Making decision about treating cat's jaw cancer

Lizardly
Thu, 13 Sep 2018 23:03:16 +0000

I think your choice is fine, OP. Your cat is old, the prognosis is grim, and the treatment would be painful and difficult.

Two cats, two different choices in my recent experience. An older, eight years old at the time, cat who seemed to have suffered a stroke. Half his face and body were paralyzed. My vet said more testing would be required to understand what had happened and to take him to The Veterinary Industrial Complex vet, but if I didn’t like the answer/choices, to come back. The specialist said he could give the cat a CAT scan (lol), but the anesthesia might kill him and then we might know. Might. And it would cost $1000. So I said thank you and went back to the local vet who did some simple, cheap tests (BP) and gave the cat some steroids. The cat slowly got better and is still alive ten years later.

I found a kitten who had been hit by a car. His femur was broken. I went first to my local vet, who ascertained that the broken leg was the only problem. He said he could amputate the leg for about $100, or I could go to the orthopedic vet and see if it could be pinned. Because this was a kitten, maybe eight weeks old, I paid the $2000(!) to have the leg repaired. That cat is now eight yo and completely normal.