'When you see a mass that big, you don't expect good news': Cat with life-threatening tumor meowraculously declared cancer-free after pawrent crowdfunds money to pay for her successful surgery

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Blake Seidel • Managing Editor & Brand Manager
Nov 9, 2025 1:00 PM EST

After finding out that their cat had a tumor that was taking up 80% of their cat's lung space, this pawrent was devastated. Wouldn't you be? Your purrfect little baby needs immediate meowdical attention. And with a diagnosis like that, you don't expect good news. Lily, the cat, was only 9 years old. That's not nearly enough time for her on this Earth, and her pawrent wasn't going to let anything stand in the way of saving their feline friend. They took out a loan and crowdfunded the money, but eventually, they paid for it in full. And you know what? The surgery was successful, and Lily is now 100% cancer free.

Don't underestimate us when we say we would literally do anything to save our cats. Take out loans, change jobs… you name it, we'd do it. Some people may call us crazy, but it's nothing more than they deserve. They bring more joy to our lives than we could ever put in financial terms, so we can't make money a factor in their health and happiness. And we can talk about it with ease now, but this is something all of us pet pawrents will have to deal with sooner or later. Our cats will get older, and there might be complications that can be fixed or cured through modern medicine, but that doesn't mean that they're going to be cheap.

All we can do is hope that our cats will walk the same road to recovery that Lily did, full of success, happiness, and many more years to come with her furrever hooman.

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    OP areraswen Lily got her sutures out today at the surgeon! She was diagnosed with a thymoma tumor taking up over 80% of her lung space late June and it has been a whirlwind/blur to save her ever since they told me surgery was on the table and very viable. When you see a mass that big, you don't expect good news. I had been struggling with the idea I would have to say goodbye at only 9 years old. This grief was compounded by the fact that I originally brought her home from the humane society the
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    OP areraswen It was a real exhausting rollercoaster and I'm glad to be off of it. went from "my cat has a cold" to "my cat is gonna die" to "maybe it's just an infection" to "no it's still getting bigger" to "maybe it's fungal infection" to "no, that's definitely cancer my cat is gonna die" to "my cat is pretty much healthy again". Phew! I hope she and her brother give us some time to recover financially before the next big scare... her brother goes on insurance ASAP. I asked and it's pretty muc
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  • We can't imagine how stressful this must have been. No one ever wants their pets to get sick, or worse. You always hope it's going to be something minor, and almost never expect it's something as major as a tumor. Our hearts would drop through our stomachs if we heard that at the vet.

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    OP areraswen Yes, she is a lynx point siamese!
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    kittyticklehips Omg!!!!! So happy to hear your baby is doing well <3 what a trooper. Btw, is she a Siamese? I have a Siamese named Lily too! Such a good name for a sweet cat
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    kittyticklehips Cool! Omg, I just realized, my siamese chews at the edge of cardboard too! Lol. (I can tell by the familiar looking teeth holes in the box.) None of my other cats have ever done that
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    OP areraswen Obviously things can still happen or go wrong, but all in all, thymoma is the best diagnosis you could hope for in this situation because it's the only one that's curable via surgery. Best of luck.
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    VintageAestheticOnly Your response made me feel so much better thank you so so much.
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  • Lily's story, however, makes us feel that everything is pawssible. No matter the odds, it's important to stay pawsitive because your cats are very sensitive to your emotions. The more pawsitive you are, the better they're going to deal with their situation. Stress doesn't help anyone, especially someone who is sick!

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    OP areraswen I'm so happy to hear that! I hope he recovers well and has many years ahead of him! I was a little sketched out by estimated survival rates post surgery but I think it also depends on age and other factors. My cat is 3 years post op and acts like a kitten again recently! I hope you get as much time as possible with him.
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    VintageAestheticOnly They were able to remove it and he's doing great there are not a lot of people who have had their little ones go through this so I appreciate you responding to my comment and helping me feel less alone.
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    OP areraswen She made a full, complication free recovery. We still have to get checkups with her oncologist for the rest of her life but at least that's affordable with the help of care credit. They started at every 6 months but we recently graduated to once a year checkups. As I understand it, her scans now look like she never had cancer or surgery. Last visit our vet had someone shadowing her for Lily's visit-- I guess she's famous around here for how remarkable of a recovery she made consider
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    VintageAestheticOnly My two year old cat just got diagnosed with one of these and has surgery in two weeks. This made me feel so much better. We caught it super early luckily so I hope he makes a full recovery. How is your baby doing today?
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    OP areraswen For sure. She turned her nose up at wet food after surgery for a bit, but she's slowly been getting better about it. We put maple flavored l-lysine on top of a little bit of wet food and juice now, per the recommendation of her oncologist because she kept getting a little sneezy post-op. She really seems to like the maple flavor. Took a few days for her to show a ton of interest in food again to be honest and she spent a lot of that first few weeks sleeping. At first she couldn't ev
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    VintageAestheticOnly We currently have him in the master bedroom with our bed on the floor so he doesn't have to jump. He also is enjoying being on the bed under the covers. I keep checking his breathing. He also hates the cone, I might have to look into one of those suits instead. He seems to be uncomfortable and sleeping a lot. Also he's not currently interested in eating. I hope it picks up soon. Did your cat have any loss of appetite?
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    VintageAestheticOnly These tips help a lot. He's sleeping a ton right now and seems pretty calm. I'm having a hard time telling if he's lethargic or just tired. He was terrified at the vet they had me bring him home early, he was barely there for 24 hours post op. He wouldn't eat for them or use the box :( he just peed on himself in the spot he was sitting in he was so stressed. So they thought he would be better at home.
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wholesome heartwarming cat owners pawrents Cats animals surgery pets cute cats recovery
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