Cat licking lips - sign of stomach cancer in my kitty

Hi everyone,

I have enjoyed reading this forum, and looking for answers to my cat questions. I am sad and disheartened to discover today that my cat has 2 egg-sized tumors in her stomach. I wanted to share the symptoms in this forum, in order to help someone else with similar problems.

I got my cat 2 years ago from the pound, and we think she is 7-10 years old. She slowly started to adjust to normal life, and grew fatter and happy with our family. Then, after 6 months or so, the vomiting started. Not much, mostly bile and chewed up food. An annoyance that occurred daily, but I was reassured by my vet that we would find the right food for her.

After 1 year or so of never finding the "right food," I started to notice blood in her vomit. Keep in mind, this cat was vibrant, healthy appetite, playful, and active. 

Obviously concerned, I took her to the vet and asked many times what the possibilities could be. I was quieted, and reassured the blood was from the over-vomiting, possible an ulcer.

The vet prescribed Steroids and Anti-biotics, which did seem to slow down the nausea a bit. However, about 3 weeks later, my cat started licking her lips and gagging as though she had something caught in her throat. I thought she had swallowed something, and noticed she stopped eating and drinking water. 

Shocked, she lost all appetite, 1/3 of her body weight, and was sleepy all day. Two days of no eating, I took her to the vet to remove the obstruction in her mouth.

WHAT!?!?!?! 

Two egg-sized tumors?!?!

Inoperable?!?!

Call your daughter home from school to say goodbye?!?!

Where did this cliff edge come from, and how did we hurl over the side with no warning??

I chose not to put my cat down today, and chose to bring her home. She is most likely going to die tonight in my arms, but I am giving her water and vitamins with an eyedropper. I just ordered several types of homeopathic cancer treatments, and hopefully they will arrive before she passes away.

I am so sad that I went to the Vet 3 times in the past year, and was told we were dealing with an allergy. My cat was fat and fine 3 days ago.

Thanks for hearing my story. It feels better to share it rather than be alone with my sadness. 

Oh I am SO SO SO sorry to hear this terribly, sad, sad news! :sobbing:

Just FYI, my kitty also had an inoperable "massive" tumor in his stomach. When they found it, we were referred to a cancer specialist. Did your vet mention this? Or she left you with no hope at all?

In fact, it was his bleeding ulcers that helped us find it. He'd been vomiting for months, and we kept thinking it was hairballs. An x-ray in January last year showed nothing. An x-ray at the end of July showed the "massive" tumor. His ulcers were treated with pepcid a/c and a stomach coater: sucralfate. The pred is standard protocol when a cat has cancer. But if she's still got some life in her eyes, I would consider at least having a consult with a cancer specialist. :heart3: I really don't know enough about your kitty's situation, so I don't want to give you false hope. Our vet did give Lazlo "maybe a month" to live if we didn't treat him. But he didn't overly stress at the vet visits, so we opted for chemotherapy. I'm happy to discuss this more if you'd like our experience with it. He finished his course of treatment in January, and there is no mass left in his stomach.

Vibes for you and your baby! !!!!!!

Hi there,

Thanks so much for the vibes, really nice to know someone out there has gone through something similar.

Yes- there is life in her eyes. She just jumped in bed with me as I started writing this. The Vet said that there is no hope. In fact, he left the cathetar in her paw so that tomorrow we can euthanize her. It is tragic seeing the line of death in her paw tonight.

I am very interested to hear your story. There seemed to be no options, no hope given by him, but the vitamin water I am forcing her to drink is already seeming to help her. She hates being forced to do anything, but she looks at me with trusting (yet stubborn) eyes.

I looked up every cancer fighting ingredient in feline homeopathic medicine tonight online, and found that I have most of the ingredients in my cabinets. I have given her a few CCs of it, and may try force feeding her food tomorrow.

I am open to cancer treatment, but I live 2 hours from a city and would be very hesitant to put her through a long drive over mountains in her condition. I just cannot believe how quickly we went from a healthy and beautiful cat, to a skin-and-bones sickness.

.. if only it was 2 weeks ago when we could have removed it! Now they have grown to where she only has 1/4 of the room in her stomach to hold water or food. I just hope this helps another cat lover to seek proper medical opinions when the symptoms were oh so clear in hindsight. She was telling me for months that something was wrong, but I trusted my vet to know if it was a problem!

Oh it's just heartbreaking!

Given how far away you are, chemotherapy doesn't sound practical. It required weekly visits for the first two months, then every other week visits. Many people opt not to do it because their kitties stress with all the vet visits. We were so very fortunate in that Lazlo seemed to understand he needed it.

...But given how your vet let you down ( !!!!!!! ), I'm not so sure I'd take their advice on when it's her time. :heart2: You'll know, she'll let you know. :rub: Until then, every moment you have together is a blessing.

