Holistic Fibrosarcoma treatments?

My 16 year-old cat, Willow, had a tumor removed in March of this year that has returned. Turns out it's a fibrosarcoma, but whether it's vaccine related is unknown. I was referred to a veterinary oncologist and she has so far had an ECG (due to a heart murmur), a chest x-ray, a CT scan and blood work. The good news is that the murmur is not an issue, her lungs are clear, her kidneys and liver are functioning normally, all is well with her health except for this blasted tumor. Since the initial surgery (done by my regular vet) obviously didn't get all of the tumor, her next surgical option is very aggressive, including amputating her rear leg.

When I first heart this news (before the CT scan was done, just based on feeling around) I was devastated and swore I would never, ever put her through something so drastic. But after meeting with the vet who would be doing the surgery today and going over her CT scan, I'm seriously considering it. I've read a lot on this forum tonight and I plan to do as much research as I can between now and the time we need to make the decision. Since the tumor is so fast-growing, time is of the essence and we need to get it done in the next couple of weeks if that's the route we want to take.

Her prospects for recovery, assuming we also do a round of radiation and chemo, are projected around 80%, plus I was reassured repeatedly, by several of the staff members, how well cats actually do on only three legs. I've gone from being dead-set against such radical surgery before our meeting with the vet to actually considering it. It's so frustrating that there's just no right answer. If we do nothing, the tumor grows until it starts to interfere with her quality of life which, in the vet's estimation, gives her only about 4 months with us. Doing radical surgery involves 1-3 weeks of recovery time in which case I'm sure she'll be pretty miserable, with the potential of either having a complete cure, giving us several more years, or some cancer cells could be missed and the tumor could reappear a third time, making all those drastic efforts worthless. I really, really wish our regular vet had recommended the specialist in the first place so they could have done the initial surgery. But I guess they didn't know what they were up against at the time.

What I really want to know, now, is if anyone has had any luck with holistic therapies? I've read some of what has been posted already on the subject, but could use some more information, if anyone has it. I have to mention that adding to all this is that I'm 7 1/2 months pregnant, so that puts even more pressure on us to decide sooner rather than later what to do.

Thanks in advance!

[nancyjac]

There really isn't much evidence to support holistic remedies curing anything.  They can be helpful sometimes in providing general nutritional support or other general well being benefits over the long haul.  Other times they are totally worthless and just a marketing ploy.  Most so called "holistic", "natural", or "herbal" products are not regulated in anyway, so they can pretty much make any claims they want.

[opus88]

I've had no personal experience with fibrosarcomas myself, I do know that many Vets do use this Vet and his neoplasene treatment, you could talk to your Vet about it and see what he thinks. its a non invasive way of treating tumors. they are just injected rather than the limb amputated. again I have no idea the success rate or costs involved but its worth asking your Vet about.

http://www.buckmountainbotanicals.net/index.html

and heres a site on kitties with Lymphoma that may give you some contacts with more info...all I can say is good luck to you and your kitty too....
Please keep us updated with your decision and Willows progress, we are here for support as well as info...bless you both♥

http://www.felinelymphomacaregivers.org/cases.html