Kiki - My Beautiful Cat, SHE HAS CANCER, CAN SOMEONE HELP US! Options

[Rockasheri]

MY BEAUTIFUL GIRL CAT HAS CANCER. I FEED HER BEFORE I FEED MY OWN FAMILY. I GET UP TWICE USUALLY AROUND 2PM, AND 5PM IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT TO HELP HER, AND SOMETIMES SHE CRIES TO WAKE ME, TO WIPE HER MOUTH. THIS CANCER MAKES HER BLEED IN HER MOUTH SO I WIPE IT UP. I LOVE HER. I LOST BO 6 MONTHS AGO, AFTER TAKING CARE OF HIM FOR 20 YEARS, AND I HAVE NEVER SEEN A CAT MOURN BUT KIKI MOURNED. THAT IS WHEN WE DISCOVERED THE CANCER. IT HAS BEEN VERY HARD. I LOVER HER SO MUCH THAT WHEN PEOPLE TALK ABOUT PUTTING HER TO SLEEP I SAY NO. IT IS NOT BECAUSE I AM BEING SELFISH, IT IS BECAUSE I MAKE HER COMFORTABLE. IF THE MORPHINE DOSENT HELP THEN I WILL TRY SOMETHING ELSE. I AM HOPING FOR A MIRACLE. CAN ANYONE GIVE ME SOME ADVICE ON THIS CANCER? HOW ABOUT HERBS, DOES THAT HELP? I FEED HER BABY FOOD SOMETIMES, AND SPECIAL CAT FOOD. DOES ANYONE KNOW ANYTHING ELSE. I AM HOPING FOR A MIRACLE. HELP. THEY SAY THERE IS A SURGERY, TO REMOVE HER LEFT JAW BONE, WOULD YOU DO THAT? I DIDN'T BECAUSE SHE IS 15, I DON'T WANT TO LOOSE HER. PLEASE HELP. SHERI

[LS Support]

hi, removed your duplicate posts.

surgery on the jaw, i wouldnt do that. any surgery at that age can be a big risk. plus the kitty's quality of life after that surgery isnt the greatest. if you are having trouble with feedings, the vet can do a surgery to insert a feeding tube directly into the kitty's stomach. again, i wouldnt suggest putting her through that either.

15 is quite old for a kitty. though it is painful, you may need to step back and think about "when is when."

[karen424]

Sheri, I'm so sorry you and your precious baby are going through this. I just went through this myself and I know how hard it is. I know how hard it is to imagine life without her. It was very hard for me to imagine life without Max. I just found out November 7th that he had liver cancer. I decided when I found this out that his quality of life was way more important than me feeling grief and mourning his loss. Others on here have been quoted as saying "taking on his or her pain for them" and that is soooo true. I wanted Max to leave this world with dignity in tact - his memories of his life with me and his daddy to be fresh in his mind before cancer had a chance to distort it. The moment he started to vomit over and over and not eat and moan I knew it was time to "take on his pain so that he can be at peace". Is it really worth your baby suffering as she is just so you can have her with you? I am grieving and cry every day for my Max, but grieving in reality is a selfish act - we miss them - WE miss them. But even though we are missing them till our stomachs ache, it's better than those precious babies we love so much to ache.

God Bless you and your furbaby.....

Karen

[Gahagan]

Rockasheri,

It is difficult. And I'm sorry you have to go through this. I had a beautiful cat, Murphy, who suddenly developed a large cancerous tumor on her hip. I felt guilty for not noticing it until it had become about the size of a tennis ball. She was a longhair, and didn't like being stroked, so I hadn't felt or seen the mass. I immediately took her to the vet by biopsied the mass and declared it was, indeed, cancer. I asked about options, and the vet sent us to a specialist/surgeon. My options were surgery, which would deffinately take her entire leg, clear up to the spine, and this would also most likely leave her without a bladder, or at least no bladder control. I was willing to deal with the bladder issues, and the vet said cats adjust very well to an amputation. However, he felt she would be in constant pain, due to the spine involvementm which would probably leave her completely paralyized from the waist down. Additionally, cancer type was very invasive and fast growing and he said the likeliness that it involved only the leg was low. She wasn't a young cat, Im not sure how old she was since she was an adult cat when I adopted her from the shelter. But she was probably about 8, so worth saving from the cancer. Still, there was the lingering pain she would be left with, and the probability that the cancer had spread. I decided to take her home and just take care of her the best I could. She didn't seem to be in any pain, which the vet told me was misleading, since, he said, cats instintually HIDE their pain. In the wild, he said, it is the obvious weak animal which become prey, so they hide their sickness so as not to become a target. He said her pain would communicate through her lethargy and loss of appetite. Also, when she no longer enjoyed being in contact with us. I pamperer her for days, feeding her Pedialite with a syringe. Cleaning her urine from her fur. Scratching her neck, etc. Finally, one night she growled at me just for lifting her (I had to transport her with a blanket supporting her body). And she seemed mad that I even bothered her. She loved me, and I knew this was her way of telling me she resented LIVING. Her anger made it obvious to me that it was time to put her to rest. The next day I took her in and she was put down. It was winter then, and the ground was frozen, so the vet kept her in his freezer until I could pick her up in the spring, to give her a proper burial. I traveled past that office nearly everyday, which was difficult for ME, but I knew SHE was better off. I sincerely wish that if I were in that situation, in pain, dying from cancer, I could be "put down." That is not legal for humans, of course. I have no fear of death, just the PAIN that leads up to it.... and for our pets they are fortunate in that they do not HAVE to endure that... if we don't let them... If we are willing to accept the pain ONTO US for putting them down. It isn't easy. And you will ALWAYS wonder if you did the right thing.... but a little thought and remembering the PAIN our precious pet was in is usually all the reminder I usually need. Hope this helps.

