Vets Offer No Clear Answer on Amputation vs Surgery

“Hi everyone, I'm a 30 year-old woman from France. My cat Jedi (female, neuteured) is 12 years old. She started having pain in one of her legs, and tests revealed a mass. She is also losing a lot of weight. She had a biopsy about three weeks ago, and the results have now come back: it is a tumor, they couldn't determine exactly what type of tumor it is, but it is very likely cancerous and very aggressive. There is also a spot visible in her chest, but we don't know whether it is a met”

submitted by /u/Fresh_University3888 [link] [comments]

“Hello - My cat Walter is 9 years old and was recently diagnosed with Feline Injection Site Sarcoma (soft tissue sarcoma). We have been trying to work through treatment steps as quickly as possible but live in a small town without access to veterinary oncology. I am desperately seeking advice on how I should proceed. Details: Walter is not presenting any symptoms and is eating/ drinking/ playing as normal. He is a very active and social cat. Basic blood work prior to biopsy was normal. Biopsy of”

“Somehow my kitten (male, 2 months old) snapped the femoral head in his left leg :( Vet said we can either do surgery or let it heal naturally. We're considering letting it heal naturally but are trying to weigh the trade-offs/pros and cons of either decision. If we opt for natural healing, does the kitten have to be crated for 4-6 weeks? My husband thinks that if the kitten wants to walk around (he does), then we should let him rather than keeping him cooped up. I see merit in that but also”

“Sorry it’s a bit long. For context: I have an 8-year-old cat who I rescued at 8 weeks old from someone who was not equipped to care for animals. She was never much of a jumper, but overall she was always a pretty happy cat. A few years ago, after she needed an endoscopy for a massive hairball, we learned she was born with one fewer vertebra than normal. That finally explained why she had always preferred staying on the floor or using ramps/assistance instead of jumping. Over time, her other join”

“We are seeking immediate guidance regarding a severe and worsening condition following complex leg surgery. Rex underwent surgery two months ago to repair a shattered joint area involving three separate bones. The leg remains completely unusable. It cannot be stretched or extended, and the joint area feels stiff and hardened, maybe from the implants ? At a recent medical assessment, we were informed that the condition is deteriorating. Doctors have indicated that if the current infection worsens”

“My cat Pepper recently had a portion of his tail amputated, and honestly, the recovery has been incredibly difficult and stressful. He is currently wearing both an e-collar and a donut/recovery collar , but he is still finding ways to reach the surgical site. He uses his front paws and even his back paws to pull, scratch, and manipulate the area , and he keeps trying to bite the wound/stitches. He is also taking gabapentin , but even with that, keeping him away from the wound has been extremely”

“Basically just what the title is. My cat is 12 and my vet suggested a hip surgery for him. I worry that the recovery is too long and intense for my senior cat, but if it truly would help him then I’d like to know. He has arthritis and struggles to walk up stairs and jump sometimes. If anyone can help explain what the risks of this might be or if it actually might be worth it I would greatly appreciate it. submitted by /u/Few_Bowl1084 [link] [comments]”

“Hi! I would greatly appreciate any additional opinions on surgical vs conservative treatment options here. My cat is a 13 year old orange American Shorthair. Male, neutered, 17.8 Lbs / 8.1 Kg, no prior medical problems besides consistent obesity & sedentary nature for the ~10 years we have had him. Good dental health, yearly checkups with nothing besides routine oral cleanings & shots. Location: Chicago, USA. He’s been limping on his right hind leg for about 2 weeks. Our vet saw him last”

“* Species: Housecat * Age: 14 years * Sex/Neuter status: Female, neutered * Breed: Housecat mix * Body weight: 4.5 kg (~.9.8 pounds) * History: Previous gastrointestinal blockage (plastic) removed when 3 years old. The surgery required her to be cut from top to bottom basically. * Clinical signs: High level of pain, unable to properly use hind legs, irritability, no appetite, hard and fast breathing. Unable to walk or function if not medicated with strong painkillers. * Duration: Started 10 days”

“I have a tripod cat, 13 years old. A little over a month ago, he was kind of limping or something so I took him to the emergency vet, but it was hard to tell once he was there whether he was still walking funny or if it was because he was missing a leg. Like I could tell something was off but wasn't super sure. The vet checked him quickly but said he was fine, and he honestly looked like maybe he was walking normally again (was hard to tell because he was so nervous). Once we got home though”

