We have a cat, Orson, who has kidney failure. A few months ago, we noticed that he was getting a lump on his bottom lip. Within the space of a couple of weeks, it went from “We didn’t notice that” to “Holy mackerel, what is it?”
We took him to the vet and the vet thought that it was a callus forming because of Orson’s canine tooth rubbing against it. It’s a hard bump, and Orson doesn’t seem bothered by it.
A couple of weeks ago, we took him back to the vet for some blood work. His kidneys are the same as before (yay!). At that time, the lump was considerably bigger (about the size of a pea) but since we had already taken him for it, we thought it was still callus. The vet is concerned now that it isn’t callus because it’s growing so big so fast, and he is recommending we have surgery done to remove it.
The cat is doing well and eating and is perky. We don’t want to authorize surgery because we are afraid of upsetting the precarious balance we have right now–anything that interferes with his eating is a bad thing.
The nature of kidney disease means that Orson could live for weeks or years.
Given that he’s eating, his kidney values are stable, the lump doesn’t hurt him, all surgery has risks, the lump is growing quickly, the vet recommends surgery…
I would (and do) do it assuming the surgeon was capable. I just removed a squamous cell carcinoma from my gf’s cat’s lower lip. The cat is in chronic renal failure and has controlled hyperthyroidism. She said her goodbyes prior to surgery and I did my best. The cat survived surgery and if he lives for another day or two, then I would say the decision to cut made sense.
My advice depends on the surgeon using an appropriate (for the situation) anesthesia protocol.
I guess I’d look real hard at how much it cost. (Not presently a pet owner). On the one hand, I see where vetbridge is coming from, and assume he’s got more clue than I what the risks/benefits are(wouldn’t take much). On the other hand, while I hate to put a dollar value on the love of a pet, there does come a point where one wonders whether the benefits are worth the price.
How old is your cat? How much are you willing to spend on treatment? Like you said, cats can live for years in kidney failure, but a fast-growing tumor could end it pretty quickly.
I recently lost one of my cats, having had to get her put to sleep in January. She was in kidney failure for about a year and a half, but the vet found a mass in her stomach in December, which we think caused her to go downhill very quickly. We chose not to act on the mass, since she was 20 years old and not likely to survive surgery or live much longer afterwards.
Each case is unique, and each person is unique in what they are willing to do for their pets.
Wow. I just made a trip to Miamisburg. I know a veterinary oncologist in Cleveland,
but he would probably be overkill. Anyway, I just sent you an email.
Hmmm…tough one. The problem is, if it is on his lip, it will interfere with his eating anyway. I would have it removed. Kitties seem to bounce back pretty well from surgery.