question - oral surgery, what would you do?

My 11 year old cat (Roller) recently starting having a loud stertor. I took him into the vet who looked in his mouth and said his soft palate is being pushed forward, creating the noise and blocking the airway. She said his ears are all clean and well, and the only way to know what's causing this is exploratory surgery.

She suspects, given his age and location, it's squamous cell carcinoma. She said it could also, but unlikely, be a benign growth or polyp. Risks of surgery of course are swelling of the throat and death from anaesthetic, but she said these are slim.

He is normal in every other aspect.. happy, playing, eating, drinking. It's just this god awful stertor and snorting he does when he breathes, and it's often.

I'm so torn because I put another one of my cats through two surgeries hoping to remove cancer and he ended up dying 43 days later anyway. All that suffering for nothing.

Would you put him through the surgery to find out what's causing it if there is a good possibility of it being cancer? Or would you just try anti-inflammatories and hope for the best as I can always do surgery later?

I'm so sorry you're going through this.  It's terrible when the cancer effects their mouths.

I'm going through this, but my boy Simon's cancer was adhered to his lower left jaw. It's now shifting his jaw and teeth making it difficult to eat, I need to syringe feed him, but he can drink on his own.

Since Simon has a murmur treatment wasn't an option.  And I had to think, even if he was able to undergo treatment or surgery, unless the life span would be at least two or three years after recovery, I couldn't put him through that.  My thought being, he wouldn't live long enough to forget what we put him through, he just wouldn't understand.  He's a sheltered kitty and in no way likes leaving the apartment.

He was diagnosed Feb 11th and except for certain changes and help, he's still enjoying life at home.  He's on Clindamycin for infection and Buprenorphine for pain.

Best to you and your wee one.

I have a thread regarding giving Hospice Care to Simon - titled  Tumor/SCC: Defying the odds with hospice care. - you may be able to get some ideas.

I would like to add.  There are many informed people on this site who have much more experience with this than I.  I have no doubt that you will get lots of good advice from members.  I'm not an expert, I'm only basing my thoughts on my own experience.

This is my first time dealing with a sick kitty.  I've been lucky and all my animals have passed from age.

What has your vet said about long-term prognosis?

Are you able to seek a second opinion from a specialist or board-certified surgeon?

Not that it is financially an option, but I do believe a CT (cat must be sedated, but it is not invasive) can give a better idea of how involved the mass is and that, too, may help make a decision.

CatPack said:

What has your vet said about long-term prognosis?

Are you able to seek a second opinion from a specialist or board-certified surgeon?

Not that it is financially an option, but I do believe a CT (cat must be sedated, but it is not invasive) can give a better idea of how involved the mass is and that, too, may help make a decision.

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My vet had him gone within two weeks of diagnosis.  He told me to take him home and feed him anything he wanted.  I was shocked and asked him if there was anything to be done, he said, he could recommend an oncologist, but the cancer is very progressive and with the murmur sedation and stress would not be good for him.

He gave me Clindamycin, and 14 days later I went back for another bottle... he was shocked he was still alive.  Then when he was showing signs of discomfort I got the pain meds.

And yes, I did end up speaking to 2 other vets and they both said the same thing.  The said just enjoy him as long as possible.

Definitely get a CT if that will help you in deciding how to move forward, unfortunately it wasn't an option for my case.

Best of luck to you, keep me posted.

Thanks. I actually ended up taking him back in today for his 1 week check up and she advised the mass had grown since last week. She was able to swab his throat and poke at it without putting him under because he's just that tolerant, but it bled and he put up a bit of a fight. There's no doubt his throat is sore.

She said she's 95% sure it's SCC. The other 5% could be a variety of things but she's pretty much ruled out polyps. She put him on prednisone today to see if that helps with the swelling and making him more comfortable. She no longer recommends putting him under to further examine it because it likely wouldn't show anything different, and could upset what's going on in there. There's a risk his throat would swell quite badly with any poking around. 

She said couple weeks, couple months... there's no telling really but I've decided putting him through exploratory surgery is not a good idea and putting him at risk for nothing. this is so hard. Lost another one of my furbabies in 2013 to melanoma, and one a few months before that to old age/kidney failure. 11 seems so young and i can't imagine him not being around. 

