Please help have question about cancer in cats

I am leavingin 3 hours with DH for 3 days. We are only going to be hour and half away from home and are
leaving the 22 year old and 19 year old incharge of pets ! Well I am very concerned about Oreo he seems so
frail. He just ate some deli meat and boiled chicken. What I want to know is how do they know if a cat has
cancer? His blood work came back wonderful, but he is so thin and does not eat much. His stool did not show
anything either.There was this lump in his colon or large intestine, which the vet thought was firm stool.
Also feeling around he felt nothing. So could this random lump be cancer?
Thanks you guys and now tyo go dry my eyes. I am afraid his time is limited.
Kellie

 

Aw, Kellie, I am sorry you are so sad.

The vets rely on various ways to determine what a problem may be, including cancer. Danny saw an internal medicine specialist and had blood tests, ultrasound, xrays, and then biopsies (aspiration with a needle). Open exploratory was considered but rejected since he was already so weak. They didn't find anything definitive though we suspected cancer. Finally a lymph node swelled up and an aspiration of that showed the cancer. He was believed to have it in his intestines, liver and of course his lymph nodes. We almost let him go but decided to do one dose of chemo and then re-evaluate. Danny did great on chemo and is now at 3+ years in remission.

The lump might just be poop, or not. There could be all sorts of reasons that Oreo's appetite is poor. Have his teeth been checked, under sedation (vet really can't evaluate the teeth properly unless the cat is sedated). Have you tried an appetite stimulant?

Don't give up hope yet.

laur

 

Hi Kelly

Cancer is notorious for not showing up in blood tests. Why not have an abdominal ultrasound done at the specialty hospital? That would be the first step. I agree that his picky appetite and weight loss are concerning, and my advice would be to do some diagnostics. It doesn't mean you are locked into treating for XYZ; finding out what's wrong is also a means of finding out how to make him feel better.