Expert: Becky - 3/22/2006

Question
Hello. I am contacting you because I see you have some experience as a medical vet assitant. My boyfriend's cat for the last 9 months has had a tumor on the back of her neck towards the left side. It grew and grew for about 5 or 6 months then stopped. I had it looked at back in September, and the vet said it needed to be removed. That was $300. Then they want to examine it to see if it's cancerous. So the grand  total is $500. Well my boyfriend won't get Angel put to sleep, cancerous or not. He won't take her to the shelter, and my grandmother had offered to get it removed, but her stipulation was Angel would have to become hers and live with her. My boyfriend said no. Well, I really didn't plan on paying for her to get it removed. It's not my cat, and I figured it'd be easy for my boyfriend or his mother to get it removed. It STILL hasn't happened. It's been brought up, but that's it. His mother is addicted to shopping, and supposedly never has any money (except to spend on herself, but that supposedly doesn't count as money) My boyfriend was supposed to work out a deal with his grandpa (my boyfriend's out of work AGAIN) where he works and his grandpa pays for it. Well now, his grandpa is possibly going to file for bankruptcy and doesn't have the money, nor does he care to spend his money that way anyways. He'd rather spend his money on material gifts for my boyfriend and his mother. My question is, what should I do about the tumor? I can't stand it anymore. It's cruel, it looks painful, even though when it's touched it doesn't bother the cat. I also find it absolutely disgusting and it feels lumpy. It's about the size of a walnut. I can't even pet Angel any more. Everytime I do I want to cry. My boyfriend is so selfish, I'm not sure what to do. Do you think I should ask my grandma again? I have my own money, but not $500. That's about half of my monthly income. Any advice on this situation would be greatly appreciated.  

Answer
Hi Lacey!

I don't know where you live, but that price seems really high to me.  Also,even if you had it removed, you do NOT have to have it examined to see if it is cancerous!  Just tell your vet that you want it removed and that you cannot afford the other. This means, however, that you won't know if it malignant or not.  If it were me, I would check around and see what other vets would charge.  You would be surprised at the different prices that differernt vets would charge.  It probably should be removed, but I really think this vet is charging too much.

God Bless,
Becky