

To tell you the truth, I have NEVER encountered this before,

I just want to "do" something,

To just let her go... it's just so difficult.

I want to help her... but at the same time I want her life to good, too.

removing "the tumor" would do more harm than good.

I would have NEVER even know she had lost weight. It's not like she's skinny or anything.

... I'm panicked.

The lesson she is teaching you, might be about accepting life and death as it comes. Can't control everything, when you go with her flow, you can love, support and respect her.

And I lover her already! She is an example for all the org girls isn't she

"she's the queen--showing our dogs no mercy"

She is just a cool kitty-cat. She "hangs" with our dogs. She is just .... such a character.

Love and respect her for her fierce and strong character. And support her when she needs your love, understanding and acceptance of everything going on.

ZombieKitten said:

Poor old thing she has had a good innings though this far!

If you start with treatments etc, that aren't 100% guaranteed to help, you might shorten the QUALITY life has in her yet to live. Even at best she has probably 4-5 years left anyway Let her live it out the way she has always, and when she starts to suffer, ease it and end it.

I'm sorry, this totally sucks!!

Thank you so much.

It's so hard just to let her go without trying to do something to save her.

She's such a hoot. I was hoping she'd be one of those cats living until her 20's. She's never been sick a day in her life. One of our friends who HATES cats--just loves Miss Gabi. She's just a great little kitty, and we'd help her if we could.

But we called today... I had my husband called because I think I pissed-off the vet yesterday! I swear to freakin God, if we EVER get another pet, I'm changing vets. This one guy is just an asshole. And I think the office staff suffers from his asshatery.

Unfortunately though, the other vet who really seems to like animals said the same thing. Since both the ultrasound and biospy were inconclusive, the ONLY option was surgery... and the prognosis was not good.

I remember once I posted here, receiving good advice. I was just hoping somebody would give me some options.

dJJ said:

deadmansbones said:

To tell you the truth, I have NEVER encountered this before,

I just want to "do" something,

To just let her go... it's just so difficult.

I want to help her... but at the same time I want her life to good, too.

removing "the tumor" would do more harm than good.

I would have NEVER even know she had lost weight. It's not like she's skinny or anything.

... I'm panicked.

The lesson she is teaching you, might be about accepting life and death as it comes. Can't control everything, when you go with her flow, you can love, support and respect her.

And I lover her already! She is an example for all the org girls isn't she

"she's the queen--showing our dogs no mercy"

She is just a cool kitty-cat. She "hangs" with our dogs. She is just .... such a character.

Love and respect her for her fierce and strong character. And support her when she needs your love, understanding and acceptance of everything going on.

She's definitely a bitch... and I love her for it!

Thanks so much... She is a cool kitty.

deadmansbones said:

dJJ said:

The lesson she is teaching you, might be about accepting life and death as it comes. Can't control everything, when you go with her flow, you can love, support and respect her.

And I lover her already! She is an example for all the org girls isn't she

"she's the queen--showing our dogs no mercy"

She is just a cool kitty-cat. She "hangs" with our dogs. She is just .... such a character.

Love and respect her for her fierce and strong character. And support her when she needs your love, understanding and acceptance of everything going on.

She's definitely a bitch... and I love her for it!

Thanks so much... She is a cool kitty.

Political incorrect term. Especially when she's dominating the dogs. She aint their b...

Let's come up with a term that suits her and pays her the respect she deserves......

She's an angelic Cool Cat?

dJJ said:

deadmansbones said:

She's definitely a bitch... and I love her for it!

Thanks so much... She is a cool kitty.

Political incorrect term. Especially when she's dominating the dogs. She aint their b...

Let's come up with a term that suits her and pays her the respect she deserves......

She's an angelic Cool Cat?

You're exactly correct.

She's the queen. --for sure an angelic cool cat!

This is weird. We looked at her history... and her platelet count has been going down for a number of years now. I'm just hoping this is some slow growing cancer.

The vets give her 6 months. I guess in animal years, that's at least a year.

I'm sick about it... as you can tell.

I can relate. I panick as soon as I even get the thought about my cat being hurt.

So, I'm just talking the talk, not walking the walk

She just sounds so cool, I already adore her.

Give her the best time as the queens she is......

Letting go allways hurts, so now she is still around, give her a cuttle from me, please

I'm sorry to hear about your situation. If she doesn't appear to be suffering, I would just let her be. I had to make a decision to let my cat go a couple years ago. He was diabetic for 5 years. At the end, he lost feeling and use of his hind legs. Even when that happened, I didn't want to let go. I thought I was going to nurse him back to health but after the second day of the neuropathy, I knew he was in pain and was unable to enjoy the life he was used to, so I knew I had to let him go. Trust me, it was the hardest decision that I have ever had to make in my life.

We had to put my Freddy down a couple of years ago due to kidney failure and I poured my heart out on the org too. He was 18 years old and barely able to lift his little head at the end. I held him and told him how much we loved him, then cried the rest of the week after it was over...I still miss him but it didn't feel right to continue letting him suffer.

You will know when it's time...for now, give your kitty as much love as possible. Love and prayers...