“I went to two vets. One said she has fcov ( might get fip ) one said she has fpv or parvo. One says fip treatment will kill her one says fpv treatment will!! Who can i trust? Both seem very good and trustable im hesitating so bad i already paid a ton of money for my cat to see both now idk what to do guys PLEASE any vet help i can send her bloodwork work just msg me and ill send her bloodwork submitted by /u/princessdalal [link] [comments]”

“Hello vets!!! My 14-year-old male cat, Rajah, had his left hind leg amputated on August 7 because of a recurrent soft-tissue sarcoma on his metatarsal pad. He was expected to come home the day of surgery or the following morning, but he still cannot urinate independently. His vets are reporting that he is recovering remarkably well from the amputation itself; moving around and posturing very very well. On Saturday morning, he was signaling that he needed to urinate but initially appeared unable”

“Species : Cat Age : 3 months Sex/Neuter status : intact Breed : DSH Body weight : ~3lbs History : Radiology confirmed calcaneal tuberosity avulsion fracture left hind leg Clinical signs : Able to run around and play but favors right leg, currently on 50mg of gabapentin every 12 hours Duration : Since I found him July 16th, was severely limping when I found him, symptoms decreased since pain management initiation Your general location : USA X-Rays : https://imgur.com/a/OvFIb7V I'm writing her”

“We found two tumors on my cat. My vet said they’re deep in the muscle, so she may need to see a specialist if we decide to do surgery. He also explained that they might not be able to remove everything because the tumors are in her upper abdominal area, close to a lot of important organs. He said the surgery could be pretty major and might require a mesh because they would have to remove a significant amount of tissue. Other than the tumors, her blood work came back “very good.” At home, she’s a”

“Can a cat live a relatively good life with surgery for b/l femoral epiphysys? 1 yo tabby submitted by /u/Responsible-Mode-432 [link] [comments]”

“I have a kitten I found in a scrapyard. One of his paws is messed up, so I took him to the vet. Vet says hes gonna have to have part of his leg amputated, as well as part of his tail. How early generally will they do this? I know hes likely too young right now at almost 2 weeks old, but how long will he have to live with this? Edit to add info: Species: kitten Age: 1 week 4 days Sex/Neuter status:Male Body weight: 150g ish Clinical signs: black toes on back leg, 50% of tail doesnt have fur, is c”

“Sorry this is a bit of a depressing post. My cat is 14 years old, and we’ve been on one hell of a ride the last couple of years. He’s been diabetic for 2 years, but has been in and out of remission multiple times. I’ve found a correlation to his remission, and it seems to be anytime his tooth problem seems to go away. I’ve brought this up to my vet, (there’s like 5 different ones at this clinic) and none of them seem to notice the correlation, have denied he has dental disease all the while his”

“Signalment: Burmese cat, 8y/o, spayed F, ~4.5kg, indoor only History: no major health concerns, but due to being a burmese she has watery eyes/occasional tear duct issues, and mild gingivitis. Location: British Columbia, Canada I took my cat for a general checkup on July 10th as it had been 2 years since her last vet visit. She got her vaccines and a senior blood panel done (results still not back, but it was done preemptively/for anesthesia profile not looking for anything specific). After the”

“My 20yr old cat is scheduled for in home euthanasia this week. I am a RVT and am very familiar with the process, but I am questioning if I am doing this at the right time, being selfish, etc. and am having trouble differentiating my "tech" brain vs. my crazy cat mom brain. My cat has a pretty signifigant ear polyp that now is requiring an e-collar 24/7. If not wearing one, he scratches to the point of splattering blood all over walls, blood clots all over, and obviously becomes extreme”

“Hi everyone! I’m in a sticky situation. My 12 year old kitty fractured her pelvis (not from extreme trauma, she has a genetic birth defect that has led to weak bones in her pelvis that fracture every couple of years). She fractured on Monday and we’re doing crate rest for the next two months. She’s on buprenorphine and gabapentin for pain. The problem is that between the effects of the buprenorphine (which is an opioid which makes it difficult to know when to pee) and the pain, she’s not always”

