Aw your such a mom! I hope it doesn't come down to that. Surgery is always a hard step to take. We had to have surgery for Emma (our cat) shortly after we got her. Her ribs were concave, so they were growing inward stressing her internals. It has a hard thing to do and even now (a year later) she still doesn't allow me to hold her for more than 10 seconds without escalating fear.
OMG , you don't often hear of cat's having to undergo such invasive procedures. Say's allot about how much you love your fur babies. Bless your heart!! Our first bully had to have both ear canals completely removed due to chronic ear infections and that was a huge surgery. $3000 if memory serves me and we didn't hesitate one second to have it done. He was so much happier and healthier after surgery. Thank God we had an awesome surgeon in Louisville who preforms the procedure all the time. The tail amputation is supposed to be terribly painful and that is what I fear. So far, he has no problems. No twirling on the carpet or scooting down the hall but I keep his little .... cleaner than my own. Hee Hee. We have two tuxedo kitties too. One very old man and a very young sprout. We love our pets.