If you have a cat, do not immunize him EVERY YEAR!

**zimmy** · 09-13-2010, 02:37 PM

This is the same for dogs too. Some clinics over shot so much just for the income.

**Atomini** · 09-13-2010, 04:27 PM

Oh guys.... he's started limping...

It's not significantly noticeable but I notice a slight hitch in his step when he walks. I noticed it bigtime when he came running to me for food the other day.

Tumor looks significantly larger as well. This is only about a month and a half after his vaccination which caused this... I don't know if he's going to be able to last even 3 more months before it becomes a big problem for him. Damnit.

**LGM** · 09-13-2010, 04:39 PM

Originally Posted by Atomini

Oh guys.... he's started limping...

It's not significantly noticeable but I notice a slight hitch in his step when he walks. I noticed it bigtime when he came running to me for food the other day.

Tumor looks significantly larger as well. This is only about a month and a half after his vaccination which caused this... I don't know if he's going to be able to last even 3 more months before it becomes a big problem for him. Damnit.

They can't remove the tumor?

**Atomini** · 09-13-2010, 05:10 PM

Its $2,000 - $4,000 to remove. Now, i'd be willing to pay that, but they told me that there's a very very low chance of it being succesfull. The other problem is that the tumor is located in an area of the body where there is too many nerves, arteries, and veins (located on his arm just above the elbow, spread from the shoulder blade area). So it would be very very difficult for them to properly remove it from that area.

This pisses me off. He is in VERY good health for his age (12 years old), and he's got this tumor in the shoulder blade injection site from a god damn vaccination a month and a half ago. Just so some vet clinic can pocket more of my money. Ridiculous.

I'll see if I can get a picture of the area with the tumor. It's pretty large that it is now clearly visible in comparison to a month ago when all I could detect was feeling it when touching him.

**LGM** · 09-13-2010, 05:34 PM

Originally Posted by Atomini

Its $2,000 - $4,000 to remove. Now, i'd be willing to pay that, but they told me that there's a very very low chance of it being succesfull. The other problem is that the tumor is located in an area of the body where there is too many nerves, arteries, and veins (located on his arm just above the elbow, spread from the shoulder blade area). So it would be very very difficult for them to properly remove it from that area.

This pisses me off. He is in VERY good health for his age (12 years old), and he's got this tumor in the shoulder blade injection site from a god damn vaccination a month and a half ago. Just so some vet clinic can pocket more of my money. Ridiculous.

I'll see if I can get a picture of the area with the tumor. It's pretty large that it is now clearly visible in comparison to a month ago when all I could detect was feeling it when touching him.

Might check with another vet. It could be a tumor, or it could be a cyst; sounds from how fast it's growing it might be something else. There are a number of vet specialists now that people are willing to spend more money on their pets; ask around for one that specializes in tumor removal.

If it's filled with fluid, there's still a possibility that it could be drained. I'd start checking with other vets if you really want to give your little guy a chance.

**Atomini** · 09-13-2010, 05:59 PM

Oh a month ago when I noticed the growth, I immediately took him in to have a few hundred dollars' worth of checks done. Had him through everything: xrays, bloodwork, the works. It's confirmed that it is a VAS tumor. They told me the only place that can do the surgery is this big state of the art animal hospital located in a town an hour and a half from where I live. That's when they told me that the surgery itself doesn't have a high success rate.

I may take him to another vet to get a different opinion though.

**Atomini** · 09-28-2010, 04:27 PM

Update: Some pictures...

It's been pretty much 2 months now since he was initially diagnosed and look how big it's grown. Notice how the left (or rather, his right) side is bulging like crazy becasue of the tumor compared to the right side. Also note how in every shot, he is keeping his right arm lifted up. I think it's because it's too painful for him to hold his weight on that arm and put pressure on it...

His appetite is still very good, so that's a good sign. Started about 3 weeks ago giving him antioxidant formulas to help. 3 days ago started him on a perscribed non-steroidal anti-inflammatory given to me by the vet. No idea if any of this will help a great deal...

**THF** · 10-07-2010, 02:58 PM

my cats have only got shots once in their life. how often are they supposed to get shots?

their totally indoor.

**Times Roman** · 10-07-2010, 03:37 PM

I don't know mate. I'm not into excessive immunizations. But I'm totally against people NOT immunizating their animals. I believe it is extremely irresponsible, and if a person can't pony up the few dollars to get it done, they shouldn't have the aimal in the first place. My woman and I argue about her dad, he has 10+ cats, and just let's em bread, unvaccinated. he feels his only buy in is the cat feed. If I had to err, I'd rather it be with too many vacinations, as opposed to not enough. We go to the cheap clinics when they do it in the supermarket parking lot, and the recommended frequency, what ever that is. BTW... we lost our only two cats this year. One had a tumor (9 yrs old) and the other to cancer (1 yr old)

**Times Roman** · 10-07-2010, 03:42 PM

Originally Posted by Atomini

Update: Some pictures...

It's been pretty much 2 months now since he was initially diagnosed and look how big it's grown. Notice how the left (or rather, his right) side is bulging like crazy becasue of the tumor compared to the right side. Also note how in every shot, he is keeping his right arm lifted up. I think it's because it's too painful for him to hold his weight on that arm and put pressure on it...

His appetite is still very good, so that's a good sign. Started about 3 weeks ago giving him antioxidant formulas to help. 3 days ago started him on a perscribed non-steroidal anti-inflammatory given to me by the vet. No idea if any of this will help a great deal...

our cat had a very similar tumor. the vet said even if removed, the spiderweb nature of the tumor made it highly unlikely he could get it all. He could give it a shot for about a grand. We decided to let the cat live with the tumor. It got very big, tightened the skin. the cat kept bumping into stuff with it, knocking the hair off. the skin was in danger of rupturing. we tried tuffening up the skin with some of that spray on liquid skin. probably extended the cats life a week or so. finally, we couldn't take it no more (the cat seemed ok with it), and had it put down. the vet said maybe another day or so before it would have ruptured, and if that had happened, a huge mess, and the cat would have been miserable. so the time was definately right. I held the cat while the doc gave it a shot. one last big breath, then he let his breath out, and that was it. that quick. I was a little surprised.

**Atomini** · 10-09-2010, 05:41 AM

Originally Posted by Times Roman

our cat had a very similar tumor. the vet said even if removed, the spiderweb nature of the tumor made it highly unlikely he could get it all. He could give it a shot for about a grand. We decided to let the cat live with the tumor. It got very big, tightened the skin. the cat kept bumping into stuff with it, knocking the hair off. the skin was in danger of rupturing. we tried tuffening up the skin with some of that spray on liquid skin. probably extended the cats life a week or so. finally, we couldn't take it no more (the cat seemed ok with it), and had it put down. the vet said maybe another day or so before it would have ruptured, and if that had happened, a huge mess, and the cat would have been miserable. so the time was definately right. I held the cat while the doc gave it a shot. one last big breath, then he let his breath out, and that was it. that quick. I was a little surprised.

See, that is REALLY bad. I would never want my cat to suffer like that. It's to the point now where within the next week, going to have to take him in to put him down. The tumor is really big and he can't even use the arm now.

**dec11** · 10-09-2010, 10:11 AM

feel sorry for ya mate, horrible to lose a pet. we jus had a narrow escape with our pixiebob, they cant be immunized as the cat flu/leukemia injects can kill them, he caught cat flu and appar its 50/50 as to whether or not it kills them. hes entirely an indoors cat, for those reasons, so it shows how easily these viruses get around