Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

[sweetseamus]

I haven't posted for quite some time, and I'm sorry to be back here with such bad news. One of our kitties, Fred, has oral cancer.

Although he lives with my parents, I still very much consider him my cat since I was still living at home when we adopted him. I'm devastated. He's about 16 (we're not sure of his exact age) and up until now has been very healthy. My parents' other kitty is 18 with CRF and has been declining in recent months, so we really thought she would go first. This is truly a shock. My parents brought him into the vet because he appeared to have an abscess on his gum. The doctor took one look and said that he needed to have surgery and prepared them for the fact it might be cancer. Anyway, the procedure was today and when they got in there they found that he had another mass under the tongue and that the prognosis was not good. They are sending the tissue for a biopsy, but that's simply to confirm what is already quite obvious. My folks are bringing him home tonight and we're all hoping that we'll get a little bit more quality time with him, even though we are painfully aware that it may not be very long.

Anyway, does anyone else have experience with this type of cancer? What is the progression? From what I've been reading online, it seems pretty aggressive. We want to give him as much time as possible, but we don't want to let it go to the point we're he is in any severe pain. It's such a fine line and hard to know what to do. My heart is breaking and I feel so bad for my parents. They were already mentally trying to prepare for the worst with their other cat, and then this came out of the blue.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[xocats]

Originally Posted by sweetseamus

It's such a fine line and hard to know what to do. My heart is breaking and I feel so bad for my parents. They were already mentally trying to prepare for the worst with their other cat, and then this came out of the blue.

Thanks for any advice.

I don't have experience with this but I do understand how you feel...
it is a fine line and sometimes very difficult to know when it is time to let go.

I am sending love to you, your parents and your beloved Fred.

 

[otto]

Oh I'm so sorry to hear about your beloved Fred. Mentally preparing really doesn't work very well I'm sorry to say, even when you know it's coming, it's still a shock.

It is indeed a fine line sometimes, but I will leave you with something I believe with all my heart: Too soon is better than too late.

Many vibes for Fred that he has a good long quality of life still to come. Fred

 

[sweetseamus]

Thanks so much for the kind words. We let Fred go today. He had a rough day yesterday and we decided to end it before he got any worse. He will be very missed, but he is at peace now.

 

[otto]

I'm so sorry for your loss of your beloved Fred. You did well by him, no kitty could ask for more. He's in good company at the Bridge and is free of suffering. I've told my gang of 6 up there to look out for him.

Fred

 

[hissy]

You did the right thing, and the kindest act of all of love for him. Bless you and your family for recognizing that some things, you just can't fight.

I had a kitty with this type of cancer, except it was on her ear. They removed the majority of her ears in an attempt to help her and stop the cancer. It didn't work and when the cancer came back- it was ticked off and spread so fast I ended up taking her to the vets the next day and asking them to put her out of her pain.

I wrote an article about it as Twirl touched my heart so. If you want to see where this article is, you can PM me for the link.

I know you are hurting- but again, this is the worst form of cancer for cats and very painful. As a wise woman once told me:

"When their pain ends, ours begins."


Hugs-

MA

 

[xocats]

It was from a place of love that you let Fred go.

Always with you in your heart....
Fred.

 

[sadisticookie]

Originally Posted by hissy

As a wise woman once told me:

"When their pain ends, ours begins."

MA

This is so very true.

My 11 year old male cat Toobaloo was diagnosed with oral squamous cell. I had two and a half months with him before I had to put him to sleep.

Toobaloo was an amazing cat that hung in there and kept the most devoted loving demeanor throughout the entire ordeal. It got pretty difficult as the cancer literally [but gradually] created a hole through his cheek that bled profusely with the simplest scratching or rubbing. He just refused to let it get him down, though. His upbeat affectionate means of coping is the only reason I held out as long as I did before letting him go. It is extremely hard letting go of a soul that can still run around the house chasing pieces of turkey meat just hours before leaving me.

When I read that this is the worst type of cancer for a cat I about broke down in tears because from my personal experience I must say this cancer truly does test the spirit of a cat. For Toobaloo to have endured the pain and still held onto his good spirits it shows just how much of a fighter he was.

I am very sorry about your kitty. If I could snap my fingers and spare you, Toobaloo and every other heart that has been affected by this cruel monster of an illness I would.

As painful as it was to watch all that Toobaloo went through I must say my pain skyrocketed from the moment I had to let him go. The tears do eventually come less often but the heartache remains.

You, your family and your kitties are in my thoughts.

 

[sweetseamus]

I so appreciate the condolences. It is a tough time for all of us right now. Hissy and Sadisticookie, thanks so much for sharing your stories (Hissy, feel free to pm me with the link to your article...i'd like to read it). It is a horrible illness and no one should have to go through it. I think Fred was already at the end stages of the cancer by the time it was caught. He just never bounced back after the procedure last Wednesday, although we had hoped it would buy him some extra time. I just can't believe how fast it was. A little over a week ago he seemed perfectly fine. At least we had many wonderful years with him and we are grateful for that. Unfortunately our 18 year old CRF kitty is not doing great, although she still seems to be holding her own. I just hope she can hang in there a little longer. There's only so much heartbreak we can handle at once.