Geriatric kitty woes.

The hard thing about have a seriously geriatric cat is that some times they have such severe ups and downs that you end up with whiplash.
My nineteen year old kitty, Cleo, lost at least a third of her body weight this past week. She's such an independent cat I didn't notice at first. When I did notice, I gave her subcutaneous fluids and as much high end cat food as she'd eat. Then, yesterday morning, I noticed as she lay flat out on the floor that there was a lump on her abdomen. At first I thought it might be a distended bowel or something but now I'm pretty sure it's a tumor. I obviously can't tell of it's cancerous or not, though it sprang into being very quickly. The dilemma I'm having is that she has some really seriously issues with going to the vet. She gets very stressed (hyperventilating, gagging, drooling, etc) and she gets super vicious. She's never been to the vet without inflicting wounds on at least one person; the last time it was me, and two serious bites. Because of her taste for human flesh she must be muzzled and "bagged" and sometimes sedated in order to be handled for anything more than a palpation.
I made the decision yesterday to hold off the visit to the vet as she was in a sort of limbo. If she gets better I'll take her for tests, and if she gets worse I'll take her for euthanasia.
This morning she seems better. She is sleeping in a normal upright position, eating and drinking and she even meowed at the door of her room to come out, albeit only once.





For now I think it's the waiting game. She's always been a peculiar cat when it came to health issues. Why should this be any different?

Update: Cleo passed away September 24th, 2010 on her 20th birthday. She was so willing and resigned at the vet that I can't help but feel like she was definitely ready. She was my kitty for twenty years and she'll always have a special place in my heart. As she slipped from this world she reminded me of one thing... she's always been a little wench. Just before dying she launched herself up off the table and tried to bite me - something she has been trying to do her whole life. I couldn't help but laugh to know that even to the end she was ornery and mean.