Experiences with squamous cell carcinoma in mouth in cats?
Sept 22, 2017 22:50:45 GMT
ModChick likes this
Post by M in Carolina on Sept 22, 2017 22:50:45 GMT
Y'all gave me the best advice for treating kidney disease in my oldest cat, Gris. She's doing fantastic.
Ziggy, 13, however, has just been diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma in the mouth--very aggressive and metastasizes quickly. But thanks to the advice of the peas to find a holistic vet, we caught it quickly! (thank you so much--Birukitty and the others!--I apologize, I'm horrible with names)
After I asked the peas for advice on treating Gris' kidney disease, I switched to a grain free food (without chicken as Gris' allergic)--wet food first then slowly switched their kibble over several weeks. Gris doesn't have many teeth left, so she doesn't eat much kibble, anyway.
Since I wasn't happy with my last vet, I made an appointment for this new holistic vet to see Gris. I decided to also make an appointment for Ziggy to have a routine physical as well, just to be proactive. He's always had a bit of a sensitive tummy, so I wanted to make sure he didn't have an allergy or something that the previous vet had missed. Since we were switching their food over to help Gris, I wanted to make sure that his dietary needs were being met.
We noticed that Ziggy looked like he was losing muscle mass even though he hadn't lost any weight. He also had some balding patches. Then I caught him actually pulling his fur out. So the vet agreed to see him immediately. Since we'd just completely switched over to the new kibble from the old a couple of weeks before, we thought it was an allergy. So the vet gave him a steroid shot and wanted to follow up at our original appointment, which was the next week.
The vet did a thorough physical both times and the second time, she noticed a mass under his tongue that we'd not seen before. It looked like a smaller bumpy textured tongue had grown under and to the right of his real tongue. She scheduled surgery the next morning and removed/biopsied it. Ziggy healed very quickly, has been able to eat, seems to be comfortable and happy.
Ziggy's been referred to a radiology/oncologist specialist to talk about treatment/palliative care options. He's doing well-- he doesn't seem to have any pain, can drink and eat wet food (he does have a hard time keeping kibble or any treats in his mouth--they fall out), happily curls up on us. The vet is prescribing a medication to help with his appetite and suggested I try subcutaneous fluids--which I already had on hand for Gris.
The vet suggested this specialist because he has more knowledge about what medications and treatments will give Ziggy the quality of life we want for him. I don't want to put him through a bunch of procedures or painful treatments, but I do want him to have the best end of life care. We want to spoil him rotten--just like we're doing with Gris.
I'm going to try to encourage Ziggy to eat more--I've been mixing their wet food with canned tuna and warm water anyway. I was thinking of also mixing their food with sodium free broth. I was going to poach some whole chickens for stock and meat for different dishes for us, so I was thinking of giving Ziggy a little chicken treat when Gris isn't looking.
I thought maybe the peas might have some great advice for Ziggy now, and I wanted to tell y'all how thankful I am for the life saving advice y'all shared with me previously.
Dh and I are doing better ourselves. His spine surgeon referred him to a new spine clinic that will take over his non-surgery care--pain medications, etc.They're doing some advanced imaging--MRIs/CT scans of his spine and back before they put in the spinal stim. His whole family has a history of spine problems, so they want to make sure that everything is imaged/treated before putting in the stim --no more MRIs after that.
I'm on my way to having my surgery as well--I'm eating better and feeling better. I'm just having a lot of bad headaches recently, so I don't get online much.
Sunday was my 40th birthday, and my family had a big reunion. Dh and I didn't feel great, but we did go and got to see family we haven't seen in a long time. I've just been recuperating from all that.
Ziggy, 13, however, has just been diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma in the mouth--very aggressive and metastasizes quickly. But thanks to the advice of the peas to find a holistic vet, we caught it quickly! (thank you so much--Birukitty and the others!--I apologize, I'm horrible with names)
After I asked the peas for advice on treating Gris' kidney disease, I switched to a grain free food (without chicken as Gris' allergic)--wet food first then slowly switched their kibble over several weeks. Gris doesn't have many teeth left, so she doesn't eat much kibble, anyway.
Since I wasn't happy with my last vet, I made an appointment for this new holistic vet to see Gris. I decided to also make an appointment for Ziggy to have a routine physical as well, just to be proactive. He's always had a bit of a sensitive tummy, so I wanted to make sure he didn't have an allergy or something that the previous vet had missed. Since we were switching their food over to help Gris, I wanted to make sure that his dietary needs were being met.
We noticed that Ziggy looked like he was losing muscle mass even though he hadn't lost any weight. He also had some balding patches. Then I caught him actually pulling his fur out. So the vet agreed to see him immediately. Since we'd just completely switched over to the new kibble from the old a couple of weeks before, we thought it was an allergy. So the vet gave him a steroid shot and wanted to follow up at our original appointment, which was the next week.
The vet did a thorough physical both times and the second time, she noticed a mass under his tongue that we'd not seen before. It looked like a smaller bumpy textured tongue had grown under and to the right of his real tongue. She scheduled surgery the next morning and removed/biopsied it. Ziggy healed very quickly, has been able to eat, seems to be comfortable and happy.
Ziggy's been referred to a radiology/oncologist specialist to talk about treatment/palliative care options. He's doing well-- he doesn't seem to have any pain, can drink and eat wet food (he does have a hard time keeping kibble or any treats in his mouth--they fall out), happily curls up on us. The vet is prescribing a medication to help with his appetite and suggested I try subcutaneous fluids--which I already had on hand for Gris.
The vet suggested this specialist because he has more knowledge about what medications and treatments will give Ziggy the quality of life we want for him. I don't want to put him through a bunch of procedures or painful treatments, but I do want him to have the best end of life care. We want to spoil him rotten--just like we're doing with Gris.
I'm going to try to encourage Ziggy to eat more--I've been mixing their wet food with canned tuna and warm water anyway. I was thinking of also mixing their food with sodium free broth. I was going to poach some whole chickens for stock and meat for different dishes for us, so I was thinking of giving Ziggy a little chicken treat when Gris isn't looking.
I thought maybe the peas might have some great advice for Ziggy now, and I wanted to tell y'all how thankful I am for the life saving advice y'all shared with me previously.
Dh and I are doing better ourselves. His spine surgeon referred him to a new spine clinic that will take over his non-surgery care--pain medications, etc.They're doing some advanced imaging--MRIs/CT scans of his spine and back before they put in the spinal stim. His whole family has a history of spine problems, so they want to make sure that everything is imaged/treated before putting in the stim --no more MRIs after that.
I'm on my way to having my surgery as well--I'm eating better and feeling better. I'm just having a lot of bad headaches recently, so I don't get online much.
Sunday was my 40th birthday, and my family had a big reunion. Dh and I didn't feel great, but we did go and got to see family we haven't seen in a long time. I've just been recuperating from all that.
Southern Side eyed Pea 
peas. 
