So, all seemed fine. The way ahead was clear. Observe and then act.
But my vet said he’d like to consult with a veterinary specialist oncologist on management of Freya. OK thought I. No worries. Probably really good to get a specialist to give a second opinion. So, we took a lymph node sample, which came back clear ie no cancer cells (yay!). And off to the specialist all the information went.
The report came back from the specialist on 12 December 2012. Remember, since 21 November 2012 we had been having bandage changes every four days and so much was going well. The raw patch was brilliantly healing and the vet was really pleased. And then there it was.
Written down (and forwarded in full by my vet).
Preferred treatment – Amputation
I suppose it wasn’t so much of a shock as I’d had some time to get used to the fact that this was the way it would eventually go. It was good to see in the report that amputation for her likely type of tumour “could potentially be curative”. There was however a note that “reports are mixed regarding survival for cats with these intermediate grade tumours” (Freya has a likely Grade 2 tumour ie intermediate) so it is of course no guarantee, but I think it is preferable to both radiation and chemo which were raised in the report (both lesser treatment options).
It was also sobering to see that if no action apart from surgery was taken that “Depending on the study…, median survival would be expected to be 4 to 9 months”.
The report also directed me to http://www.fabcats.org/owners/disabled/amputee.html for some stats about owners of amputee cats, with the salient points as follows:
- The only differences noted by owners were that amputee cats tended to be less active and moved slower – in all other aspects the cats were generally no different following amputation.
- Pain after the operation was noted in 36% of cases and recovery time seemed to be 2 weeks for those in no to little pain and up to one month for those perceived to have been in pain
- When asked if they thought their cat had a normal quality of life, over 90% of owners believed that they did.
- When asked whether they would make the same decision if they knew then what they knew now, 95% of owners said they would.
So, I sent an email back:
Message understood.
Let’s pick a date.
How does 20 December 2012 suit you?
Good.
Book it in.
<Oh God>