benny55 said
We certainly understand your fears and can relate so well  to all the worries  swirling around in your head.  We get it!

So your main concern  would be why the weight loss, blood work not up to par and why the infection  (for which he's taken antibiotics), and, of course, handling the surgery/anesthesia,  etc.   Hopefully the "age" is less of a concern  to you now that you've seen cats far older do just fine on three.

Have you been able to get anymore clarity  on those items?  Was the blood work up due to his weight loss?  Is that how an "infection" was determined?  Where do things stand now in that regard?  Were there any food changes  that may have caused the weight loss?

Just thinking  if you can get current  answers to those issues maybe that would help ease your mind.

Maybe sharing the thought processes  of some of us leading to our decision  to amputate  will help.  One thing we wll did here on this journey was to "accept" that ANY surgery (human included)  has a risk. We did all the pre op work up, we discussed  everything with the Vets and Surgeons.  Even with the most thorough  diagnostics ahead of time, on rare ocassions there can always be some  underlying health issue that just could not be detected  with tests.   But we proceeded knowing  the best possible and most up to date  medical care would be given prior and  during  surgery .  We covered all  our bases as best we could with the knowledge  we had and our medical team had at the time.  We also  knew our pets and knew in every case here  they would wants this chance

The one thing that stood out with all of us is that we were willing to take that small risk in order to give our pets a chance at extended pain free.  We knew thar, even if things didn't  work out as we had hoped, we had to TRY.  To forever  doubt our decision  if we didn't  TRY  would jave kept us second  guessing  forever.

So all this is in the FWIW column. To proceed or not is your personal decision  and the path forward  has to be one that you are at peace with.  Any decision  you make will always be one out of love for Truls and that will always be the "right" decision. 

Hugs

Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!

  

His age is less of a concern for me yes. I've never really seen his age as much of an issue. Deny him possible treatment because he's at a certain age, doesn't sound fair. Age can be a huge factor for some animals of course, but not for all animals. For some animals age is really just a number.

More clarity, nope I'd say things are still kind of unclear. His blood values are because of the infection, his weight may be caused by the cancer. The smaller clinic I went to first said that the cancer is "stealing calories". I got the impression that it's expected that he would lose weight as the cancer grows. So that is a explanation, we just don't know for sure if that is the actual cause.

The infection was determined from the blood test. Based on his most recent blood test (about 10 days ago ish) the antibiotics are helping to fight the infection and normalize his blood values. The food changes we made about ooh....a month ago ish, I wad advised to feed him a nutrient rich food. So even if he didn't eat a lot he would still gain a lot of nutrients. I think he has been eating better the past couple of weeks, since we introduced these antibiotics. Overall I think he is doing better lately, which is always good. He gets lots of candy hehe. Frankly I got no clue what the future has in store for him. If he will still be around in a week, a month or a year. So kinda spoiling him with candy.

Of course all surgeries have risks, even extremely minor ones. I have had thorough conversations with several vets from the larger animal hospital. Several blood tests have been done, x-ray, ultrasound and if the surgery is a go they are gonna do another x-ray. They want to do an x-ray just before the surgery so they will have as recent information as possible. I think we have done like every test and examination we can, well except for a CT.

As it is right now. Truls only option is amputation or euthanasia. So yes, I am willing to take the risk with the surgery, in order to save his life. I agree, one has to try. This is Truls only chance, his only hope. My dog that passed last fall had zero options, there was nothing we could try. I know if I don't try I will probably always wonder "was there something I could have done? Could amputation have given him several more happy years?"

mommatux said
Hi Veronica and Truls,

 

Tuxedo's surgery was an emergency one done at a 24 hour animal emergency center. I was faced with an immediate decision to try amputation and hope for minimal spinal cord impact or euthanasia.  No pre lab works ups, etc.  For him it was an all or nothing gamble.  I was in shock and had no clue what to ask, what to do.  I did not even find this site until almost 2 months after his surgery.  So I was completely winging it.

