Unknown Congestion - Cant Afford Continued Investigation

My 11 year old cat has been having this issue for almost 3 months now. She has thyroid disease being treated with methimazole but is otherwise healthy. She has been making snoring and whistling noises while breathing, shaking her head, and swallowing with a forward head movement while not eating or drinking. She had blood tests which showed mycoplasma bacteria so was treated with antibiotics for two weeks but it didn't go away. Xrays showed normal lungs. My vet now wants to proceed with a CT scan which he estimates will be $1200 to look for cancer or polyps. I am wondering if there is anything else I can try or just any advice or support about dealing with similar issues. I have already spent $1500 on this issue and will not be able to afford any further treatment if I pay for the CT scan which I can hardly afford as it is.

Hello - and thankyou for sharing this delicate dilemma, which comes up a lot in veterinary medicine.   The bigger picture is important here; it may be (please ask them) that even if cancer or polyps are identified on MRI, the act of performing such a scan will bring the vets no closer to solving the problem.  However, I have seen endoscopy used to visualise masses and these can also be used to take biopsies or to remove polyps depending on what they find, without a second procedure.  For this reason, I would consider asking your vet about the cost, advantages and disadvantages of referral for endoscopy (+/- radiography first).   I find it very positive that you are asking to discuss the brutal, practical aspects of a referral - for example cost - before commiting, so please don't hesitate to raise these issues with your vet.   In this case, it sounds as though treating a polyp might make a significant difference to the prognosis (but perhaps not so much for the tumour? - again, your vet should be able to discuss this).  Wishing you both all the best.