u/King_Kevin_the_Cat

* Species: Cat
* Age: 8.5
* Sex/Neuter status: male, neutered
* Breed: unknown (black, fluffy)
* Body weight: 7.5 lbs
* Duration: A week since his worst symptoms

* History: A month ago, Kevin the cat had a urinary blockage, treated with a catheter, and returned to normal aside from continuing to lose weight which we attributed to his new urinary food. A week ago, Kevin the cat was suddenly lethargic, unstable while walking, unable to jump, not eating or drinking, dark urine (but no blockage), withdrawn, not wanting to be outside, and licking odd things like bricks or our gas fireplace insert.

The vet found a mass in the general spleen area, but because he was so sick and the mass was so obvious, we declined further testing and started to process saying goodbye. In the meantime, Kevin has stabilized and its back to about 80% of himself, all within the past 5 days. We are financially struggling to pay off his vet bills from last month, so the idea of charging $700 for more testing is hard since we know there is a mass and that cancer treatment is not an option for us.

Important to note is that last month they took x-rays to diagnose the urinary blockage, and there was no suggestion of a mass at all, which leads us all to believe that the tumor went from not visible on x-ray to easily palpable. It is located near his left rear leg, higher up by the rib cage.

My question is: does this pattern strongly suggest a bleeding splenic mass? Do you feel that we can move forward confidently with saying goodbye based on this information, or would you do further testing even knowing that cancer treatment is not financially an option?

Kevin the cat is about 8.5 years old, neutered male, indoor/outdoor, and has lived a generally healthy, active life. He is currently 7.5ish lbs after losing roughly 2 pounds in a month. I'm going to try to keep this from getting too long, but there's a bit of back story, too...

tl;dr is that Kevin has a mass that grew between March 23rd and April 28th. Based on its location and speed of growth, the vet believes it to be a splenic tumor based on palpation alone. She, of course, suggested further testing, but his symptoms suggested that the end was very near and that his body would possibly not withstand any treatment options. While we were considering our options, he improved—I'm not really sure what that may mean for him, which is my question. Do his symptoms match those of a splenic tumor with internal bleeding?

Long version:

Last month, on March 23rd, Kevin had a urinary blockage. He responded well to urinary catheter treament and went on to return to his normal self within about a week of having the catheter removed. He received x-rays as part of his diagnosis and weighed about 9.2 lbs the first day we took him in, which comes into play for part two of this saga. 

I will also note that in the month since his blockage, I did not feel that he was gaining weight back very quickly, but because we switched him to prescription urinary food and a feeding schedule instead of free feeding, I wasn't very alarmed that he wasn't gaining weight super fast.

A week ago today (Sunday), Kevin was acting oddly (symptoms below). We confirmed that he was still urinating normally, so blockage seemed to be ruled out. The next day, he seemed about the same and I decided that if there was no improvement by the following day, I'd take him in. That was Tuesday, April 28th.

On Tuesday, he was worse. Extremely wobbly, seeming dizzy or disoriented, not eating almost at all, but still drinking water. On the day I took him in, his symptoms were:

• Not eating
• Very sleepy, lethargic
• Didn't want to go outside (his favorite thing)
• Not responding to us calling him/withdrawn
• Very wobbly/dizzy/disoriented
• Would just sit and stare, including at the water dish and food bowl
• Not jumping
• Licking our gas fireplace insert
• Very dark urine (like I thought it was diarrhea at first)
• Weighed 7.2 lbs (down two pounds in one month)
• Falling while sitting and walking, and a bad fall when he tried to jump at the vet's office

When the vet came in to start the exam, she almost immediately felt the mass. It is located very near his back left leg, and extends under the rib cage. The x-rays come into play here, because upon review, there was NOTHING on the x-ray one month ago to suggest anything was growing, so we knew that it grew within a month, and likely within a couple weeks. Because of that timeline and the location, she feels (based on palpation alone) that it is likely a splenic tumor, of which there are several types.

She explained that the best case scenario would be the one type of splenic tumor that can just be removed with the spleen = no more cancer. However, based on his symptoms and the speed of growth, she does not have high hopes that that would be our only treatment plan.

Financially, we are still paying off the blockage costs. Finances, unfortunately, are playing a huge role in this. We cannot afford testing + surgery + biopsy + possible chemo. We decided to take some time with Kevin before lovingly saying goodbye on Thursday, only to see him improve drastically between Tuesday and Thursday. We moved it back a day to give him "one last good day" and...he got even better so we canceled that appointment with the vet's blessing. Yesterday, Saturday, was his best day yet; he wanted to be outside, he was purring, his eyes were alert, and he even batted at a toy a time or two when we brought it to him.

So now I'm just like...what the hell do I do now? Is this at all typical for a cat with cancer? I can feel the mass myself, but I honestly keep feeling it to make sure it's still there because he is acting so much better. I know that further testing is the logical next step, but adding $700 to our already unaffordable vet bill from the urinary catheter is a really big decision for our family, especially if it's only to find out that what we "knew" is correct.

I appreciate any and all knowledge about this. I have been in close contact with the vet, and she is being very understanding of our desire to help Kevin, but that financially it is not a straightforward decision; however, without further testing, she obviously can't give us any more or different answers. TIA, and I'm sorry this is so long.