tumor behind eye

My best boy, Slimmy (my cat) was diagnosed with a tumor behind his eye. I was told 80% are malignant. He's about 18 years old (a stray), and I love him more than anything. I don't want him to suffer. Has anyone gone thru anything like this? He also has a genetic deformaty where his spine bone is growing, thereby pinching his nerves, so he can't jump. I was told that someday he just won't be able to get up. Has anyone gone thru this operation (removing a tumor behind the eye)? If so, was it successful? Did your cat lose their eye? Thanks for your help....

 

Hi. I'm so sorry about your kitty. If he was a lot younger I would suggest you talk to your vet about having the tumor removed. However, given his age, he has a much greater chance of having complications with the surgery. Every cat is so different as well as each tumor, that this question would be best discussed with your vet. Ask your vet if he/she honestly thinks it's worth putting your kitty through such a high risk operation. Ask them what the odds are of recovery/success Vs the odds of the surgery being fatal. Your vet will be able to give you some better answers as they are the ones that know how big the tumor is, it's location and how successful it's removal would be.

Age does play an important part in any surgery. If I had a kitty your age and the vet informed me that there is medium to high percentage rate that the surgery could be fatal, I don't think I would go through with it. That leads to the next question to ask the vet: Is your kitty in pain and how long can he lead a somewhat normal life with this tumor. Would pain meds give him comfort if he is in any pain and so on. It's a very big decision you are faced with and I honestly believe you should have a good talk with your vet to help guide you in your decision. I wish your kitty all the best. You are so lucky you have had him in your life for so many years.

 

I'm sorry about your cat. How did the vet discover the tumor and how is your kitty doing? What type of tumor is it?

 

my mother has a tumor behind her eye and it's been there for years. I don't know if there are any similarities between cats and humans in regards to eyes and tumors...but I can't imagine it would be too different.

Anyway her story - the doctor used a needle to get a tissue sample from the tumor and the biopsy determined her tumor was not malignant (whew). She has it checked 2x a year by a specialist in Boston for growth. When it gets to the point where the pressure the tumor puts on her eyeball is too great they can remove the tumor with a laser but she will lose sight in that eye.

I'd ask the vet if they can do something similar with your cat to determine whether the tumor is malignant or not...they would have to be the cat under a mild anesthesia to do the needle biopsy but at least it's noninvasive with a needle like that. If the tumor isn't malignant, taking the cat's age into consideration, I'd leave it alone.

As far as the spine goes can you find a vet that does chiropractic work and see if there is anything they can do to help alleviate the pain for your cat? Cats respond really well to chiropractic care.

 

chessmind is right... At that age the risk of putting them under for the opperation is crazily raised. Anything could indeed happen.

i know it's a very hard decision. i had a golden retriever- Megen, who was 10 yrs old and had thyroid issues and was overweight due to it despite her meds...

but if u looked at her, u could see she was just hanging on for me, and i didnt feel i had the right to keep putting her through it. She was suffering and couldnt move very much anymore.

So my husband and i called the vet and they made a house call tp put her to sleep.

Never an easy choice...but one that must inevitably be made when u have pets.

Whatever u choose my dear, know your kitty will always love you. *hugs*

 

I am so sorry! that is so aweful and I cant imagine being in your position. You have to make you decision with love and I hope that you know that whatever decision you make your kitty loves you.
:cry:

:0008:

 

Tumer Behind Eye

Thank you all so much for your kind words and encouragement. As for how I found out, I noticed the inner eyelid was swollen. I took Slimmy to 3 different vets, and was told it was a closed tear duct and was given medicines, which didn't work. I finally found a vet that specialized in eyes. She felt his eyes and said they should move in the orbit, but the 1 eye would not, suggesting strongly a tumor. She did say the next step would be a catscan (really-no pun intended), and they might be able to do some exploratory surgery at that time.
I thought hard about it, and came to the decision that I'll let him live his life without the surgery. The vet told me that 80% of the tumors are malignant, and of those, the prognosis isn't good. She also said the surgery is painful, and my cat would need pain meds for awhile, and would lose his eye. Without surgery, his eye will eventually be forced outward, and he won't be able to close it, so he would be in pain at that point, since it would dry out. Considering his back problems, I thought even if the surgery was successful, my other vet said one day he just wouldn't be able to get up (his nerves are being pinched by a bone growth in his spine). I don't want him to go thru unnesessary pain. I regret that I made one of my other cats go thru ACL (knee surgery) last year at the age of 20 (the vet said she was strong), and her health went downhill after that, and she slipped away last New Year's eve (less than a year after surgery).

I know this is too long, but I had to share a story of my Slimmy. A friend heard that the owner of a property was shooting the stray cats, so he grabbed 2 ferrel cats and brought them to me - 1 under each arm. Slimmy wiggled out and never made it to the house. 4 days later I heard him at the door (he must have smelled his brother). Being wild, I wasn't able to pet him, and woke up on 2 different occasions with him staring at me, and hitting me, breaking a blood vessel under my eye (giving me a black eye) each time. They believed me at work the FIRST time, but the second...?!? Anyway, we found a home for him, but when the guy came to get him, Slimmy scratched him up so bad that he changed his mind. After that, Slimmy has been the biggest love in the world (he must have known it was his last chance). He sleeps with me, follows me around, and sits in my lap (like right now) when I'm on the computer. In his prime, he would even run down the street to meet me when he heard my car, jump on the hood, climb in, and we'd drive home together, head-butting me all the way. I have 2 other cats, but Slimmy is my very best boy, and I would do anything for him....except put him thru pain. Thank you all SO MUCH for caring. I hope your pets bring you as much joy as my Slimmy is giving me. I'm counting that the tumor is benign, and is the slowest-growing one ever heard in history.