My cat was diagnosed with an abdominal tumor

Our question this week was:

I brought my cat to the vet two weeks ago for a check up. Now my cat has a very large stomach, and his backbone is very pronounced, the doctor took some x-rays, blood and some fluid from his belly (which was a reddish color), plus his weight has falling off. The doctor said that he was going to get those samples analyzed. The x-ray showed that his lungs and heart had no signs of any problems. The fluid around his belly showed a mass amongst the fluid, his said that he would like to drain the fluid and do an ultrasound to get a better look at the mass. My question is what is the best thing to do? Should I put the cat down? The cat is eating and drinking, plus using the litter box, or should I wait and do these tests.

Stephen Delross

Answer

Hi – thanks for your email. You wrote that your cat has an abdominal mass and you want to know if you should pursue additional diagnostic testing or euthanize. The situation sounds very serious.

This is a very difficult question Stephen. It really depends on you, and what you want to do. I’d recommend this. Ask your vet where and possibly what kind of tumor they think it is and what the options would be in their opinion. If the prognosis is quite poor – and if your cat is suffering – I’d recommend euthanasia.

If your vet isn’t sure – then doing the ultrasound will give your and them more information to make a decision.

Best of luck!

Dr. Debra

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