Embarking on the Pet Hospice Care Journey with My Cat
Diagnosis: cancer, prognosis: terminal.
“It is terminal.”
These are words you do not want to hear a doctor, be it a physician or a veterinarian, say about a human or animal loved one. Yet these were words uttered by my vet nearly three weeks ago. Words I was not exactly surprised to hear.
Meet Romeo
Romeo is a 14 year old brown tabby with long hair. He has lots of spunk and is quite the little imp. Always one for mischief, nothing is sacred. If you don’t want him getting into something, don’t leave it in his reach.
He is a sweet kitty though. He can get over stimulated at times, but he loves to be petted and purrs when you do so.
Signs of Trouble
Within the last year, Romeo started losing weight. He was a little thin so I increased his food. Not terribly thin but enough that he could stand to gain a bit. Well this food increase didn’t really do anything, so we increased his food again recently.
But we’re beyond the point of saying he’s a little thin so let’s increase his food. He got to the point of looking like an anorexia patient.
Plus I thought I felt something in his abdomen that probably ought not be there.
Off to the Vet
So off to the vet we went. In his prime he was 12lbs, but now he was 5.5lbs. By how he was acting you wouldn’t know anything was amiss other than he’s now less than half what he once weighed. He explored the exam room, rubbed up against the vet, and tried to get her pen as she took notes.
She did her exam and everything seemed relatively decent. That is, until she palpated his abdomen. I was right. Something was in his upper abdomen. She wondered if it was the liver or spleen based on location.
Ultrasound and Diagnosis
She took him back and did an ultrasound. She returned with a tablet and showed me some images. His spleen had multiple masses. There was also a bit of free fluid in the abdomen, and coupled with slightly pale gums she thinks one of the tumors had bled a bit.
Without a biopsy we can’t know with absolute certainty what cancer we’re dealing with, but the most likely culprit is hemangiosarcoma. It’s a cancer mostly found in dogs, rarer in cats. But it is the most common cancer of the spleen.
So Now What?
The prognosis isn’t good. The vet said from how he’s looking he might have around three months. Maybe six, but she doesn’t expect him to live beyond that. Of course, a tumor could rupture at any point causing a massive and rapid internal bleed-out.
She doesn’t feel he’s a good surgical candidate, so no removing the spleen. Nor does she think it would extend his life as the cancer could have already started spreading.
So we talked about where to go from here. My preference is to support Romeo through the natural dying process when that time comes. Euthanasia will be a last resort option if palliative measures fail to keep him adequately comfortable. She supports this and says an internal bleed-out is unlikely to be painful, though if it spreads to the chest and he has respiratory distress, we may end up in that last resort scenario if we’re not able to palliate that distress.
Right now he doesn’t seem in pain. While cats often hide pain when they feel it, you’d expect him to at least flinch when the affected area was palpated if there was pain and he didn’t do that.
But we did talk about options for pain when that time comes, and she said she’d put an open prescription in his file.
I found a few groups on Facebook, including one for hemangiosarcoma since that’s what is suspected. I have him on a couple supplements suggested by that group. I may add more.
If You’re in a Similar Situation
It is never too early to start looking at what options may be available.
If you have a pet facing a terminal diagnosis, there are options available. I suggest talking to your vet about what pet hospice care or other end of life care options may be available. Do research and maybe find a Facebook group for others dealing with the same diagnosis. You may not have long with your beloved pet, but you can make the time you do have count. I suggest doing research even if your pet is healthy, if pet hospice care is something you might be interested in pursuing.
