Dr Larry or anyone? Tumor Question?

I adopted a small starving (*very* thin, 3.5 lbs or so) Calico last fall. When she went for her checkup prior to coming in the house, her abdomen was hard and distended, pee & gums orangey, and her bilirubin and another lab value were way off. They told me she had a pancreatic tumor (likely) could not have anesthesia, and sent her home telling me she would become very ill very quickly and would not live long. They did try to help me arrange for a lo-cost ultrasound, but it fell thru. I brought the the cat home to make her comfy as I could for her remaining time.

But she really fooled us! 8 months ago her hard abdomen softened and went down. Her activity level is very high. She has never had an episode of diarrhea and only 1 vomiting incident (but another cat also vomited the same canned food.) She is now at a stable weight of 5lbs,drinks & eats very well (esp poultry breast) and plays hard and bosses my older much larger neutered boys. She has been more or less in heat since October, and we feel like she really needs to be spayed before we all go 'round the bend. We seriously love the teeny girl and don't want to risk her, though. How can we know if she might be fit for surgery ? We're on SS and have to be very careful with our cat-care budget.

bloomorningglory2011-03-26T03:55:49Z

Favorite Answer

One way is to opt for the pre-surgical bloodwork. You can call and get an estimate for both the surgery and the bloodwork. At my regular vet I believe the bloodwork itself runs around $40. If you will be using a low cost spay/neuter clinic or service, double check that they offer this service. It checks on a high level to make sure the kidneys, liver, etc are operating in a normal range.

Katt2011-03-24T18:34:02Z

Has she been checked up since and ask the vets about getting her spayed now that she seems to have recovered? If they still say no, my opinion is, unless being in heat is bothering YOU so much, she is SO small I doubt she could get pregnant anyway...but if she is strictly indoors and the boys are neutered, then don't get her spayed. She will be fine. Not to alarm you, but a friend of mine who is a vet adopted a "runt" that didn't grow larger than about 5 lbs, and she still didn't live very long because of a heart condition. So love her and care for her as long as you can. That's awesome she bosses the boys. It's awesome that you care for them.