My senior cat has suspected cancer. What are my affordable options?

Question

11 year old female Tonk had blood work up due to loss of appetite and weight loss. Results show low red blood count and lack of replacement. Our vet says probably cancer of bone marrow and not optimistic of her future. I can’t afford major treatment of several thousand dollars. Do I have any options to putting her down that would have a lower cost? Is her condition hopeless? Pet's info: Cat | Tonkinese | Female | spayed | 11 years and 5 months old | 8 lbs

Andrea M. Brodie, DVM · Accepted Answer

I am sorry your kitty is so ill. I think rather than thinking about euthanasia, it is important to verify the diagnosis before taking such a drastic measure. The next step would be to do a bone marrow biopsy and to send the tissue harvested to a pathology laboratory. This will tell whether your cat indeed suffers from cancer of the bone marrow or another not so severe disease. If your vet cannot do the bone marrow biopsy, have him refer your kitty to either a veterinary oncologist or internist. Both of these specialists will also be able to inform you about less costly treatments and palliative care if needed. I think this would make more sense than putting down your cat on just the suspicion of a bone marrow cancer. Neka is very beautiful and certainly looks well taken care of. So I hope the diagnosis is not so dramatic after all.

My senior cat has suspected cancer. What are my affordable options?

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