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Advice Needed - Surgery for Older Cat?

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  • #1

    Advice Needed - Surgery for Older Cat?

    My cat Stella is roughly 14 years old now. I've had her since she was around 11 months. About 2 years ago I noticed a pea-sized growth towards the end of her tail. It didn't seem to bother her, and my vet thought it was a benign tumor and we should just watch it and see what it did.

    However, over the past year or so the thing turned in to a monster. It was about the size of a marble and had grown out from under her hair (it was bald), when I noticed a red spot on it. That red spot eventually turned in to a bloody mess as the tumor ulcerated. We went back and forth to the vet a few times and eventually kept it bandaged until it healed.

    For a while it just stayed as it was, but about 4 months ago it started growing again. And every time it grows, it splits open and bleeds like crazy. What's really concerning is that it is starting to wrap all the way around her tail. And unfortunately she just can't seem to keep her tongue off of it.

    Which means that she's constantly breaking it open and making it bleed. My apartment is filled with blood spots from her licking it on my rug, or brushing it along the walls as she walks. It's gross, and clearly she is not happy with the damn thing.

    Obviously, the best option would be to amputate the end of her tail, if it keeps growing there won't be much of that part of her tail left anyway.

    BUT...I am terrified at the thought of sending her in to surgery. The vet aspirated some cells from it, and it's not malignant. So she's not going to die from it. I had really hoped it would stop growing and we could just leave it alone. At this rate though I'm very worried.

    Obviously I'm going to talk to the vet about it, but I wanted to get some opinions from you guys. Is it worth sending a senior cat in to surgery for this? Had anyone dealt with a tail amputation? The area that would have to heal after an amputation is actually smaller than the tumor itself and she' very good about bandages. But I know there are extra risks with anesthesia for older kitties.

    Please help me feel better about this!
    Here's baby girl for reference: https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...0c&oe=566927B4
    Last edited by PaintPony; Aug. 27, 2015, 08:23 PM.
    Tags: None
  • #2
    That's a tough one because of her age. How is her health? She's a beautiful kitty BTW. I would think the amputation would be pretty quick so they wouldn't have to keep her under for too long. And it doesn't sound like she can live with that tumor the way it is. So though I don't like putting senior pets through surgery, I think I'd go for it in this case. Best of luck with her!
    I would like to think I will die an heroic death...

    But it's more likely I'll trip over my dog and choke on a spoonful of frosting.

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    • #3
      Tail amputations are mega easy to the point where in some other animals, it gets done regularly with no anesthesia (not saying you should with your kitty!)

      If kitty is otherwise in good health, I'd go for it.

      Comment

      • #4
        If she is otherwise really healthy I might. It sounds like you don't have much to lose at this point. I have a friend who had a 12 or 13 year old cat with a similar lump at the base of his tail. He had the lump cut off and did very well post surgery and is still going strong at 15.

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        • Original Poster
          #5
          Thanks! She's never had a health problem in her life except for the cold she had when I adopted her. (A bunch of kitties at the shelter were sick too) In the past few years she's not as agile and now needs help from a chair to get on the bed.
          Otherwise you'd never know how old she was.

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          • #6
            Talk to your vet about their anesthesia monitoring, their anesthetic protocols, etc. This is one of the situations where I would spend a little extra to ensure a qualified technician was monitoring with more than just a basic monitoring system (I'd want ECG, blood pressure, Pulse Oxygenation at the least. I would prefer to have ETCO2 as well). I'd also want an IV catheter and appropriate IV fluids as well.

            Overall 14 isn't that old, and with no other health concerns I think doing a tail amp would greatly improve her quality of life. If it was my cat I'd do it, she certainly can't live like this.
            You can't fix stupid.... but you can breed it!

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            • #7
              It's a common surgery. You're looking at a brief surgery (it usually takes me less than thirty minutes to do one) with a fairly brief recovery time leading to marked quality of life improvement. I wouldn't hesistate.

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              • #8
                This is at the tip of her tail, not near the base of her tail correct? Because that would change my response. If it is indeed at the tip of her tail, and her bloodwork indicates that she's otherwise healthy and a candidate for surgery, I'd amputate. You'd still need to find a way to keep her from bothering it until it healed, but once that was done, it's done. Good luck with your kitty.
                A good horseman doesn't have to tell anyone...the horse already knows.

                Might be a reason, never an excuse...

