Hey all, I'm sort of at a loss so I'm seeing if anyone else on the Internet has ever had a difficult decision to make about their beloved pet...
About 3 months ago, my cat started coughing. It wasn't like anything I had ever heard her do before so I took her to the vet. The vet thought maybe it was actually hiccups so they gave her a 24-hour steroid, which didn't help. The next appointment they took xrays, sent them off to the specialist, and they found a "fluid-filled" mass on one of her lungs which was also confirmed with an ultrasound. After two rounds of Clavamox, there was no change so they did another set of xrays along with blood work and a longer-acting steroid (which also did nothing). The blood work came back completely normal, but the vet told me the mass seemed to have broken open and was now covering her heart and other lung. At that point, I was referred to a specialist.
I had the specialist appointment last week. They did a CT scan, bronchoscopy, attempted biopsy on the mass, and took specimens from her lungs. The CT scan again confirmed the mass on her lung. The bronchoscopy showed nothing. The attempted biopsy came back inconclusive. The specimens from her lungs showed inflammation cells and bacteria. Diagnosis - pnuemonia or lung cancer. They grew the bacteria from her lungs over the weekend in the lab to see what it is and what antibiotics will work on it. In the meantime, they gave me another round of Clavamox to give to her. Since the results came back, they switched her to Doxycycline. They want to do a repeat CT scan in two weeks. If the mass hasn't gone away after that, the next step is surgery to remove it.
So for the mucus and lung issue, the vet believes she has some type of pneumonia. As for the mass, they have no idea what it is - it could be just a clump of infection that grew over time or it could not be related at all, and they just happened to find it; but they have no idea. But just this one visit to the specialist has almost wiped out my savings account, so I'm really unsure of what to do. I don't know if I should consider surgery. I dont know how I'd even pay for it if I did decide to go for it.
My current fear is she has cancer. If I just let the mass grow and don't operate, she will start to suffer at some point (which I don't want). On the other hand, I also don't want to send her to her death by agreeing to the surgery. Just the thought of her last conscious thought being scared because she's in a strange room with strange people hurting her by sticking in IV's.
I'm also a bit nervous about a repeat CT scan. They put your pet under for a CT scan. Last time, she was out quite a bit longer because they did several other procedures, but it took her quite a while to start acting like herself again or even to eat. It took quite a few hours for her to stabilize enough that I could bring her home. When I brought her home, she ran into the spare bedroom and stayed there for 3 days. In that time she didn't eat, drink, or use the litter box to the best of my knowledge. When I would go in there to lay down and give her comfort, she would wag her tail and rub against me like she wanted the attention; but she would not purr or leave the room. Now she is finally acting like herself again - purring, cuddling, eating, drinking, using the litter box, playing, etc.
Anyway, I'm just super frustrated, angry, defeated, upset, etc. Was wondering if anyone else had ever gone through something similar with a beloved pet? I'm fighting so hard for a happy ending for her, but I am so scared it is going to turn out the opposite....
Tldr: Took cat to vet for cough and was referred to a specialist after a few imaging tests that showed a mass on a lung and bloodwork that came back normal. The specialist did some more in-depth diagnostic testing and came back with pneumonia or cancer. They switched her from Clavamox to Doxycycline and want to do a repeat CT in two weeks. I'm afraid to do surgery.
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/ak0qai/i_have_a_difficult_decision_to_make/
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