You can make her more comfortable with at least an anti-nausea medication. :nod: We had excellent results with Lazlo's nausea (which is what the licking the lips and/or drooling is) using Cerenia. He was given 1/4 tablet once a day. With fluids and nutrition (did they administer sub-q fluids? You can easily do this at home, they just have to show you how to do it) she may surprise all of you. Vets are so often wrong about how much time they have left.

And depending upon how she reacts to being pilled, you can consider treating her ulcers with pepcid a/c and sulcralfate. Your vet should (hopefully) know the right doses. The sucralfate is a large pill, but we gave Lazlo half in the morning and half at night. This course of medication healed the bleeding ulcers. I know that the ulcers seem small in comparison to having two large tumors in her tummy, but if, with your help and natural treatment, she can fight the cancer, treating her ulcers will help her FEEL much better. The tumors in her tummy don't cause her pain - the ulcers do. They also contribute to anemia, and stopping the bleeding will go a long way to helping her body use the nutrition and the natural treatment you will provide.

When we had to syringe feed Lazlo, he actually seemed to enjoy it (at first. Once he'd put on some weight and felt better, he wasn't as happy about it.).

Obviously, if she can't stand being pilled or force fed, you're at a place in your relationship with her that you should just do anything you can to make her happy, and know how much she's loved. A TCS member, Momofmany, calls this the "Love and Cheese Danish" treatment. This "treatment" came about because one of their vets gave them no hope for one of their dogs. The cancerous tumor was removed, but she was given very little time left to live despite the surgery. They spoiled her rotten, and she lived another 18 months. Here is Amy's description: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/228159/the-mackerel-update-thread-3/90#post_3032680

I - and I know others will - appreciate the strength it took to come here and share her story. :heart3: I SO hope (and pray!) there will be MANY more updates, surprising ALL of us! :heart3: :heart3: :heart3: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I too am so sorry and heartbroken for you. Know you have my thoughts and prayers for both of you. You obviously love her very, very much. She can't ask for better than that. You gave her a wonderful life. I hope and pray for a miracle.

Me too, me too!  Sweetie, I'm so sorry. Good luck, Hugs, & prayers for you & your baby.

finnlacey said:

I too am so sorry and heartbroken for you. Know you have my thoughts and prayers for both of you. You obviously love her very, very much. She can't ask for better than that. You gave her a wonderful life. I hope and pray for a miracle.

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I am also sending major vibes your way!

And hugs to you

I have a sweet 9 year old girl that was recently tentatively diagnosed with IBD because of weight loss and vomiting. IBD can occur anywhere in the digestive tract - if it happens in the stomach they vomit, if in their bowels they have the runs. When I started reading up on the disease, I learned that IBD can trigger or be an early sign of cancer. IBD cannot be accurately diagnosed unless you have a surgical biopsy taken. There are markers in blood test results that can lead a vet to suspect IBD, but they can at best give you a tentative diagnosis. If she's been vomiting for a while, she may have had a different issue until recently.

I tell you this because I don't want you to beat yourself up that you didn't do enough early enough to find her cancer. What could you have possibly done differently if she was predisposed to this?


I'm the "Love and Cheese Danish" person. When my dog Ellie Mae was given 30 days to live, we took her home and gave her anything she wanted. The first morning we happened to have some cheese danish on hand. We broke up one of them, put it on a plate, and fed it to her while she lounged on the sofa (she hadn't been allowed up there before that time). We made her so happy that she didn't want to leave us and finally succumbed to a stroke 18 months later. Keeping yourself calm and your kid happy and stress free can be the best thing to do when there aren't any viable options for treatment. Let your girl love to be alive right now.

Thank you everyone for the LOVE!!!

I spent all night with her, feeding her 1 cc at a time of this herbal recipe from my counters:

Flax seed oil

Green tea

feline powder vitamin (with zinc, magnesium, Bs etc)

Immune oil (echinacea mostly)

Anti-cancer oil (shitake, reishi mushroom drops)

I had checked every ingredient to make sure there were people who confirmed these things were safe for cats. She drank it slowly all night and GUESS WHAT!?!?!

Today, she drank 2 platefuls of raw organic milk, ate a slice of turkey breast, and is eating!! First time in 5 or so days!

I am not trying to raise any false hopes, but the signs of life are back. She is purring, jumping on my bed, scratching her post, and loving so much. (BUT- she HATES being forced to take the eyedropper)

So, tomorrow I am going to the Vet to give her the vitamins mixed with water, just to make sure she is hydrated. I feel HOPE, even though we are probably spending the last few days/weeks together, she is happy!

 I will keep everyone posted.

Thank you for sharing this~ it means a lot to hear other experiences and that I am not alone. It is just hard to have those thoughts of what if... you know? Love is one thing we are not short on! If it means we are only together for a few more days, it is worth it to have her in my life, as long as she is happy!

Thanks, Teresa

That is EXCELLENT advise. I am taking her tomorrow to get another hydration IV, and will ask him to give her an anti-naseau too. I did not realize the licking was from that. It is better today, and she has been eating a bit of food. Maybe she is hoping that I will fight this thing with her, because it seems as though she is really trying to heal herself.

