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Almost 3 months ago, I noticed bleeding from our cat's back paw. He had a circular raised lump with a perfectly circular hole in the middle it. At first the vet squeezed the hole, got some black flaky matter out, but then in a couple of weeks more bleeding. Then, the vet said it was a tumor, needed to be excised. We opted not to pay the almost $100 extra to have it lab analyzed as we expected it would heal and that would be it. Several weeks later, no healing, vet says to have toe removed. We did that and all seemed on course after spending multiple hundreds of dollars. Now last night, more bleeding. I am sooo frustrated. The cat seems fat, looks healthy, hasn't lost any weight like you would expect if it was cancer. What to do now? Don't want to go bankrupt on the cat, but nothing seems to work. Do you have a healthy looking cat put down? I am so frustrated. Since it is the holiday weekend, waiting until next week to go to vet again, but please give advice on what anyone would do in this situation. Thanks!

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Originally Posted by lachase
Do you have a healthy looking cat put down? I am so frustrated. Since it is the holiday weekend, waiting until next week to go to vet again, but please give advice on what anyone would do in this situation. Thanks!

I wouldn't have a healthy looking cat put down.

I think you should seek a second opinion.

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Yup, second opinion for sure.

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I would also get a second opinion. Good luck and keep us posted.

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You had the toe amputated, is that right? So this is a fresh wound?
I agree a new vet is a good idea, and you may want to have the wound scraped and analyzed this time, it's really the only way to identify the culprit.
In the meantime, you might try this: mix some tumeric (an Indian spice available in health food stores, Indian groceries and many other places) with water to make a paste, and apply it to the wound. Wrap well with gauze or similar fabric. Try to keep him from interfering with it, maybe an old sock? If he does get some in his mouth, it's probably OK, but I wouldn't let him lick it freely.
Tumeric has amazing medicinal properties (only now being discovered in the west) and has been used to speed healing of open wounds for centuries. If all goes well, I would add more of the paste (without washing the wound) every 24 hours.
Let us know if it helps.

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Personally, I wouldn't put anything on it until you have a second opinion. Sometimes one vet hasn't had any experience with a certain type of illness, while another vet is quite familiar with it so I would definitely go see another vet.

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Actually, there is ONE thing I would try without hesitation. I once had a foot-problem myself, no traditional meds or ointments worked on it. Then I heard of someone healing a hospital wound using a method I just had to try. It worked! After weeks of trying to fix this thing, it was gone in 3 days! What is it?

Magnets and magnetized water. No kidding! I dunked a piece of make-up removing cotton (as it is firm) in the magnetized water and put it on the problem area. Then I placed a strong magnet over it, and bandeged it all up (not easy to get my foot into a shoe after that, but it didn't last long).

The water and magnets are from NIKKEN, a Japanese company with expensive products, yes, but so much more effective than the regular little magnets you pick up otc. Really worth it though! You'll find the products on line.

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I appreciate all the input. I stopped by the vet's office yesterday and got some antibiotics and have another appointment for Wednesday. We had another bout of the bleeding starting up today, was all over the house. We wrapped the foot, then I read the tips on here and thank everyone for trying to offer help. I feel the same way that I don't want to have him put down when he looks healthy. I don't want him to suffer either with the wound that never heals and don't want to keep amputating more and more. It is sooooo frustrating. I'll try to post back with the outcome. Thanks again!

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I would ask to have a complete blood test done when you take him in to the vet on Wednesday. Good luck and keep us posted.

