Halo - Fibrosarcoma from microchip? Update #71

[Djadewolff]

I wish Id found this site first. The tumor on my baby's shoulders is twice the size of his head. Two weeks ago we saw our second vet and he has the pain patch & prednisone for inflammation. The lump is growing so fast! From the size of a grape the beginning of March to egg sized by the 20th. It seems to grow in spurts, now he can hardly walk-I guess it is pressing on the nerves, but he doesn't seem to be in any pain really. When it first got as big as his head he started scratching it and made a sore on his head, but since the pain patch he doesn't scratch it anymore and the sore is healed.

I don't want my baby to suffer, but I can't stand the thought of putting him to sleep. Does anyone know what will happen if I just "watch and wait"??? I don't want him to suffer at all- I can't talk about what he means to me-I can't stop crying when I do and I want to keep typing. He is still my Mr Bill, follows all his routines, meets me at the bathroom door in the morning (today he was almost dragging his hind end) and purring his "Good Morning Mommy" greeting that he has given me his whole life. He is 12yrs old and only wants to sleep with me in winter. He is still eating and drinking but looking at him I see he is not as happy as he was yesterday and he is getting frustrated that he can't move. I'm afraid the tumor with smother him or something in the middle of the night and I won't be able to help, but I'm afraid to put him to sleep while he is himself. I know that no one can make my decision for me but any advice, comment, knowledge, experience, may help.

[kuhio98]

I'm so sorry your baby is sick. Halo's tumor never was as large as Mr. Bill's, but that's probably because she had 2 surgeries to reduce the size. The vet said it was her only hope -- pretty much a slim to none chance -- but miracles can happen and he always called Halo his "Medical Mystery Kitty".

Every kitty is different, but Halo did not have a strong, determined, fighter kind of personality. She had a calm, accepting, kind of resigned personality. So, if Mr. Bill is a fighter, you might consider reducing the size of the tumor to give him more time -- if your vet recommends it.

Like Mr. Bill, Halo's tumor grew rapidly. It's like it erupted one day and it was probably too late by the time we found it. The vet said that Halo would stop eating and that would be our sign that she was ready to go. She never lost her appetite, but she huddled on the bed in a big, ball of misery her last few days. She never lost her loving, gentle spirit, but she prefered to be left alone. It appeared to us that she was no longer enjoying life so we had to make the awful decision that no loving parent wants to face.

I am praying that Mr. Bill enjoys the rest of his life. Sweet, precious soul. I am lighting a candle for you and for Mr. Bill.

I wish Id found this site first. The tumor on my baby's shoulders is twice the size of his head. Two weeks ago we saw our second vet and he has the pain patch & prednisone for inflammation. The lump is growing so fast! From the size of a grape the beginning of March to egg sized by the 20th. It seems to grow in spurts, now he can hardly walk-I guess it is pressing on the nerves, but he doesn't seem to be in any pain really. When it first got as big as his head he started scratching it and made a sore on his head, but since the pain patch he doesn't scratch it anymore and the sore is healed.

I don't want my baby to suffer, but I can't stand the thought of putting him to sleep. Does anyone know what will happen if I just "watch and wait"??? I don't want him to suffer at all- I can't talk about what he means to me-I can't stop crying when I do and I want to keep typing. He is still my Mr Bill, follows all his routines, meets me at the bathroom door in the morning (today he was almost dragging his hind end) and purring his "Good Morning Mommy" greeting that he has given me his whole life. He is 12yrs old and only wants to sleep with me in winter. He is still eating and drinking but looking at him I see he is not as happy as he was yesterday and he is getting frustrated that he can't move. I'm afraid the tumor with smother him or something in the middle of the night and I won't be able to help, but I'm afraid to put him to sleep while he is himself. I know that no one can make my decision for me but any advice, comment, knowledge, experience, may help.

[maerlyn]

As Lisa knows, I, too, had a cat - Moraganna - who developed fibrosarcoma from the 3-year rabies shot. I've been told that fibrosarcoma is a rapidly spreading disease, so it's no surprise that Mr. Bill's has grown so quickly. Did you consider having it removed early on? Morganna had hers removed for a biopsy. When it the results showed fibrosarcoma, the vet removed part of her (hind) leg. She was ok for about a year, when the tumor returned; more of the leg was removed, and she was "clean" for nearly two years after that. But when the tumor came back the third time and started bleeding - and Morganna developed a URI because of the prednisone - I knew it was time.

I'm so sorry you're suffering this; I remember the anguish well. Let your heart guide you; it will know when Mr. Bill has had enough.

[Laura's Babies]

I never connected what happened to Boo to the microchip and we never ran any tests on the tumors the vet removed off of her (my choice, not his). I think we did her first surgery in May 2011 when he removed the tumor in her ear and the ones under her skin under her ear (3 of them,BB size), The one in her ear grew back in a few months and when I took her back for her recheck after that surgery, everything was fine, that was around the first of August (I think) but in about 3 weeks she had a really big growth under that ear. By the end of October, I knew it was time to let her go when the texture of it completely changed overnight and although we had her on antibiotics, I could see infection had set in. The growth was big, all the fur fell off, it began to open and drain and keeping her from scratcning it was not a easy job...even with a collar. I took as good a care of that open tumor as I could, made sure it was cleaned GOOD, several times a day and the vet was impressed with the ideas I came up with to keep it covered. She ate good, was jumping up on top of the fridge and acted totally normal but her quality of life was sad. I realize now that what she had was fibrosarcoma because it was very aggresive.

Funny but when I started reading this thread I did it out of interest... By the time I got to the last page, THAT'S when it hit me that this the kind of tumor Boo had and most likely the chip, the cause..