Our Sweet Boy Passed away from SCC

[marshmallow2013]

Mittens was such a sweet boy. We found him on a one mile trail in the Great Smoky Mountains on new year’s eve 2011. He followed us for a mile and we took him home. A Maine Coon Mix, he was 9 lbs. and around 6 mos. old. Last Tuesday, I noticed his breath had an odor and made an appt. Friday Oct. 28th he was diagnosed with tumors under his tongue and given 2 shots, steroid and antibiotic. Also sent home with liquid antibiotics. He felt a little better at first but by Monday at 11am, he couldn’t use his tongue to eat or drink water even though he kept trying. We had to put him to sleep by 5pm. Our family is devastated. We miss our gentle giant. Our dearest Mittens left a huge void in our life. He had his checkup and teeth cleaned in Feb 2022 and his blood test was fine.

 

[Margot Lane]

What a special spirit, to emanate out of the Great Smokies themselves! And what a trooper, to follow you back for a mile. Obviously he knew you were special, too.

 

[Furballsmom]

Bless you for loving him

RIP darling boy

 

[catloverfromwayback]

I’m so sorry. RIP Mittens, you lovely boy.

 

[marshmallow2013]

Mittens was such a sweet boy. We found him on a one mile trail in the Great Smoky Mountains on new year’s eve 2011. He followed us for a mile and we took him home. A Maine Coon Mix, he was 9 lbs. and around 6 mos. old. Last Tuesday, I noticed his breath had an odor and made an appt. Friday Oct. 28th he was diagnosed with tumors under his tongue and given 2 shots, steroid and antibiotic. Also sent home with liquid antibiotics. He felt a little better at first but by Monday at 11am, he couldn’t use his tongue to eat or drink water even though he kept trying. We had to put him to sleep by 5pm. Our family is devastated. We miss our gentle giant. Our dearest Mittens left a huge void in our life. He had his checkup and teeth cleaned in Feb 2022 and his blood test was fine.

Mittens was such a sweet boy. We found him on a one mile trail in the Great Smoky Mountains on new year’s eve 2011. He followed us for a mile and we took him home. A Maine Coon Mix, he was 9 lbs. and around 6 mos. old. Last Tuesday, I noticed his breath had an odor and made an appt. Friday Oct. 28th he was diagnosed with tumors under his tongue and given 2 shots, steroid and antibiotic. Also sent home with liquid antibiotics. He felt a little better at first but by Monday at 11am, he couldn’t use his tongue to eat or drink water even though he kept trying. We had to put him to sleep by 5pm. Our family is devastated. We miss our gentle giant. Our dearest Mittens left a huge void in our life. He had his checkup and teeth cleaned in Feb 2022 and his blood test was fine.

This photo was couple hours before he passed away. He was in so much pain but still wanted to stay close to his family.

 

[marshmallow2013]

Thank you everyone for your condolences.

 

[catloverfromwayback]

Poor darling boy.

 

[JamesCalifornia]

~ Had a cat named Mittens — just like yours . They could be related .. ! He was my best pal .

 

[marshmallow2013]

~ Had a cat named Mittens — just like yours . They could be related .. ! He was my best pal .
View attachment 435431

That’s so sweet.

 

[catloverfromwayback]

~ Had a cat named Mittens — just like yours . They could be related .. ! He was my best pal .
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I love that image.

 

[Mia6]

I am so sorry about your boy. Res in Peace sweet Mittens

Love,
Mia xxxx

 

[di and bob]

Cancer can develop so fast. If it was that aggressive, there was truly not a whole lot to be done.
I am so happy he found someone to care about him and he experienced the love and happiness of a family. You made his life complete. Try not to dwell on his end, but let your beautiful memories of happier times bring you comfort. Love is spiritual, so eternal. The 'essence of that boy will always be a part of your life, your very soul. He will always be as close as your thoughts and prayers. You can never replace that love, but you can add on to it it and help it to shine even brighter by passing on his legacy of love. "Do not cry because it is over, smile because it happened"..........RIP precious Mittens. You will never be forgotten, you will always have a secure place in loving hearts. May the good Lord bless and keep you, until you meet again!

 

[betsygee]

What a beautiful boy. I'm so very sorry. My heart goes out to you and your family.

 

[marshmallow2013]

Cancer can develop so fast. If it was that aggressive, there was truly not a whole lot to be done.
I am so happy he found someone to care about him and he experienced the love and happiness of a family. You made his life complete. Try not to dwell on his end, but let your beautiful memories of happier times bring you comfort. Love is spiritual, so eternal. The 'essence of that boy will always be a part of your life, your very soul. He will always be as close as your thoughts and prayers. You can never replace that love, but you can add on to it it and help it to shine even brighter by passing on his legacy of love. "Do not cry because it is over, smile because it happened"..........RIP precious Mittens. You will never be forgotten, you will always have a secure place in loving hearts. May the good Lord bless and keep you, until you meet again!