 

Tux spent the night at the clinic before coming home.  As he is not well behaved at any vet, I am sure they were glad to see him go.  Literally the first thing he did once I put him down on the floor after coming home was run out the screen door which had not yet fully closed.  Luckily for me he had a cone on and could not get through the porch railing bars.  But he certainly tried. That moment was when I knew everything was going to be ok.

 

He hated his meds and fought me to avoid taking them.  All were in liquid form and he likely wore more of them than injested.  He did not want to eat.  I tried so many different cat foods and treats.  Finally found Delectables which he gobbled down like he was starving.  Tuxedo is a 15 pound cat.  He definitely was NOT starving.  In general he had no issues eating, drinking, or eliminating after the surgery.

 

After the first escape attempt, he mostly slept in my bedroom closet.  Everytime I checked on him he was coneless.  Since he never bothered much with his incision when I was there, I let him have his way (until after finding out about the infection) Around day 3 he got under my bed and refused to come out no matter how I tried to tempt him.  Later he did crawl back out.  While under there he shredded a pillow which had tiny foam beads and was coated with them. He looked like some wild snow creature.  But otherwise seemed to be ok.  In general, he never showed any outward signs of pain.  Moved around fine (and very very FAST), just spent far more time resting.

 

As to what I wish I had done differently, definitely blocked off under bed, managed to keep his cone on better.  Also it would have helped had I known about this site, not just to prepare myself for what to expect, but also to potentially assist with the vet bills.  The timeframe to apply for financial assistance had already passed before I registered here.  I worried a lot needlessly that first night of not only would he live but would it be a good quality of life.  

 

I hope all goes well for you and Truls.

-Dawna, Tuxedo, Lilly, & Angel Dazzle

  

Hello again Dawna. 🙂

You had no time at all to just think about your options, just had to make a decision right then and there. That's rough, but you made the right call since Tuxedo is all good now. 🙂 And the moment he came home he just wanted to return to his old habits, aww that sure was a good sign.

I can relate with the medications. For Truls I first gave him another kind of antibiotic which was also in liquid form, kind of like toothpaste. Total nightmare. It got on his face, on me, on the floor, like yiches. After that I asked to get the antibiotics as pills instead, much simpler!

Ahhh your little Tuxedo sounds like a ball of mischief after the surgery "looked like some wild snow creature", lols.

Sounds like Tuxedo gave you some trouble but after he was all healed and recovered he was just himself.
If anything your experience has reassured me that cats, including mine, can definitely go on living happy lives. 🙂

Ohh I will definitely worry, no doubt about that. I'll find out tomorrow if and when we will go ahead with the surgery. I don't think I'll relax and just stop worrying until after the surgery when he has recovered.

Thanks Benny. 🙂

I do my best to prepare for my kitty and help him however I can. He's my first pet ever, been with me half my life. Ya know a little joke I make sometimes, owning pets is like a marriage, in sickness and in health.

But here we go. Truls and I are on route to the vet. My word I'm nervous!! In the next couple of hours one can say his future will be determined. They are gonna take a blood sample and just a general check up. If his blood values have gone down...guess no surgery. My hope is that they have gone up a bit or at the very least remained at the same level.

Well k trying to think logically and unbiased. Is he eating and drinking, yes. He also likes to drink from the puppies water bowl, when the puppy is nearby. Puppy goes all "...ey, that's mine ..watcha doin??"

Has his leg gotten worse, don't think so. Has his behavior changed nope. Is his toilet normal, yap. Is he nuts about candy, yes! Think my little tiger is confused, can't live on candy. Just wants more all the time lols. XD 😆

So with this in mind, logically I shouldn't worry....oh boy SO much easier said than done.

Hehe thanks! ^^

Yah he's always been a very handsome kitty. Very majestic, easy to get good pictures of him. ^^ 😀

I'm quite confident everything will be alright. But ya know, who isn't nervous.

Ohh after the surgery, assuming, hoping all goes well. Will he need constant supervision? Like someone watching him all the time? Can he be allowed to roam around? Can I leave him home alone for a couple of hours? For example to go to the store and such.

I'm assuming it's fine as long as he has the cone on and can't reach the stitches, or be able to do anything which may impact his recovery.