My story is sort of similar to babynoz's: we had an abandoned cat show up in our yard last fall, and her diabetic problems got really bad. She was 14. I sort of wanted to do the euthanasia here at home, but in the end took her to the vet - so glad I toughed it out and did that. They were extremely compassionate and Keisha's passing was fast and more than anything - Dignified. Under the circumstances (being abandoned by the previous owners), that meant so much to me. She deserved nothing less than that.

i have lost a cat friend before, it was really hard... she had pulmonary carcinoma which was too far gone to do anything about. there was another one i live with who transcended recently as well, and i think that was a kidney thing.

my heart goes out to you... as long as your friend knows you loved her, she will be fine moving into the spirit world.

kitbradley said:

I'm sorry to hear about your situation. If she doesn't appear to be suffering, I would just let her be. I had to make a decision to let my cat go a couple years ago. He was diabetic for 5 years. At the end, he lost feeling and use of his hind legs. Even when that happened, I didn't want to let go. I thought I was going to nurse him back to health but after the second day of the neuropathy, I knew he was in pain and was unable to enjoy the life he was used to, so I knew I had to let him go. Trust me, it was the hardest decision that I have ever had to make in my life.

I had a cat named Scooter, and the exact same thing happened to him. He would just drag his hind legs, and it used to break my heart. The vet said that it was cancer, and told me that I could take him home for awhile. I declined, because I could not bear to see my cat's health deteriorate any further, so I opted to have him put to sleep. I would come home from work, and just find him lying motionless behind the couch. I could tell he was in pain, and feared that I would find him dead one day when I came home. That would have totally made me sad for a very long time.

Having to put a beloved animal to sleep is DEFINITELY one of life's hardest decisions, that's for sure! But sometimes you have to do what is right for the animal's sake.

[Edited 4/24/11 12:56pm]

Sorry about the situation with your cat. Hope your kitty gets the help it deserves.

There is a lot of good advice that has been given on this thread. I agree with those who stated to love your cat as much as you can, while you still have her. My heart hurts for you, because I have been through this before on several occasions, and it is NEVER an easy thing to have to go through!

I believe in kitty heaven...even if she passes away, she will be with her long lost mommy daddy and siblings chasing rats

as a cat lover & cat owner eye feel ur pain what u do now is up 2u? do u wake up one day & find it has passed away? or do u have it put 2 sleep? like u said it is eating so this is a difficult one.whatever u do eye wish u all the best at this painful time.eye c people die everyday they r so ill yet hang on 4 many weeks & months people r always saying 2me if my dad or mother was an animal they would b simply put 2 sleep!eye dont think eye could watch my cat slowly deteriorate til it died in my arms,that would kill me so id have 2 go 2 a vet & watch my little friend fall asleep as eye stroke his head that would b painful enuf!!

BklynBabe said:

I'm so sorry to hear about your kitty! I'm going to tell you, as a veterinarian, that a splenic mass at that age has a high chance of malignancy. If you really wish to pursue treatment options, they will be expensive. Your best option would be to go to a veterinary school or a referral hospital. You can literally spend thousands and prolong her life by a month. This is your choice. As a vet I would also like you to know that when I tell a person of a terminal disease it does not make me happy. I have learned to be somewhat detached, just like a human doctor, because otherwise I'd bawl my eyes out regularly! And there are too many other clients that need to be seen. A veterinarian job is not glamorous, it's frustrating and things you will see that make you not love mankind... Your vet is a human being, and from my experience a probably severely overworked and underappreciated one! Have you ever sent him a card or cookies or even said thank for all the good years he DID give your kitty friend? If you really want to try surgery let them know! It is your decision to make. However I always feel if something happens and I knew it wasn't the best choice, the client will blame me, BTDT this is why I don't practice as a private veterinarian any more. It's hard when you want to help people and be honest with them and instead you get yelled at and called names or treated like you are unknowledgeable and uncaring for speaking the truth. I'm sure if most of you had jobs like that, you would want to make changes. Now....as a kitty owner myself, and my kitty is about 13, i know you love your pet. I had a dog I loved, best dog ever, that I had to put to sleep myself. In my own job, and then went right back to work like my heart wasn't broken! That's how most of us vets are! Even the ones that seem like assholes, I'm sorry again, but life for everything on this planet has only one guarantee and that is, we all will die. I suggest you love your kitty with all your heart, and you let go gracefully at the end, knowing she will always be in your heart! By the way I never give people a time limit because I am not God and don't know the future. I always tell people that each day is a gift, I will do whatever they want, and I will be there for them at the end if they want to ease the pain. Best wishes to you and my kitty sends your kitty a get well purr!

As a matter of fact, I always thank my vet and his staff every year at Christmas. Plus, I've been loyal to his business...for years.

But sometimes for whatever reason.. it's time to make a change, not that I'm going to. I was really upset when I started this particular thread.... and angry about the whole situation. But I've calmed down quite a bit. My husband sought the other vet's opinion in the practice, and it's the same... so...

If I offended you, I'm sorry, but sometimes this particular vet can be rude.... and his office staff can be rude, too. I've put up with it for YEARS, but I've always gone back. And I'll probably go back again because I recognize this vet is good in spite of a sometimes not so friendly personality. And his office staff can be not so friendly, too, sometimes. But I'll continue for the sake of my two dogs even though they can't do anything for my kitty.

However, if I ever get a new pet, I might go to another vet just to start fresh. I mean, maybe my vet needs a break from me, too? Sometimes any relationship can run its course, and maybe this one has?

Anyhoo, thanks for your input. Thus far, my kitty hasn't show any additional signs of illness. She's eating and she hasn't lost any more weight.. She doesn't act sick at all..

But obviously, her days are numbered.

Thanks everybody...