Thank you for your beautiful message

 

[marshmallow2013]

What a beautiful boy. I'm so very sorry. My heart goes out to you and your family.

Thank you for your kindness.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Rest you gentle, Mittens, dream you deep. Your pawprints are on someone's heart forever.

A sudden passing hits us like a kick in our guts, almost literally...the breath leaves us, and we wonder if we will ever inhale again. But we do, and life goes on, but such a different life than we had before. This is the deepest Truth I know, that love never dies. It is translated and purified into Love, and continues on. Now, from his new home in That Place Where All Things Are Known, your Mittens blesses you for your love and care for him, and he sends his Love back to walk beside you down through all your days. Because Love abides. Always, forever, Love abides.

 

[catloverfromwayback]

Cancer can develop so fast. If it was that aggressive, there was truly not a whole lot to be done.
I am so happy he found someone to care about him and he experienced the love and happiness of a family. You made his life complete. Try not to dwell on his end, but let your beautiful memories of happier times bring you comfort. Love is spiritual, so eternal. The 'essence of that boy will always be a part of your life, your very soul. He will always be as close as your thoughts and prayers. You can never replace that love, but you can add on to it it and help it to shine even brighter by passing on his legacy of love. "Do not cry because it is over, smile because it happened"..........RIP precious Mittens. You will never be forgotten, you will always have a secure place in loving hearts. May the good Lord bless and keep you, until you meet again!

So true. Four of mine have succumbed to cancer since the 90s - Thomas, Katie, Hadji and Maddie. In every case it was a matter of weeks at most before they had to cross the bridge.

 

[marshmallow2013]

Thank you for your lovely message. He was so close to me, I use to kiss and cuddle him all the time. He woke me up every 3 hours for attention and love. I never smelled bad breath or saw drool until 6 days before we put him to sleep.

 

[Antonio65]

Sorry for the loss of your beautiful Mittens.
What shocked me is that he suffered from the same SCC my cat Lola had. You can see her in my profile picture.

She developed a mass under her tongue, I realized it when one morning I found a drop of blood in her dish while she was eating her breakfast. We tried everything, from radiation therapy to chemo. She couldn't eat or drink anymore on her own, I had to syringe feed her a few times a day, until she left me 7 months later, and I can't stop thinking of her every single day.
I know the pain in your heart, but please know that you did the right thing and saved him weeks of pain and distress.

RIP Mittens

 

[marshmallow2013]

Sorry for the loss of your beautiful Mittens.
What shocked me is that he suffered from the same SCC my cat Lola had. You can see her in my profile picture.

She developed a mass under her tongue, I realized it when one morning I found a drop of blood in her dish while she was eating her breakfast. We tried everything, from radiation therapy to chemo. She couldn't eat or drink anymore on her own, I had to syringe feed her a few times a day, until she left me 7 months later, and I can't stop thinking of her every single day.
I know the pain in your heart, but please know that you did the right thing and saved him weeks of pain and distress.

RIP Mittens

Thank you so much. My deepest condolences for your beautiful Lola too. My Mittens had his teeth cleaned in February 2022. The vet said his gums looked swollen. I was surprised because his previous vet (before we moved to Florida) had said his gums and teeth looked great. I did notice that his ears were getting brown wax buildup for a few months but the vet didn’t think much of it. I cleaned his ears almost everyday with coconut oil, which I mentioned to the vet she still didn’t think it was odd. He was drinking more water but his kidneys was fine the vet said. I always kissed his face and smelled his breath ever day, but never noticed bad breath on the night of Oct 25 but he had no drool and was acting normal. On Friday the Oct 28, he was not eating in the afternoon so I took him to another Vet same day at 4pm. He looked under his tongue and said he has tumors.He gave him a cortisone shot and antibiotic shot plus oral liquid antibiotic, zydaclin. I asked the vet about chemotherapy treatment, but he told me “why put poison in your cat. It‘s not good for the quality of life for your cat.” He administered subcutaneous fluid through his back and said your cat will feel more comfortable in a few hours and he would like to see him back in a week. We were given Zydaclin to give 2 drops evr 24 hours. Mittens did start feeling better and eating baby food and canned food but by Monday the 31st of October, he couldn’t use his tongue to pick up food. He was trying, it was really sad to see, his tongue was not reaching the food. I gave him some tuna water and he loved it but was still having trouble drinking the liquid. I didn’t want my big 17 pound boy to suffer becaus he was a Maine Coon and they love to eat. I had also just read the blog from Dr Justine Lee on SCC cats. It was a very hard decision to make for me, but I wanted Mittens to be without pain. We spent a great weekend and Monday with him. We had him put to sleep on Monday 5pm. His vet said, we made the right decision I miss him every single day, just like you miss your beautiful Lola.