“Currently at the vet at the moment because of a birth complication my cat has, kitten stuck halfway out her vagina, and they've told me they basically need to do surgery which costs over 2000$, which is not money i have whatsoever at the moment, and family members wont help me pay for it because "it's just a cat", the other option is for me to surrender her at the SPCA, The other option is sedation and they basically gently force the kitten out but that obviously has a ton of r”

“My cat Loaz recently hurt his leg badly. After the initial treatment he managed to escape his cage and hurt his wounded leg more. The vet told me I can either choose to do a surgery that might save his leg, but the recovery may be painful, or lead to complications, or I can decide to amputate the leg. I feel like it's an impossible decision and there's so many things to consider. He's otherwise a healthy cat and very energetic. He loves to run and jump a lot. I want him to have a com”

“When I get an answer on this post i’ll be making a call to the vet, wether on getting her the RHDV2 vaccine because she’s a supervised outdoor rabbit, or to have the necessary examinations done to see if she can be due for a spay appointment. Some info on her is that she’s around 5-7 years old, i’d assume no more than 6 but she accumulated cataracts in both eyes around 6 months ago. She’s a rescue, someone abandoned her in a blue cage outside of my house June 29th of last year. She’s a lionhead”

“my cat has idiopathic focal epilepsy (she twitches), so she already takes phenobarbital everyday. she needs to go to the vet tomorrow for an unrelated reason (probable cutaneous mast cell tumors), but is very fiesty and gabapentin nor alprazolam alone seem to be enough to sedate her. my vet has recommended giving her (in addition to her daily pheno dose) 100 mg gabapentin + 0.25 mg alprazolam tomorrow 2 hours before the appointment. for reference she's pretty chubby (16 lbs). in humans, thes”

“I have an 11 year old Wheaton Terrier Mix. He has had a mass to the left side of his face for probably 6 months. Has grown a lot in the past few months and it feels solid. It’s located below his left ear, extends to his neck below his left jaw. Feels like he has half a baseball in this area. It doesn’t seem to bother him at all. He’s still very active, eats and drink with no issues. Never coughs, vomits or acts like he has any issues at all (other than occasional joint pain for a day or two when”

“Good Evening, I started my cat back on a painkiller for her arthritis, I took her off of it due to her throwing up once on it but the vet told me to put her back on it and see how she gets on. After about a week she threw up and again threw up 2 days after so I stopped her on them. It's been about 4-5days of taking her off of them and she's thrown up again. On the medicine the first was full almost dry biscuits, the other clear water. This time its brown eaten mooshy biscuits. I just wan”

“June 9 2026, my 13‑year‑old dog was first suspected to have cardiac hemangiosarcoma after being found to have a pericardial effusion which was drained. No echocardiogram was done at that time (vet said not necessary since we didn’t plan to pursue chemo), but the vet’s working diagnosis was a bleeding heart tumor. About a week after that drainage, we started to see her original symptoms creeping back: reduced appetite, some breathing changes, and signs that fluid might be accumulating again. Asci”

“Species: Cat Age: 13 (turning 14 this July 19) Sex/Neuter status: Male/Neutered Breed: Long hair domestic Body weight: 10 kg History: We adopted our cat, Wolf back in 2021. Wolf walks with a sway in his hind end. According to his foster parent, Wolf has a history of panleukopenia as a kitten. Since 2023, diagnosed with Anisocoria and his chest has grade 4 out of 6 Heart Murmur. Clinical signs: Yesterday's CBC showed monocytes and neutrophilia are both high counts. Today's bloodwork diagn”

“My cat is a 2.5-year-old male , normally very active (running, jumping and playing normally). Around 6–8 weeks ago , he injured himself while playing with a fishing-rod toy. He jumped and seemed to land awkwardly. After that, he started limping on his right hind leg . At first: He could still walk, run and sometimes jump. He was putting weight on the leg but not fully using it. He sometimes showed pain when getting up after resting (meowing/hissing). A first veterinary examination suggested a po”

“I’m concerned about onion/garlic powder toxicity due to the food items that were in my brothers room. I have no way of knowing if they got into anything at all, or what, or how much. My biggest concern was the lemon pepper seasoned chicken wings in his room because there were clean bones on his bed and idk if that was from my brother or the cats getting into it.”