[AngelBaby]

Rockasheri,

Your post is so touching. I'm sorry for what Kiki and you are going through. It is so hard when your fur-baby is not feeling well, it's like your whole world stops. I'll pray with you that she gets better and that you have a lot more quality time to spend holding, cuddling and loving her. Every moment is a gift.

I wouldn't choose the surgery. That's so much for her to go through. I have heard good things about using herbs. I would definitely try them if Kiki is still comfortable. There are some that you just put a few drops in their mouths. Or a holistic vet? I believe in miracles.

Love her, hold her, kiss her. (You're so lucky you can still do that with her.) Ask her what she wants to do.

Feel better soon, little Kiki.

[Kim R.]

Sheri,
Let me start by saying that I write this post with a very heavy heart, as I know you are in great pain over your baby being so ill, and I only hope to help you through a painful situation, so please look at it as such. I know you love your baby, but sometimes we have to love them enough to let them go . I know you may feel like you are keeping your kitty comfortable, but as Gahagan mentioned, they will sometimes 'fake it', not only for survival issues, but for us. When I read that you have to wipe the blood from her mouth because the cancer makes it bleed, my heart was broken. I couldn't imagine having to taste that all the time, and how sad that she is so bothered by it that she will sometimes wake you up to wipe it for her. Being on morphine and other such strong narcotics is not much of a life either, just a constant state of confusion for her. Please don't think I'm trying to convince you of anything. It's just that sometimes we need people that understand what we are going through, and been there themselves, to help us 'see the light', and hold our hand when we do. If your baby is still eating and drinking on her own, using her litter box, and grooming herself, these are signs that she is still somewhat content in life. If, however, she stops doing these things without your help, you might want to consider your alternatives at that point, for her sake. You are not giving up on her if you let her go, you're only loving her, and it's okay. I know from my days of being a vet tech that many owners would say 'I know she is wondering why I'm doing this if I love her', but I feel like,if they are suffering, they are wondering why we aren't doing it if we love them. You won't be able to cure your little girl, and if the only life she has left is to be lived out in misery....I guess just put yourself in her place and ask yourself what you would want...that's all I can say.
Your friend in grief,
Kim

[samhaincat]

I'm so sorry you and Kiki are going through this. I know how much it hurts when you have a kitty with cancer. I went through this just over two years ago with my beloved black kitty Zody. I tried the homeopathic way and while it increased his quality of life for a period of two months and kept him pain free - my hope for a miracle vanished when the tumour grew, he lost a lot of weight and muscle mass and he started vomiting and refusing to eat, when that happened I had to let him go. I still to this day wonder if I did the right thing, should I have tried surgery even though the vets said it was virtually impossible because of it's location and if they just closed him up again-he would be in pain and then would just die anyway. He was 16 and surgery is risky. I loved him so much- I still love him. My gut instinct kept telling me that there was no hope he would not win this battle, I knew it when he was first diagnosed but I too desperaretly hoped for a miracle.
What made it worse for me that despite his weakened condition he fought the final needle and to this day that still haunts me - but I loved him and I didn't want him to suffer and be in pain. I know he loved me and fought to stay with me but I loved him too much to let him suffer for me. Having to say goodbye to him has been the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I still carry a lot of pain because of it but I know in my heart and in my soul that I spared him the pain and that makes it all worthwhile.
I feel him near me and once in awhile the black kitty I got after his death will do something that only Zody did and I feel like he's whispering in his ear telling him to do it because he knows I like it. The love always stays with you.

Follow your gut instinct and watch for signs of pain and suffering-make sure she isn't experiencing either.
Baby food is good and Hills A/D diet tempts the appetite. Bach flower remedies are good in calming-rescue remedy is good to have on hand as is 'Impatients' it is painkiller. It can be rubbed on the ears.
Aside from removing the jaw do the vets offer any other kind of hope? Are they recommending putting her to sleep? Will they suppling enough morphine to keep her pain free? If the miracle doesn't happen will your vet come to the house - it is easier on your pet and on yourself.

I'll wish for a miracle for Kiki and peace for you. I too fight with everything in me to save my loved ones as long as there is still a grain of hope but if my loved one suffers and the hope is gone because the condition has worsened I have to stop fighting and give them peace. I know it hurts like nothing else but honour the love, death is just another journey in the cycle of life, the love doesn't die.

[julesflower]

I am so sorry to hear about KiKi. I know how you feel because several years ago my cat Samantha had cancer from an injection she had years before (fibercircoma). She underwent three surgeries and it still came back. She died at home and believe me, I would never want another one of my cats to go through that again. She cried sometimes and I now feel so guilty that I put my feelings first of not wanting to let her go before she got to that point.

I know it is hard to make that decision and how you wish there was a miracle. Yesterday, I had to put my beloved 19 year old cat Cinnamon to sleep after a year long battle with kidney disease. I hated to do it, but she got to the point where her quality of life was more important than her quantity or how much it was going to hurt me to let her go. She let me know that she was tired of the daily regimen of medication and subcutaneous fluid injections. Believe me, after she passed it was hard but I felt at peace knowing that she no longer was suffering (and I wasn't suffering watching her suffer).

Your sweet Kiki will let you know in her own way when she has had enough and you will unfortunately have to make that decision. Just keep in mind that Kiki is lucky to have you and your love for all of these years and that you are lucky to have loved such a wonderful friend. My heart goes out to you and I will pray for your baby.