My 16 year old cat was diagnosed with cancer today…

I’m devastated. She’s my baby & my best friend. A few months ago she stopped eating her dry food. Then she barely ate her favorite gravy.

She lost 5 pounds in a few months. She was vomittng more often too. She did vomit here & there for years, so I didn’t see that as a red flag at first.

She only has two weeks left to live before the vet recommended putting her down.

For now she was given fluids & steroids to ease some of her pain. She doesn’t appear to be in pain, but she was meowing a lot for awhile, so who knows?

Prior to todays Xray, she was given another Xray that cost over 4 times as much only for me to be told that she has a slight heart murmur & impacted feces in her colon.

Her bloodtest from my original vets place came out remarkably welll for a 16 year old cat.

She is acting nothing except for not eating much now.

I’ll probably put her down before two weeks is over with if she completely stops eating & shows signs of pain or more weight loss.

I cried so much at the vets office. I used up a whole box of tissues. Hopefully I didn’t make anyone uncomfortable.

I also cried at my clients place but she understood my pain & she was willing to let me go early & get the day off tomorrow, but I need the money badly.

Also my manager has been snappy with me since my last client who is her friend complained about me to her. She said that I overwhelmed her. She also told her some personal info that had nothing to do with this job or her.

Thankfully the new client is a lot calmer & not the type to badmouth people behind their back. I learned my lesson & mostly keeping things light with her now.

I don’t want to risk loosing my job. No one can take time off for the holidays now too.

I wonder if the vet lied when she said that nothing could’ve prevented this. Also, why didn’t the vet offer to do chemotherapy or some kind of cancer treatment?

Is it because of her age? She didn’t think that anything could’ve been done it seens like. I wonder if she was telling the truth or not. I told her that finances aren’t good now. I shouldn’t have said anything.

Even then, maybe she wouldn’t have lived for much longer anyways.

I love her so much. She is the only thing in this workd who has always been there fir me unlike people. She loves me no matter what. Even when I accidentally stepped on her tail before, she always forgave me for that quickly.

She is the sweetest, most beautiful, unique, intelligent, funny, cool & sassiest cat I’ve ever had.

I won’t even get to spend one last Christmas with her. I’ll ne crying a lot for the next few months.

I geel so guilty as I probably could’ve taken better care of her. I skipped dental care as she never had any serious issues aside from tartar buildup. Dental issues can cause illness though.

I should’ve kept her away from the two stray cats we feed in the backyard too. They never bothered her that I was aware of though.

I wasn’t consistent about giving her flea treatments as well. I always made sure that she got every main vaccination like her rabies & feline leukemia shots sll the time though.

I still feel like I could’ve prevented this from happening maybe.

My husband is financially controlling & cheap, so I had limited options with no money to spare until I started working f/t 6 months ago.

I’ll be a lot more careful with the next cats that I get.

I really hope that she’s not in to much pain now. I doubt that she’ll make it past Christmas.

I'm so sorry. I've lost precious kitties too and it's awful. But you need to know that you did not do anything that caused this. Try to enjoy your time and not spend it beating yourself up. Post here if you need to "talk".

Thanks for your kind words.

I am so sorry you are going through this— I don’t know what I’d do if I had to put my Cleo down. Obviously, it will happen eventually, but it is still a very hard thing to deal with. Animals are so pure and supportive, their love is unconditional and they do not judge. I am thinking of you and if you need to talk, I am here.

Thanks. Sorry to hear about your cat. You’re right about cats.

I know how it is to go through this. It's never easy. Many hugs to you.

Thanks. How old was your kitty Cleo? What was wrong with Cleo?

I called an oncologist today as she’s stable now & eating again. Hopefully they’ll agree to perform surgery on her soon.

My kitty Cleo is fine — she does not need to be put down. I ws just saying that it would be devastating to me if I had to do that. I hope all goes well for your fur baby.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

my 17 yr old tuxedo kitty Bootsie Jane got cancer. She was very, very sick and stopped eating and drinking. we treated with antibiotics for a week hoping shed improve but it wasadvanced. i know what its like to have a cat for so long. theyre super special!!

My wife went through it a year ago with hers that lived to be 18. It was a tough decision to put hers down and I was there for her through it. Putting down a part of the family is tough.This with pets,they are family

I had a 13 year old kitty who suddenly got very ill. Took her to the vet and he could feel tumors in her stomach so she had to be put down. He said there was nothing he could do for her. I was in shock because 13 years old isn't that old, I feel, for a cat. The ones I had before lived until they were 18 or over. Nothing I did caused the cancer and there was nothing else I could do for her.

Nobody blamed me and I didn't blame myself. Life happens even though it hurts us.

Sorry to hear about Bootsie Jane. Kitties are very special.

Sorry to hear about your kitty. 13 years old isn’t that old.

I’m so sorry — I have been where you are, and it’s awful. I don’t know your fur baby’s full story, but the very first cat i adopted when i lived out here was an older cat who’d lived a rough life from the sound of it. I adopted him in early February 2020, and by the end of the month, I’d had to have him euthanized because he had severe kidney disease. His labs had been fine according to the medical director at the adoption agency, however, all the vets agreed that this can happen with older cats who’ve led rough lives; their bloodwork is ok until they find their forever home where they feel safe and loved, and then any underlying disease will rear its ugly head. It’s cruel, but apparently very common when adopting older cats. Cost a lot of money for the xrays, ultrasound, labs, medications, IV fluids, etc. Sorry to ramble— i don’t know if any of this was helpful or not. However, I feel your pain and I am so sorry.