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We opted not to pay the almost $100 extra to have it lab analyzed as we expected it would heal and that would be it. Several weeks later, no healing, vet says to have toe removed. We did that and all seemed on course after spending multiple hundreds of dollars. Now last night, more bleeding. I am sooo frustrated. The cat seems fat, looks healthy, hasn't lost any weight like you would expect if it was cancer. What to do now?
Not getting the lab pathology was one of the bigger mistakes, first time around and than again on the amputated toe, he would have had the answers to what is wrong instead of trying to guess and keep it from spreading, and that decision may end up costing you more money as a result, if it is cancer and localized you would not necessarily see weightloss, also the type of cancer can make a difference, it could also have been some kind of bacteria or fungus which the pathology would have helped identify

I can't answer what you should do, but I know what I would do

I had a 9 year old greyhound 3 years ago that had torn the ligaments in her knee, surgery to repair was going to $2,500 during the presurgery x-rays bone cancer was found near the hip, removal of her leg was not a good option for her and the only purpose it would serve is to provide pain relief it would not cure of her of her cancer(at least not that type) so I let her go., but I would have much preferred to have instead spent that 2 and half thousand on a knee surgery and still have her with me today even it meant taking out a loan to pay for, it will be 3 years next week to the day that I lost her and I still miss her terribly. I have another dog that has peridontal disease and requires dentals every 9 months which approx $500 each trip being doing for 6 years in order to prevent heart disease, he also has a very enlarged which is x-rayed under for his dental inorder to keep an eye on it to help determine if it is changing aand needs to be removed, so far testing on the spleen alone has run me about $1500 so far I know there is no cancer in it, this has be ongoing for 2 3/4 years. I have another dog with lupus and a clotting disorder testing has been done to determine what is worng and to rule out other possible disease that may cause, plus she requires meds for which will be lifelong to keep her healthy again another couple thousand there. I also have 2 other dogs and 2 cats fortunately right now they are healthy. None of my animals have a dollar value attached to them, the 2 are retired from racing , they are not show dogs or cats, they have no breeding value they are simple pet and companions and are members of my family but as a family member it is my duty and obligation to provide and I try to keep them as healthy as possible, for as long as possible without allowing them to suffer, they are different that say a old vehicle, where I can say that I have spent enough, it is not worth putting more money into so lets just replace, the difference is a car is not a living breathing thing,

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Poor kitty

Originally Posted by lachase
The cat seems fat

Has he been tested for diabetes?

I'd consider a different vet, and bring records of everything that has been done so far. If possible I think you need to have a biopsy done and sent out this time so you know what is going on. I suspect bloodwork will reveal something too. There has to be a reason why it's not healing. If he's not on a really healthy diet and is an older cat please look into a diet change, that will help him heal(also cheaper in long run).

I agree that trying to save money in the first place often ends up costing a lot more. It's true that it is not worth his life though, he's your little fur family. If you can do a payment plan or just bear the expense now I don't think you will be sorry. It wouldn't be easy to live with wondering if you might have had your boy put down for something easy to treat like a fungus infection or a diet change. If you find out it can't be treated then at least you know you did good by him and tried for him. I wasn't able to do anything for Xmas and I can't have pets because I can hardly feed myself so I hear you on the money issue, if that helps put things in perspective a little bit.

I'd use caution putting home remedies on it until you know what it is. You don't want to risk making it worse. That's not to say home remedies are not very effective sometimes, i'd just be careful at this point in time since you don't really know what's wrong with his paw yet.

Please give an update when you can. Good luck, I think you'll get to the bottom of this!!!

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My husband is taking him because I am a wimp about it. Kitty is sitting in my lap right now and I feel terrible because my feeling at this point is that it doesn't seem hopeful. In retrospect, I know I should have gone ahead and had the lab testing done, but I wish the vet had just sent it and billed us instead of making it an option. We have already paid multiple hundreds over this, and you all are right, you can't know what to do if you don't know why. But, I felt soooo certain that it was innocuous, that he had gotten something in his foot, like how the vet removed black flakes of matter initially, or that it had been a warble and that it would just heal. It seemed unnecessary because, just like now, the cat "looks" healthy, couldn't imagine that it would have been cancer. He is only 5 years old also. Only, yesterday he vomited 3X. It has been about three weeks since the toe was removed. I don't want any more amputations, more suffering and still the bleeding. This has been going on almost 3 months now. We have $ issues also, as I was laid off my job a couple of months ago and have a child in college to pay for, etc. Have to try to hold costs down here to keep heads above water and with the holidays we are stretched now anyhow. I will try to post what comes of this situation. Thanks for your input.

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