oral squamous cell carcinoma/help with eating

Last Friday i was told that my long hair black cat Igmun of 14 years had a tumor under his tongue and that it could be o.s.c.c. They did blood work and it all came back good. On Tuesday he went in for dental work and to have the tumor removed and then to have it go to the lab. He came home with 7 stiches in his mouth along with pain meds Buprenex in liguid form and antibiotics. I'm a mess to say the least and have been on the net looking up this terrible disease and i read horror story after horror story.

I was also given 2 types of recovery can food which he will not eat. The emergency vet gave me a tube of nutri-cat which i apply to the top of his mouth, which i thought would be better, but i refused to fight him to put anything in his mouth and that is what it would had become if i kept trying to feed him this supplement.

I know that the outcome of what Igmun has is not good and i know that it will end up ending his life. Of course i'm not ready for that and never will be but i also do not want him to suffer anymore than needed.

I know that he is hungry but he cannot eat, the stiches are driving him crazy, he keeps trying to get them out of his mouth. I trimmed his nails so he would not cut his self.

Any suggestions on how i can get some food in him.

I went to the store and bought a can of tuna to see if he would go for that and of course he tried but could not eat any again trying to get the stiches out. I do not feed him tuna on any sort of regular basis but i let him have some of the juice every once in a great while, it was a treat for him.

I have the feeling from talking with my Vet that she just wants me to give up and i do not want to do that not yet.

I most likely have read all that is out there but i guess i wanted to try one more time.

My close friends and family say to just leave him alone for a day or so to let him heal, but i'm so worried about him not eating.

Any suggestions out there????

Oh gosh, I'm so sorry you and Igmun are going through this.    Has he eaten anything since Tuesday?

Could be that he needs more pain meds. I like the Fentanyl pain patch when there's an oral issue because then you don't have to mess around with the cat's mouth. 

You might want to try offering him plain chicken baby food (no onions). You can add a tsp or 2 of warm water so it's easy for him to just lap it up. Antibiotics also tend to have a negative effect on appetite so he may need a dose or 2 of an appetite stimulant to get him over the hump. Something to talk to the vet about anyway.

Good luck! My heart goes out to you.

Actually it has been Wednesday since he has eaten.

Thank you for the suggestions i will give them a try and talk to my Vet. For some reason she wanted me to cut his pain meds down but like i said i get the feeling that she wants me to give up. I had the vet at emergency suggest that i try feeding a little while after i give him his pain meds since his mouth will not be in such pain.

I would rather he not be in pain and maybe getting a bit of food than to be in pain and be hungry.

As i said i know the outcome of this but please not this soon.

Thank you so much for listening and giving some good advise.

Our cat was diagnosed with the same last month.  His tumor is on the side and back of his jaw.  He had a debulking surgery but he didn't have any stitches put in and he recovered pretty well.  Would the vet be able to take out the stitches since that seems to be bothering him?  The mouth heals rather quickly.  We got pain medication in liquid form and it was so easy to give.  You must try to get food and water into him or he will decline very quickly.  You can water down some canned food, baby food, tuna, whatever he can keep down and put it in a syringe.  Slowly squirt it into the back of his mouth.  If you go at it from the side it won't shoot back out and I've found it a little easier for them to swallow.  He might fight it but it's for his own good.  After a while he may tolerate it better when he realizes it fills his stomach.  I wouldn't worry about the contents too much since the prognosis for this disease isn't good.   A month after the debulking surgery for our cat he is already starting to drool and it's getting harder for him to eat.

yokutwoman said:

I had the vet at emergency suggest that i try feeding a little while after i give him his pain meds since his mouth will not be in such pain.

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Yes!  Our other cat injured his tongue just this past weekend (yeah, we have horrible luck).  He got antibiotics and pain killers.  He was most able to eat about a 1/2 hour after the pain meds (these were the liquid, oral kind absorbed under the tongue... buprinorphrine??).

I was given Buprenex in a syringe that i put on the gums. But he is still not eating. But i think that he wants to or least tries to, His strength is coming back he is meowing and tries to get away when i start to but his pain medication on him. I'm at my wits in i do not know what to do. I know that this disease will not go away but he is not ready to go yet, i can see it in his eyes, and feel it in his little spirit. When i went to bed last night he stayed on his chair to look out the window and a few hours later he jumped in bed to lay on his pillow and snuggle with me. He is not ready. But i need to get food in him

Can you ask your vet to give you a referral to an oncologist? They should be able to help you better with even just the basics of dealing with cancer, like getting a cat to eat and helping them feel more comfortable. Pawspice (aka hospice for terminally ill pets) is a totally reasonable option but it requires a vet that's on board and to me, it doesn't sound like your current vet is much help. 

In the meantime, here is a great website with tips on how to try to get an innappetant cat to eat more: http://www.assistfeed.com/FelineAnorexia.htm

Also, Buprenex can be given by injection if you think giving it orally is causing Igmun too much stress. 

This is my Igmun. Not sure how to make this my avator.

To danewillow & Sugarcatmom:

I have made an appointment with my Vet for early Monday morning, i'm taking my nephew with me.I'm just mush when it comes to Igmun and what we are going through so at least Michael will help me get my post across. The stiches are hard which do not make since to me. The Vet says they will go away in 10 days but 10 of these driving him nuts is not going to happen. I made the appointment for a post surgery visit to talk about the stiches and to figure a way to feed him. Igmun is not acting as if he is ready to go and i will be there to help him as much as i can. I have heard about a pain patch with might not stress him out as much. I cut his nails so he will not be able to tear at the stiches. Why did they not think of that? And when they gave me the oral syringe they just left it on the counter and did not explain how to use it.

Poor little guy he is hungry i know it but his tongue is in the way.

I will try all the suggestions and just get through the week-end one hug at a time and one nose kiss at a time.

Stormy "Igmun's Mom"