Sorry to hear. I guess that makes three of us. I've been 'ohm'ing into the area infected. Not sure if the ohmmm itself helps or just me giving him attention but he likes it and purrs and anytime I can get him to pur i know at least he's not suffering and I hope it makes it harder on the cancer when he's purring. I'll sing to him too when I snuggle him. I now want to explore possible exercise/oxygen possibilities like a hamster wheel. I think these guys/cats could care less they're on their way out. It's like they're saying 'relax. Let's just take it easy then say goodbye'. Call me selfish but I don't think it'd hurt anyone for my little guy to stick around a few more years, if I can convince him. I'm not religious but I'll pray and I'll pray with him. Lol, I lead it of course I cross my fingers he's joining me. Experiment yourself. Anything to get your cat in a positive mood can only help.

So sorry to hear. Cancer is such a hard diagnosis. I hope you can make the rest of his days happy and comfortable ones.

Ive been througb this once before with my 9 year old. He had melanoma and after 2 surgeries to remove the tumor, it has spread and from diagnoses to the day i let him go... took 43 days. By far the hardest decision to make. I had let one go a month prior from old age and as hard as that was (he was 22... had been with me since i was 7!), its harder to accept when its cancer.

Theres a 5% chance the vet is wrong, but if its not Scc, then its something else just waiting to explode. I am ok with the decision not to investigate further and put him through undue stress and risky anaesthetic just to have a firm diagnoses. I just hope its managable for some time yet and i notice before it suffocates him.

meplus5 said:

Ive been througb this once before with my 9 year old. He had melanoma and after 2 surgeries to remove the tumor, it has spread and from diagnoses to the day i let him go... took 43 days. By far the hardest decision to make. I had let one go a month prior from old age and as hard as that was (he was 22... had been with me since i was 7!), its harder to accept when its cancer.

Theres a 5% chance the vet is wrong, but if its not Scc, then its something else just waiting to explode. I am ok with the decision not to investigate further and put him through undue stress and risky anaesthetic just to have a firm diagnoses. I just hope its managable for some time yet and i notice before it suffocates him.

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I understand totally.  My doctor wasn't exactly sure what type of cancer, but from what others have told me, it's SCC that effected his bones.  I'll never be 100 percent sure.

Wow, 22 years old, my dad who lived with us had a cat who was 24, and when he was ready he looked at my dad and laid on the floor and passed.  It was easier, sad but easier.  I think knowing that they lived well and it was natural, and "somewhat" painless.  I hope.  

But this cancer is difficult.  From what I can tell mine doesn't have issues breathing, so far. thank God.

In the end you know your baby better than anyone, and you need to live with the decision.  You need to do whats best for you and your wee one.  It's hard.  I pray God doesn't make me decide and eventually takes him while sleeping.

What is your wee one's name???

Please keep me informed, perhaps there are things I can learn from you and your experience.  I wish you the best.  
 

My 11 year old is Roller. Hes a DSH solid white kitty with beautiful green eyes. Hes incredibly fat and he has the most awesome nature about him. He loves anyone and anything. I got him at 10 weeks old after he ran into a friends house when she opened her door to check the mail. He ran into a house with 3 large dogs and went to the bathroom in her planter. She couldn't keep him so she called me as i'm the crazy cat lady (i only have 5!). He rules the roost around here and it will be a sad day when he decides to leave.

Part of me is thinking of doing an xray on his next follow up. Just to have that extra 5% covered that its not a foreign object.. or to check for metastis. For it to have grown , and to bleed when manuipulated tells me its a tumor but you just dont know. Its so far back in his throat that you can't see all of it, and you cant touch it.

juntjoo said:

Sorry to hear. I guess that makes three of us. I've been 'ohm'ing into the area infected. Not sure if the ohmmm itself helps or just me giving him attention but he likes it and purrs and anytime I can get him to pur i know at least he's not suffering and I hope it makes it harder on the cancer when he's purring. I'll sing to him too when I snuggle him. I now want to explore possible exercise/oxygen possibilities like a hamster wheel. I think these guys/cats could care less they're on their way out. It's like they're saying 'relax. Let's just take it easy then say goodbye'. Call me selfish but I don't think it'd hurt anyone for my little guy to stick around a few more years, if I can convince him. I'm not religious but I'll pray and I'll pray with him. Lol, I lead it of course I cross my fingers he's joining me. Experiment yourself. Anything to get your cat in a positive mood can only help.

