Tight Stomach

I'm not sure if any of you have noticed this, should your kitty also have a pancreatic tumour, but these past few days, it's really become quite apparent to me.  I have another kitty - Gabriel (Goober) who is the chunky round one in the family.  Although he's a plump one, if you push on his sides, you eventually feel his ribs and there's a lot of give, as though his insides are soft and malleable.  This, from my experience is completely normal and should be what happens.

If you touch Weasel's side, there is no give at all.  It feels to me as though there's something pushing extremely hard against his rib cage.  His skin is tight and his sides are starting to protrude.  I'm not feeding him extra so it's not weight gain due to sudden obesity.  He feels tightly bloated.  When I looked this up, it was a symptom that some people described when they talked of their own pancreatic cancer.

I'm honestly shocked.  He hasn't vomited in over two weeks that I can see (unless it was outside), and purrs like crazy when we give him attention.  He's also eating all of his food, including the chicken liver that we started to give him, as his gums were looking grey.  Initially he wasn't fond of the liver.  He has an apparent 'healthy' appetite.  And of course, being a kitty with probably an extremely high pain threshold, he shows no signs of discomfort.  I have to wonder if he's one day just going to suddenly pass away on me within a week - very quickly, literally from eating, purring and playing to...nothing.  It's an awful thought that I can't shake, but with an abdomen shaped like his, it brings forth a lot of questions.

One tell tale sign that something is wrong is how he reacts when his brother is nearby.  Within these past two weeks, if his brother sniffs him or stands too close to him, he suddenly hisses and swats at him.  These two were inseparable their whole lives and now he just wants distance.  So he is sensitive about what surrounds him that's neither my husband or I.

I suppose I'm naive but I really thought this beast of a tumour was under control.  That the growth would stop, but the tumour wouldn't necessarily vanish, just not expand.  Had I gone through with the surgery, I would have only had about 3 more months left with him, as they would have had to remove the pancreas and according to the traditional vet I was seeing, the toll is too much on a cat.  Although I've had 7 months since diagnosis, no matter what, I'll feel robbed.  His little personality fills a room.  The thought of not having him nearby is truly devastating.