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- Jan 12, 2015
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My cat, Momo, is 9 years old and has a tumor on his jaw. The whole episode started right around Christmas, when he was showing signs of bad pain. After many visits, it was discovered that the lump was actually some sort of tumor, but the vet wouldn't know exactly which kind without a biopsy. He told me the treatment for a benign tumor would be a mandibulectomy, but if the tumor was malignant to "do things my cat likes" (i.e. he will not live long). He also told me a mandibulectomy might be possible for a malignant tumor, but the prognosis would not be good.
After a lot of soul searching and internet research, my husband and I decided not to do a biopsy because we did not want to do a mandibulectomy on the cat. It seemed risky and radical. We thought our cat might do okay for quite a while if the tumor was benign, but it has grown substantially over the last month, which seems to be characteristic of the malignant tumors. When I look in his mouth, there's a raised portion with a couple of bumps (lesions?) on it. I can see he pushes his tongue off to the side a bit. I'm not sure if this is because the tumor is painful or if it just rolls over to the side.
Momo is not bleeding or having bloody saliva, but he does drool some. He seems to eat some, but not his normal amount. We've been offering food about four times a day - his normal breakfast and dinner and then later morning and later evening. He usually only eats twice a day. He seems a lot more timid and prone to hiding that would have been his normal activity prior to the tumor. He has no interest in his favorite toys. I can tell he's having a "good day" when he's in his sun spot on our kitchen table. He does usually come up from the basement or out of his hiding spot when we come home. I suspect it's because he's hungry and wants food, but he usually seems perkier at this time, probably since he's gotten a lot of rest. He'll enjoy being petted at this time, but then usually goes back to sleeping. I can pick him and bring him over to the couch, and he'll lay on my lap, but I'm not sure he enjoys it or not.
The worst part is giving any sort of medication. He salivates a lot, and his whole face will get wet. Not that big of a deal, but he's always hated getting pilled. I have an antibiotic that I am giving and then an herbal supplement. He sometimes even urinates out of fear (pain?) when I have to give medication.
His grooming has been okay and his potty habits are fine. I am beginning to think he just feels like garbage and perhaps it is time to let him go, but wonder if it's too soon. I've considered pain meds, but know that many will cause problems like constipation, and wonder if by giving these I'd just be prolonging the inevitable. Anybody have advice? I've looked at some of the quality of life scales, and I'd say that Momo is probably in the middle somewhere. He doesn't seem to really ever feel good, except in really small spurts.
After a lot of soul searching and internet research, my husband and I decided not to do a biopsy because we did not want to do a mandibulectomy on the cat. It seemed risky and radical. We thought our cat might do okay for quite a while if the tumor was benign, but it has grown substantially over the last month, which seems to be characteristic of the malignant tumors. When I look in his mouth, there's a raised portion with a couple of bumps (lesions?) on it. I can see he pushes his tongue off to the side a bit. I'm not sure if this is because the tumor is painful or if it just rolls over to the side.
Momo is not bleeding or having bloody saliva, but he does drool some. He seems to eat some, but not his normal amount. We've been offering food about four times a day - his normal breakfast and dinner and then later morning and later evening. He usually only eats twice a day. He seems a lot more timid and prone to hiding that would have been his normal activity prior to the tumor. He has no interest in his favorite toys. I can tell he's having a "good day" when he's in his sun spot on our kitchen table. He does usually come up from the basement or out of his hiding spot when we come home. I suspect it's because he's hungry and wants food, but he usually seems perkier at this time, probably since he's gotten a lot of rest. He'll enjoy being petted at this time, but then usually goes back to sleeping. I can pick him and bring him over to the couch, and he'll lay on my lap, but I'm not sure he enjoys it or not.
The worst part is giving any sort of medication. He salivates a lot, and his whole face will get wet. Not that big of a deal, but he's always hated getting pilled. I have an antibiotic that I am giving and then an herbal supplement. He sometimes even urinates out of fear (pain?) when I have to give medication.
His grooming has been okay and his potty habits are fine. I am beginning to think he just feels like garbage and perhaps it is time to let him go, but wonder if it's too soon. I've considered pain meds, but know that many will cause problems like constipation, and wonder if by giving these I'd just be prolonging the inevitable. Anybody have advice? I've looked at some of the quality of life scales, and I'd say that Momo is probably in the middle somewhere. He doesn't seem to really ever feel good, except in really small spurts.
I just lost one of my outdoor kitties to this. She suddenly had bad eye damage so I took her in where dvm missed the cancer diagnosis and recommended enucleation which she eventually had and lots of treatments. The signs were already there though and ignored pretty much. Dvm 2 saw no sign of cancer at surgery. 2 weeks later when she was to have her stitches removed it had spread rapidly and her symptoms were worse. It was written off as congestion etc. steam and antihistamine helped. I had asked them to was her nose out due to congestion and drooling. They could not get a tube in, did an xray and saw it. Her face had swelled a bit but I assumed it was from the surgery. An early xray at dvm 1 could have diagnosed it prolly. Do not overlook drooling and protruding eyes for sure. My first thought was cancer but they said fhv and I accepted that but now I know better. I opted to let her go under sedation when they told me all of this. She was not going to survive and would have suffered a lot. Fortunately I had insisted on painkillers etc for her from day 1. Hugs to you and kitty
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