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Roller is still purring up a storm but as we know, purring can be a sign of pain or a sign of happy. I have seen cats with severe trauma purring away when its obvious they are suffering. I guess its one of their coping mechanisms or maybe its a healing one.

Hes having another great day today. Full of energy, playing with the others. He took a long nap per usual but i had to wake him up because he was having difficulty breathing. His stertor will get really loud and then he wheezes and chokes on nothing. But he will sleep through it all until I wake him up lol. I hope the prednisone reduced the inflammation atleast.. or better yet shrinks whatever this is.

juntjoo said:

Sorry to hear. I guess that makes three of us. I've been 'ohm'ing into the area infected. Not sure if the ohmmm itself helps or just me giving him attention but he likes it and purrs and anytime I can get him to pur i know at least he's not suffering and I hope it makes it harder on the cancer when he's purring. I'll sing to him too when I snuggle him. I now want to explore possible exercise/oxygen possibilities like a hamster wheel. I think these guys/cats could care less they're on their way out. It's like they're saying 'relax. Let's just take it easy then say goodbye'. Call me selfish but I don't think it'd hurt anyone for my little guy to stick around a few more years, if I can convince him. I'm not religious but I'll pray and I'll pray with him. Lol, I lead it of course I cross my fingers he's joining me. Experiment yourself. Anything to get your cat in a positive mood can only help.

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LOL, I agree, they just want to take it easy until it's TIME...  One of the only activities my sick kitty likes is placing a string under a newspaper then pulling it, he goes crazy scratching the paper.  

@meplus5  - I'm rooting for you and Roller (cute name).  I hope you two can get into a routine and enjoy each other for many days to come.  

Do you have any pictures of him?

Be well, warm regards..

Hes the big white one

Cute

Roller is absolutely gorgeous and the face on the grey kitty is very sweet as well.  What is the name of Rollers little mate in the picture?  

I'm curious, how is his mate responding to Roller being ill.  Do you notice a change in him as well, some difference in behavior that gives you an idea on what the true prognosis may be?  

My two kitties have a love hate relationship and I'm not sure how to read Chestnut as her bother progresses with his cancer.  

I'll be thinking about you and Roller.  Be well, and please keep us informed.   Best to you...

The grey one is Spike. I got them both within a few months of each other and they are the seniors in the house, with Spike being a little older.

Roller gets along well with all 4 cats. I think they know something is up because they smell him differently. Ive noticed the stop to smell him around the face and neck more than usual, but otherwise they dont treat him any different. My youngest boy still jumps all over him and they play fight often.

I can say though, when I lost my other two, the other cats definetely knew one was sick and the other was very old and fragile. They cleaned them but they never rough housed or were aggressive. When the passed away, the entire heirarchy changed of course, but Spike was a worrier before. He was very nervous and skittish and would come running if the older cat was cauterwalling or seemed lost. When he passed away, Spike became confident and now loves on his people like crazy. He also knows where the ashes are and he will stop to look at them on the shelf. Its very odd and breaks my heart but atleast Spike came out of his shell.

meplus5 said:

The grey one is Spike. I got them both within a few months of each other and they are the seniors in the house, with Spike being a little older.

Roller gets along well with all 4 cats. I think they know something is up because they smell him differently. Ive noticed the stop to smell him around the face and neck more than usual, but otherwise they dont treat him any different. My youngest boy still jumps all over him and they play fight often.

I can say though, when I lost my other two, the other cats definetely knew one was sick and the other was very old and fragile. They cleaned them but they never rough housed or were aggressive. When the passed away, the entire heirarchy changed of course, but Spike was a worrier before. He was very nervous and skittish and would come running if the older cat was cauterwalling or seemed lost. When he passed away, Spike became confident and now loves on his people like crazy. He also knows where the ashes are and he will stop to look at them on the shelf. Its very odd and breaks my heart but atleast Spike came out of his shell.

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Cat really are amazing creatures.  Spike is a real sweetie.  My heart is melting with the thought of him stopping to look at the ashes.  Please keep us posted on this story.

I wonder about mine, I'm keeping a close eye on how they act.  Best to you and your wee ones.  Spike, Roller and the crew...