# Intestinal mass size of tennis ball



## Jazzmin (Dec 31, 2009)

My generally very healthy kitty (10 years old) has had a cough for a few weeks and then I noticed she lost some weight. Took her to the vet expecting antibiotics. Instead was told she's got a mass the size of a tennis ball in her intestine. The vet did blood work and an ultrasound to come to this conclusion. We've been with this vet 10 years and she's good.

Now she's given us the option of exploratory surgery and to not wake her up if she finds that it's not curable. But, overall, it appears the vet doesn't feel optimistic - the surgery would just be to make 100% sure she's not salvageble, but mostly, we'd be basically euthanasing her.

As you can imagine, I'm devastated. I'm also stressed by the decision. Prior to this I've had two kitties that I've done hospice care for because there was nothing else to be done. I made them comfortable and held them in my arms as they passed away. But now I feel like 1) if I do the surgery and she doesn't come out of it (very likely), I will be upset that I didn't give her more time with us and let her be home when the time came naturally (she's skinny right now and has black tarry poops, is not eating as much, but otherwise normal and happy so I'd hate to see her die now from a surgery) .... 2) if I DON'T do the surgery, when she does die, I'll wonder about that small possibility that she could've been saved and given more years to be with us.

I love my vet. We were one of her first patients when she was starting out. But her practice has grown to the point where we may move on soon. We just feel like she tries hard, but she just doesn't really have that time anymore to really sit with us and gives the time to ask a million questions. This isn't an easy decision. On the other hand, I know she really just doesn't have that much info. 

Has anyone been through this? Could you share your own experiences and how you coped and made decisions in your situation? Thank you.


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## lethalsarcasm (Jul 12, 2010)

My 13 year old male, Smudge just went through some almost identical symptoms except his mass was in his throat and it was giving him some breathing problems. We wanted to have it surgically removed if at all possible, if to do nothing more than to make his breathing easier. What my surgeon recommended doing was doing a CT scan prior to making the decision whether or not the mass was surgically removable. Your vet may not have these capeabilities, but you should really check and see if you can get a referral. The CT scan does require general anesthesia, but it is non-invasive so you can get your answer without putting your kitty through the ringer.
We got lucky and Smudge's mass was removeable and now he is recouperating at home. I can only hope that you and your kitty have the same luck.


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## GeorgesMom (May 12, 2010)

Hospice care (ie-keeping them at home til they gently pass away) is very comforting to both cat and owner *if* the terminal illness is the kind of thing that gently passing away is possible. 

When I lost my boy recently, unfortunately we put him to sleep after a night that was horribly difficult for both of us. 

Personally, I would opt for surgery if you can afford it and just treat her last day with you before the surgery like it might be her last. The gift of going to sleep without ever having to suffer is a significant one. I would not feel guilty if you chose that option.


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## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

Your story is exactly the same one I had with my first cat Onyx, right down to being the same age. She had been losing weight, but I had recently added Callie to the house and Callie would push Onyx out of the food dish. Since Onyx was a bit chubby I didn't really consider it a problem. 

Then Onyx started coughing and hacking, I thought it was a hairball (I was pretty uneducated about cats at the time). Gave her hairball remedy for a couple weeks with no effect. Then I came home one day and her nose and eyes were runny. Thought it was a URI, took her to the vet and they found a mass in her abdomen. 

I opted for the exploratory surgery...the mass had eaten through her intestine and she was leaking fluid into her abdominal cavity, only a matter of time before she became septic. The coughing, runny nose/eyes were due to the cancer having spread to her lungs. The vet said it wouldn't be more than a couple weeks. I didn't feel that she should be woken up from the surgery only to spend her last days miserable from cancer and recovering from significant abdominal surgery. 

I'm sorry you're going through this, if it were me I would not opt for the surgery. To me, the cough, the tarry stool and the mass are not good signs. I would spend as much quality time with her as I could and when she loses interest in life, then I'd give her the final gift of euthanasia as death from cancer is very painful.


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## Jazzmin (Dec 31, 2009)

Thank you all for your responses. As you can imagine, I have been a wreck for these last days. Doodlebug, your story in particular hit a nerve because the symptoms are so much my girl's symptoms that I fear we're heading toward the end.  After agonizing, my husband and I decided to have a needle aspiration done to just confirm if it's cancer. Well, turns out the specialist that does that won't be in for another week. Our vet is worried that may be too far away but can't give me any other options. I'm trying, with the help of my sister, to see if there's any other place that can do it sooner.

I still am torn about the decision because I don't want her poked and prodded too much. She's the most loving girl in the world but is very very shy and fearful with strangers. However, I want to put my mind at ease that there's nothing I can do to save her and then just give her love in her final days. We've done hospice with two of our other kitties (one as recently as this past April) and it's a hard hard thing to know they are going. But it's also rewarding to give them as much time and love as possible as long as they are not miserable and in pain. So far, she's skinny and clearly not 100%, but doing well enough that I wouldn't put her down at this point.

Anyway, I'm so sad and so upset that I can't get her services sooner so we can all know what's going on. If it's something she can be saved from, I'm angry to have to wait.


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## Jazzmin (Dec 31, 2009)

Here's a picture of her ...


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## catloverami (Jul 5, 2010)

Aaaw, sweet Jazzmin. Hopefully one week won't make too much difference to wait for the needle biopsy. At least you will know whether it's malignant or not. All the best for you and Jazzmin.


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## icebox (Mar 14, 2007)

Jazzmin said:


> My generally very healthy kitty (10 years old) has had a cough for a few weeks and then I noticed she lost some weight. Took her to the vet expecting antibiotics. Instead was told she's got a mass the size of a tennis ball in her intestine. The vet did blood work and an ultrasound to come to this conclusion. We've been with this vet 10 years and she's good.
> 
> Now she's given us the option of exploratory surgery and to not wake her up if she finds that it's not curable. But, overall, it appears the vet doesn't feel optimistic - the surgery would just be to make 100% sure she's not salvageble, but mostly, we'd be basically euthanasing her.
> 
> ...


I had to have one of my guys put down about a year ago after he suddenly became paralyzed from with a Saddle Thrombosis. When I left home before lunch he seemed ok, but came home to find him paralyzed from the ribs back and with cold hind parts.

The vet quickly diagnosed the problem, and it devastated me! He let me hold him as he administered the meds, and I kept his eyes closed until he was gone.

It hurt, but it was the right thing to do. My only suggestion is to not let your kitty suffer.

Good luck.


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