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                • Original Poster
                  #9
                  Originally posted by Marshfield View Post
                  It's a common surgery. You're looking at a brief surgery (it usually takes me less than thirty minutes to do one) with a fairly brief recovery time leading to marked quality of life improvement. I wouldn't hesistate.
                  Thanks- I appreciate your opinion! I'm sure that's what my vet is going to say also.

                  BR: The growth is about 3/4 of the way towards the end of her tail.

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                  • #10
                    Poor kitty - that sounds like a mess. I vote for surgery, too.

                    One of my friends had a bassett hound that had the same thing about halfway down his tail. He was an older animal, too. She had the sugery done, half his tail was removed and it didn't bother the dog one bit. Well, except for the shame of an E-collar He still has a tail to wag so he's perfectly happy and so is she.
                    "Cats aren't clean; they're covered with cat spit."
                    - John S Nichols (1745-1846,writer/printer)

                    Don't come for me - I didn't send for you.

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                    • #11
                      Good luck with kitty! If it helps, I had a kitty who had to have three teeth removed at the age of 16.

                      She did great (better than I did, having major anxiety in the waiting room)
                      “I would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong.”
                      Frederick Douglass

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                      • Original Poster
                        #12
                        Originally posted by redalter View Post

                        She did great (better than I did, having major anxiety in the waiting room)
                        That's totally going to be me! I'm sure I'll be a wreck.

                        I'll update this thread after it's done so you can all hear how it went.

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                        • #13
                          I had a similar issue with my 16yo dog recently - a mass on her shoulder that went from weirdie little probable skin tag-like thing to a bloody, disintegrating mess. I was lucky in that it was attached by a narrow stalk and the vet was able to laser scalpel it off with just a local. I was relieved to have that gone, but I wasn't prepared for how relieved the dog was. She had been NQR all summer - appetite off, spirits dimmed - and apparently, it wasn't the heat, or the arthritis or the UTI, it was the damned thing on her shoulder. Because she rebounded to her normal self in 72 hours. Appetite is normal again, spirits are normal again, she moves around all the time, wags her tail. I hadn't realized how depressed she'd gotten.

                          The kicker is that the biopsy came back saying that silly little skin tag was really a sarcoma. Of course, now we have another lump on her that's acting up and it's nasty enough and the sarcoma discovery alarming enough that it's coming off too. This time, she needs a real surgery and I'm not thrilled at anesthetizing a 16yo dog. She had good bloodwork and good chest x-rays, so she's a good surgical candidate, and the surgery is scheduled. But I'm feeling your anxiety Good luck!

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                          • #14
                            Rosemary had a growth (cancer) taken off her hip at 17 and continued to do well. Pooter just had 2 oral surgeries (probably bigger procedures than tail amputation) earlier this year and turned 20 in June......so no, 14 isn't old in this house!
                            "Punch him in the wiener. Then leave." AffirmedHope

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                            • #15
                              Age is not is a disease, and I wouldn't hesitate to move forward with surgery in this situation. It will just improve the quality of her life. Definitely do the pre op bloodwork, though

                              Comment

                              • #16
                                One of my vet tech friends recently took her 17 year old rescue shih tzu in for a teeth cleaning with extractions and spay! She came through it just fine and is feeling better than ever.
                                Life-long horse lover, dreaming of the day when I have one of my very own.

                                Comment

                                • Original Poster
                                  #17
                                  Well tomorrow is the day! We are both ready for it, believe me. I'm so over bandage changes and bloody spots all over my house. Have you ever tried to single-handedly unwrap/clean/re-wrap a tail while simultaneously holding down a wildly howling, angry kitty? It's not a whole lot of fun.

                                  The good news is that she has perfect blood work and is incredibly healthy. I guess I am just going to have to get used to having a bob-tail aren't I? Can't wait until it is all over with so I can stop worrying!

                                  Comment

                                  • #18
                                    Jingles for Stella ... ((hugs)) for you
                                    Treat others the way you want others to treat you ~ on your threads !

                                    Comment

                                    • #19
                                      Good luck. I think you're making the right call. No question I would do the same in your shoes.
                                      ~Veronica
                                      "The Son Dee Times" "Sustained" "Somerset" "Franklin Square"
                                      http://photobucket.com/albums/y192/vxf111/

                                      Comment

                                      • #20
                                        Glad you are doing this. Big hugs to you for tomorrow.
                                        "Punch him in the wiener. Then leave." AffirmedHope

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