Again, I don't want to give you false hope either, but there was a "miracle" dog at our vet clinic - they still talk about him. He had inoperable cancer - in his colon. His daddy didn't give up, and gave him green tea pills. I'll ask which vet treated him, and if they know how much he weighed and how much was given for how long, but his tumor went away. I will certainly be praying for another miracle!

What is your kitty's name?

And yes, the "what if's" are nearly impossible to avoid. If you find yourself in that place, please do your best to simply acknowledge it, and that will help you let it go. :heart3:

and more !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh - and just FYI. The pepcid a/c and sucralfate healed our kitty's multiple bleeding ulcers inside of two weeks. When they first saw the bleeding ulcers, the initial treatment was just pepcid a/c. At the time, we were having ultrasounds done monthly. The first follow-up ultrasound found no ulcers. So for whatever reason, they had us stop the course of meds. But then he started throwing up blood. That's when they put him back on pepcid a/c and added the sulcralfate. That was two weeks into the following month. And just two weeks later, the ulcers were gone, according to that ultrasound. :nod: So this treatment works quickly. And this time, we kept him on those meds. He is still on them, and likely will be kept on them indefinitely.

:rub: :rub: :rub:

Praise God!   That's wonderful!!   I said a prayer!  So glad to hear your kitty is doing better, & will pray for continued healing!!!!!!!!!!!!

triberoots said:

Thank you everyone for the LOVE!!!

I spent all night with her, feeding her 1 cc at a time of this herbal recipe from my counters:

Flax seed oil

Green tea

feline powder vitamin (with zinc, magnesium, Bs etc)

Immune oil (echinacea mostly)

Anti-cancer oil (shitake, reishi mushroom drops)

I had checked every ingredient to make sure there were people who confirmed these things were safe for cats. She drank it slowly all night and GUESS WHAT!?!?!

Today, she drank 2 platefuls of raw organic milk, ate a slice of turkey breast, and is eating!! First time in 5 or so days!

I am not trying to raise any false hopes, but the signs of life are back. She is purring, jumping on my bed, scratching her post, and loving so much. (BUT- she HATES being forced to take the eyedropper)

So, tomorrow I am going to the Vet to give her the vitamins mixed with water, just to make sure she is hydrated. I feel HOPE, even though we are probably spending the last few days/weeks together, she is happy!

 I will keep everyone posted.

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i am sorry to hear about your kitty. i am sitting here now with my cayce waiting for him to get comfortable before i go to bed. when i am not at work i spend every minute with him just letting him know i am near. it seems to comfort him. i am starting to feel bad constantly putting crap in his mouth to keep him going. i had a 10 year old cat die of heart failure and i was giving that poor guy pills constantly, even though i knew it wasn't going to save him. i am giving my 18 year old kitty some more time. he has always had perfect health and his tests were all perfect. but he was losing weight and stopped laying down. that was the biggest clue. he stopped sleeping on his side. now he sleeps sitting up. must be pain. i got him a very padded heating pad, feed him fresh chicken, tuna, what ever he likes. i do give him appetite stimulant pills, some steroid (less than was recommended) antacid, pain meds, and mineral oil for the constipation. everyone says, your cat will tell you when he's ready. maybe, unless i just keep him going with meds in a miserable life.  this is awful. i can only imagine that stomach and intestine cancer is not a pleasant death. so i am keeping plenty of pain meds handy. always exhausted actually performing hospice for my cat.

i'll do anything to make him comfortable. poor baby.

what??? i am not sure when this was written but if your cat still has life in her eyes and is jumping on your bed. you're good. my cat just sits sleeping with his head smushed into the desk. he cant sleep on his side and he is not so vibrant anymore, at all. he just sits with his head down most of the time. find a new vet! it should be your decision anyways.
 

I am so glad I found this thread. My cat has some type of blood cancer. We give him steroids but the chemo costs $300 a week. This can;t come at a worse time since both i and my girlfriend recently lost our jobs. i know he won't live forever but I am in tears over him every day. I feel so ******* helpless. Now even with the steroid he is vomiting, licking his lips, hiding and breathing weird. I don't know what to do anymore. 

He may need anti vomiting medicine. Cerenia, Zofran, Pepcid are three options. two are injectable. one is pill form. Often people feed their cat before giving the pred. This is hard on their stomach. Can your kitty eat meat babyfood? my girls love this when they are ill. Often it is recommended to treat with subfluids at home to help hydrate then feed some meat babyfood=no onion/garlic-then wait 20 min and administer the pred.

you can have the vet write a script for the sub fluids and buy it all online. its cheaper than doing it at the docs office. This would make sure your kitty is hydrated enough to want to eat. Dehydrated kitties often look and feel very ill. I would ask about these two items.

I am so sorry your kitty has cancer but glad you came onto this site to find answers. I suggest starting a new thread-and it will get more people to see your new thread.

when doing a thread=try to include all info:

Sex and whether fixed

age

what symptoms

what you have tried

vet test results

what the vet says

and any questions you have.