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Old March 16th, 2008, 06:21 PM
ct109 ct109 is offline
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: usa
Posts: 2
chico2 - thanks for your condolences. I always checked my cat for lumps too and about 5 years prior, I found one on his side. But since it was soft and never grew, they didn't do anything about it and concluded it had nothing to do with this cancer. What I learned is that it is such an inexact science and there are so many variables that you can't always take what a vet says at face value. And the fact that cancer is so hard to detect without a scan or biopsy. Because their blood work up is normal and they aren't visibly ill, most vets will stop at that. The vet told me that I would have been lucky if my cat had limped due to the tumor on his femur, but he never did so I never knew. I know I gave him 10 great years with only one day of hospitalization and I don't think he ever suffered, but I can't stop kicking myself for medical decisions I made. I probably should have taken him in sooner in hindsight, but he wasn't sick and I didn't want to disrupt his comfort with a bunch of medical procedures that would have been miserable for him. With the knowledge I now have, I'm still not sure what I would have done. You are right that the best chance is to find a lump BEFORE there are other signs of cancer like blood and weight loss. That's a really important point because I work for an MD and my sister is a vet and they both agreed that by the time there were cancer symptoms a few months prior to his death, it had most likely metastasized and would have been too late. Chemo is way less effective for animals than humans because it's usually in the later stages and even my sister (the vet) said she wouldn't have treated it at that point. He went into shock from blood loss and died in my arms on the trauma table, but at least it was quick. One good thing was that he didn't go through that slow cancer death where they get weaker and weaker and you have to helplessly sit and watch. Although vets have assured me that waiting a couple of months to bring him in probably made no difference because at least two tumors and those other signs meant it had already spread, I still question myself. Your point is very important though. Finding a lump could have possibly prevented my situation so you have to do checks. Unfortunately, my cat's lump was in his intestine so there was no real way to feel it. But now I know that I would address any lump I find because that could be the start of cancer and very treatable. But catching it once it's spread is a bitch and you have to decide what's best for your cat and you end up questioning yourself. Thanks again for your condolences.
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