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- Nov 10, 2015
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Looking for advice, although I know in the end it's different for every cat. This is so hard.
Our poor 10 year old Howard Bob was diagnosed with mouth cancer in his upper right gums over a month ago. We adopted him three years ago on September 1st, and right away he had health issues. First he had a little cold and had to have a tooth removed. He had an episode (?) of pancreatitis that was so bad he was hospitalized, they did an ultrasound and then performed exploratory surgery to see what the issue was and they discovered a blocked bile duct. They bipassed it (this was all quite traumatic so I'm not sure I'm getting this right). He was also diagnosed with liver disease, the three of those issues (liver, bile, pancreas) make up triaditis. He was also diagnosed with a slight heart murmur, kidney disease, and high blood pressure. He was on a feeding tube and got his appetite back fairly quickly after his surgery. The prognosis was one month to a year. That was three years ago, so he is SUPER awesome and likes to shun prognosis. He's been up to over 12 pounds (not fat, just a big cat), but in general stays between 11 and 11.5 pounds.
He is the most gentle sweetest cat I have ever met. He's scared of his own shadow so we have been very careful around him and quiet. He has been spoiled for three years and I want to keep spoiling him, but I fear this latest diagnosis will be his final fight.
He has never been very active but always very loving and sleeps with me every night. Before his diagnosis he was drooling a little and I thought his teeth needed cleaning, something the vet had mentioned in the past but I thought with his poor diagnosis, it's not critical to put him through that, so we held off. He had a pre-dental vet appointment to check blood and make sure he was okay for a cleaning when the vet saw swollen gums. Xrays were taken and a biopsy proved it was cancer. Last year we lost a cat to mouth cancer, Linus, and Linus wanted to feel good and wanted to keep playing but eating was too painful (his was on the roof of his mouth). With Howard Bob, he has a great appetite, and his only down to 10.5 pounds. But he is even less active and after eating cleans and rubs his mouth for about five minutes.
Would he keep eating if he was in pain or too much discomfort?
I don't want to wait until he is miserable, but because he's always slept a lot and been super mellow, it's hard to know how he is feeling.
Any advice? Anyone else going through this?
The nights seem the worst for him; he opens and closes his mouth and rubs it. But then the next morning he'll meow at me excited for his breakfast.
His eye also waters which the vet says is from the swelling of the tumor. How can that not be painful?
My poor guy.
Our poor 10 year old Howard Bob was diagnosed with mouth cancer in his upper right gums over a month ago. We adopted him three years ago on September 1st, and right away he had health issues. First he had a little cold and had to have a tooth removed. He had an episode (?) of pancreatitis that was so bad he was hospitalized, they did an ultrasound and then performed exploratory surgery to see what the issue was and they discovered a blocked bile duct. They bipassed it (this was all quite traumatic so I'm not sure I'm getting this right). He was also diagnosed with liver disease, the three of those issues (liver, bile, pancreas) make up triaditis. He was also diagnosed with a slight heart murmur, kidney disease, and high blood pressure. He was on a feeding tube and got his appetite back fairly quickly after his surgery. The prognosis was one month to a year. That was three years ago, so he is SUPER awesome and likes to shun prognosis. He's been up to over 12 pounds (not fat, just a big cat), but in general stays between 11 and 11.5 pounds.
He is the most gentle sweetest cat I have ever met. He's scared of his own shadow so we have been very careful around him and quiet. He has been spoiled for three years and I want to keep spoiling him, but I fear this latest diagnosis will be his final fight.
He has never been very active but always very loving and sleeps with me every night. Before his diagnosis he was drooling a little and I thought his teeth needed cleaning, something the vet had mentioned in the past but I thought with his poor diagnosis, it's not critical to put him through that, so we held off. He had a pre-dental vet appointment to check blood and make sure he was okay for a cleaning when the vet saw swollen gums. Xrays were taken and a biopsy proved it was cancer. Last year we lost a cat to mouth cancer, Linus, and Linus wanted to feel good and wanted to keep playing but eating was too painful (his was on the roof of his mouth). With Howard Bob, he has a great appetite, and his only down to 10.5 pounds. But he is even less active and after eating cleans and rubs his mouth for about five minutes.
Would he keep eating if he was in pain or too much discomfort?
I don't want to wait until he is miserable, but because he's always slept a lot and been super mellow, it's hard to know how he is feeling.
Any advice? Anyone else going through this?
The nights seem the worst for him; he opens and closes his mouth and rubs it. But then the next morning he'll meow at me excited for his breakfast.
His eye also waters which the vet says is from the swelling of the tumor. How can that not be painful?
My poor guy.
