hi, i'm kind of in a pickle here and any input would be greatly appreciated.Pic related is my family's cat, she's 11 years old and recently she had a surgery to remove a tumor from her paw. After a biopsy, we found out that it's a malignant tumor and our vet strongly recommended that we started the chemotherapy already, and that we don't need to worry because, other than taking her to the clinic once a week, she would get to extend her life expectancy with comfort. Another veterinarian asked for an xray of her chest and it was established that her lungs are clean, and that amputating her affected leg would probably "save" her from the cancer and she would get to live the rest of her life normally (except with 3 paws).which vet do you think makes more sense here? did you ever have a pet with cancer before? what did you do? I've been told chemotherapy side effects are a lot easier to handle for cats. Any experience you can share would help me get at least some sense of the situation.
She's an old cat so I think amputation might be the best option as chemo takes a lot out of someone. She should be ok if her joints still work fine. Cats do fine on 3 legs.Usually when our pets got cancer they were old, very old so we made the choice to put them down but one that got it at 10 had his ear tips chopped off and he lived a little longer after that. Hope you can get through this anon.
>>5082439thank you for the reply>chemo takes a lot out of someonethat's what I said to the first vet but she says this idea we have of chemotherapy being super taxing to the body is from the higher doses that humans need for treatment, and that a creature with a considerably smaller size would take a smaller dose and wouldn't suffer as much (other than taking the stress of being put in a cage every week and having no idea what's going on). Looking up online that seems to be the case but I wanted someone with first hand experience.>one that got it at 10 had his ear tips chopped off and he lived a little longer after thatdid you manage to chop it off "in the right time"? as in did the cancer stop developing after amputation and then he died to something unrelated? I'm sorry if that's a stupid question but i'm not that well versed in how cancer develops>Hope you can get through this anonthank you very much
>>5082449I was a kid so I can't remember exactly but I feel like my parents struggled to afford it so it took over but I was really mad my cat died at the time so I don't know what happened but its up to you. No matter what just know you can't see the future.
>see OP cat>say, "Look at the wittle fee fee beebieswittle kitty cats kippen kitties
>>5082684yeah, she's very cute
>>5082427That face is so cute. I don’t have an expert reply, just that I hope your kitty is ok and recovers quickly.I have unfortunately had several experiences with cancer and cats. One was a 18 year old cat that developed essentially breast cancer. I was caught off guard and did one round of surgery to remove the affected tissue. It came back some time later, but at that point I didn’t want to put her through another tough surgery and spoiled her until it was time to go.I had a younger male cat develop GI lymphoma. He was only 11 when we figured out what was going on with him. We tried chemo but it was pissing in the wind because I think the disease was already too advanced and had probably spread throughout the lymphatic system.
>>5082427>I've been told chemotherapy side effects are a lot easier to handle for cats. Any experience you can share would help me get at least some sense of the situationidk man, if it's viable and affordable for you, maybe it's an option. i just know that when my kitty had a lymphoma, the doc said that in her career as a vet, she had exactly one feline patient who's owners decided to put her into chemotherapy, and they cancelled it and euthanized the cat because the side effects were too strong.it just fucking sucks. i am truly sorry for you. try to cope the way i did, read personal accounts on reddit, of actual people or their relatives who were just diagnosed with cancer, it unironically makes coping easier as it makes you realize that it's "just" a pet, and not your wife or mother.give her a pet from me though, she looks like a great fucking cat. i sincerely hope she'll be fine.
>>5082705>I was caught off guard and did one round of surgery to remove the affected tissuei'm basically at this point in the process with my cat. Right now i'm trying to pick between giving her a short-to-medium miserable life with chemo or what seems to be a 50/50 shot of a longer life with a paw less>It came back some time laterdo you remember how long it was? if it was a matter of months or maybe a year>>5082711>the doc said that in her career as a vet, she had exactly one feline patient who's owners decided to put her into chemotherapymy vet on the other hand was very eager for me to go straight to the chemotherapy. I try not to be too cynical but I kept wondering if she was just trying to "sell" the chemo to mealso thank you both for the kind words. I just don't want our cat to suffer anymore than she has to
>chemotherapy>for a catI understand how you must feel but that sounds absolutely ridiculous for a number of reasons. Just amputate and move on.If it pops up again (likely years down the line) you should probably just focus on symptom relief until the inevitable takes hold. The cat is an animal at the end of the day and lives a naturally short life. Don't torture the thing with cancer treatments.
>>5082719>>5082705If I remember correctly, it was about a year. The recovery for an 18 year old cat was on the rough side because they removed quite a bit of tissue.My vet said that with the chemo the objective was not the same as a human. In a human, they want to treat it so with such a dose, it almost kills you to totally wipe out the cancer. With an animal, the dosage is lower to stop/slow the growth and maybe cause some remission but really eliminate it.For a relatively young cat, I would trust amputation more than chemo for a longer outlook.
>>5082449>that a creature with a considerably smaller size would take a smaller dose and wouldn't suffer as much Obviously it'll get a smaller dose, but if the dose/bodyweight ratio isn't smaller it won't be less concentrated, so that's no reason to assume it'll suffer any less from it. Your vet is either a retard or cynically betting on your cat hiding its pain well (like most animals do) and you being none the wiser. I assume it's an indoor cat, but otherwise amputation is also a really bad idea.
>>5082427I don't know how it is for cats but I've been through chemo and I would much rather do it again than lose a leg.
>>5082427Please keep us updated anon.
OP here, thank you for the replies, tomorrow she'll go through an ultrasound scan to check on her liver and kidneys. If it doesn't show anything we'll most likely go with the amputation and hope that will buy her maybe 3 or 4 years before any sign of the cancer shows back up. It's gonna eat me up inside seeing her lose her mobility for a "maybe it will work out for the best" but I can't sit back and do nothing.
>>5083497It will be very hard for you to watch, but she'll adapt just fine. Cats are masters in adapting and surviving.
>>5083497for just a couple grand
>>5082427Jim Humble MMS pet protocols
>>5083497So what happened and how are you guys doing?
>>5083764nigga that looks like something you could 3D print for pennies
>>5082427I honestly don't know much about the topic, but I hope your cat gets better anon. Hope whatever decision you make leads to a speedy recovery.
