Maria, I think I would want to seek a second opinion.  It sounds like your
vet is not very communicative, and you need someone who openly discuss all
possibilities with you.  I had a similar situation with one of my cats some
years ago.  My vet gave me the names of two specialists at The Ohio State
University and Texas A&M University veterinary schools.  I called them, and
to my amazement each spent a very long time talking to me on the phone.  I
fully expected to pay for the consultation, and yet neither charged
anything.  The upshot of it was that I decided against an invasive procedure
because I would only have learned more about "how long" and would not have
learned anything that could help in the care of my baby.  So I decided not
to put her through the pain and stress of the procedure.  On the other hand,
we did undertake an aggressive plan of dietary change and medication, and my
cat that was originally given "only a few weeks" lived for an additional 3
years.  I hope you will be able to get similar help, but it is important to
seek help ASAP in a situation such as what you described.

MaryL

Maria, I apologize.  I should have been more specific when I said I had a
"similar situation."  My cat did not have cancer.  However, she had
developed rapidly advancing liver failure, and also had kidney disease and
CRF.  So, my wonderful angel who had been completely healthy shortly before
was now facing imminent death.  That's what I meant by a similar
situation -- a decision on how aggressively to attack the problem and a
desire not to do anything that would cause her pain or discomfort unless it
had the potential to provide information that could be used to her benefit.
The fact that the two specialists would take their time to talk at length to
me on the phone helped more than I can describe.  Amber was not expected to
live for more than a few weeks -- "three months at the most" -- but she
actually lived for 3 years.  It was a constant battle of changing
medications and diets to find something that she could tolerate, but most of
those 3 years were of reasonable quality.  She was still peaceful and
followed me around and loved to be held.  I do hope you can find some help
for Susi.  These are our furbabies, and it is incredibly painful to see them
suffer.

MaryL

Photos of Duffy and Holly:      >'o'<
Duffy:  http://tinyurl.com/cslwf
Holly:  http://tinyurl.com/9t68o
Duffy and Holly together:  http://tinyurl.com/8b47e
Recent pics:  http://tinyurl.com/clal7

Usually in a big city like that how ever the Human society recommends or the
Aspca  they keep records on complaints about vets

DO you have the newsgroup  rec.pets.cats.health+behav  if so   PING PHIL P
he is in New jersey and also has a lot of info on cats problems