New user - Cat with squamous cell carcinoma

[Lilith]

Hey Antonio, how's Lola doing?

Hope everything is as well as possible under the circumstances, paws crossed for you both

[Antonio]

Lilith, thanks for your kind thoughts!
In the last days Lola is doing great. At the end of the past month/beginning of March Lola went through a two-day long bad moment and I fell into desperation again.
After that she recovered well. On past Sunday she was in very good shape, if it wasn't for the syringe feeding I could have said that she was feeling and acting as she had nothing, that everything had been just a bad nightmare. But of course it wasn't.
Yesterday she was hungrier than usual, I had to give her more food than on the average, but I was happy all the same.

As a matter of fact yesterday in the morning I was quite shocked. When I wake up I dread knowing what I could find, so I always approach them with caution. Usually I find her still sleeping in her bed with the training pad wet with urine, she smells of urine, her paws are wet, so I have to clean and dry her up before starts walking around the house!
Yesterday she was in her bed, still sleeping, I lifted her to check the bed pad and found it dry but with a large stain of blood!
I checked her all around to see where all that blood came from and the only traces that I found were around her mouth. So I opened her mouth and found a big blood clot! I feared to remove it because it could have caused more bleeding, but everything went fine, I rinsed her mouth and she started her day perfectly. This morning I found blood on the pad again, but the stain was much smaller and no clots in her mouth.
She is doing fine, the bad and foul smell from her mouth has vanished, the signs of necrosis are disappearing. I can't explain this to me. One week ago the situation was terrible, now it's improved and she's feeling better.

Of course I'm not lowering my guard and I know that more bad days will come.
I've been through very bad moments before, so I've been ready for the end many times so far, I'm getting more and more used to idea of saying her good-bye, but it hurts so much!

[Lilith]

Wow. She's a fighter and no mistake. That blood clot must have been terrifying, good on you for dealing with it. But if the smell's gone and the signs of necrosis are going, can this really be necrosis? Necrotic tissue doesn't heal, it spreads, which is why I felt the prognosis was so gloomy (sorry.)

Obviously she's not a well girl, but I do hope this means you and she will have more time together - I'm not knowledgeable but could this mean a remission for a while? Again I do hope so and wish you both all the very very best x

[Ruth B]

So glad to hear she picked up, even if she did give you a fright with the blood clot. I can't give any advise, it isn't anything I really know about, all I can say is that what you are doing for her is incredible, and as long as her good times outweigh the bad then it is worth it.

Please keep us updated, I love to hear when she is doing well and is happy, and on days when she isn't you will find a lot of support here.

[Antonio]

Wow. She's a fighter and no mistake. That blood clot must have been terrifying, good on you for dealing with it. But if the smell's gone and the signs of necrosis are going, can this really be necrosis? Necrotic tissue doesn't heal, it spreads, which is why I felt the prognosis was so gloomy (sorry.)

Obviously she's not a well girl, but I do hope this means you and she will have more time together - I'm not knowledgeable but could this mean a remission for a while? Again I do hope so and wish you both all the very very best x

Lilith, thanks for your encouraging words!
No doubt it is necrosis in her mouth, I have witnessed the progress from its early stages, from a bad looking tongue, to a thinner tongue, to a changing colour tissue, until it got halfway rotten. One of the many vets that are (were) following her case saw the situation with her own eyes week by week and told me what was going on since the beginning. I was also warned that it could have happened after the sessions of radiation therapy.
Why the process has momentarily halted and the smell has gone is beyond me. The drooling too has reduced by a large amount.

This morning I have found only few very small stains of diluted blood on the pad and no urine for the third morning in a row! But she was a little weaker than yesterday and though she told me she was hungry she didn't felt like taking the syringe.
Judging by what I have seen in the past weeks and months, I'm not worrying too much.

Thanks for your strong support!

[Antonio]

So glad to hear she picked up, even if she did give you a fright with the blood clot. I can't give any advise, it isn't anything I really know about, all I can say is that what you are doing for her is incredible, and as long as her good times outweigh the bad then it is worth it.

Please keep us updated, I love to hear when she is doing well and is happy, and on days when she isn't you will find a lot of support here.

Ruth, I'm so glad to find lots of support here.
I can understand that no many cases like mine have been seen around, so don't worry if you or others aren't able to give advise.

Today she's feeling a little weaker, but it could be just one of those days and tomorrow she might be better. Her mouth is in rather good conditions today, no traces of blood inside, no visible signs of inflammation. The bad smell has nearly vanished, as has the drooling.
Last night she didn't curl up on my lap on the couch, she stayed in her bed next to me, but she was already sleeping when I sat so probably she felt more comfortable in the warm of her own place

[booktigger]

Fingers crossed she is happier tomorrow, shame you don't have a supportive vet to run the bleeding by, as it is a worrying symptom

[Antonio]

Fingers crossed she is happier tomorrow, shame you don't have a supportive vet to run the bleeding by, as it is a worrying symptom

You're right, Booktigger, but I could report the thing to a vet as soon as possible. It is surely an important symptom, something worrying has happened inside her mouth, and it could happen again with more severe consequences.
The amount of lost blood was quite large, I think that counting what I saw on the pad and the clot in her mouth and some blood she has surely swallowed it could be something around 30 ml, a large and important amount for a small and thin cat like her. I think that it will take a long while for her to recover form that bleeding, no wonder she's feeling weak now.

[booktigger]

Fingers crossed she is happier tomorrow, shame you don't have a supportive vet to run the bleeding by, as it is a worrying symptom

You're right, Booktigger, but I could report the thing to a vet as soon as possible. It is surely an important symptom, something worrying has happened inside her mouth, and it could happen again with more severe consequences.
The amount of lost blood was quite large, I think that counting what I saw on the pad and the clot in her mouth and some blood she has surely swallowed it could be something around 30 ml, a large and important amount for a small and thin cat like her. I think that it will take a long while for her to recover form that bleeding, no wonder she's feeling weak now.

I would, she could need an iron supplement in case she becomes anaemic because of it - Molly was put on a supplement shortly before she died, it was a liquid form, so you could easily put it in her food.

[Antonio]

My cat was given an iron supplement for months since last April. It made no difference in her blood works even after 4 months. It was a pill for human treatments, but I would give her 1/4 pill twice a day. They told me that several months of treatment are necessary to see some results, if any.
But somewhere I had read that iron supplements can give cancer.
So among many factors that could have caused her mouth cancer I put this supplement in account.

[Antonio]

Today Lola is still rather fine and alert. She keeps taking food from the syringe in a good mood, she doesn't fight and I think she's quite happy afterwards.
The weather is improving a lot over here, today we have +20°C, it feels like full spring. Lola and her friend Pallina took a short walk in the garden during my lunch break, when I usually go home to give her her syringe.
They both enjoyed the warm sun, I am so glad and happy that Lola can still appreciate the beauty of life.
She keeps following me around and at night she curls up on me whenI watch the TV.
I probably wrote it before that she has got the bad habit of peeing on the training pad I have laid on her bed. She started this bad habit at the end of October when she came back home from the clinic for the radiation therapy. Every morning I wake up and know that I have to change that pad and clean her. She also pees on it during the day sometimes. Yesterday I changed four pads!
The weird thing is that she didn't pee on the pad on the nights when she had bleeding from her mouth and now that she's not bleeding she's peeing. Absolutely weird!

Her mouth is in relatively good conditions, no bad smell at all, this is weird too. Very little signs of necrosis and no inflammations visible. I have to admit that I have no explanations for this and that I was much more worried about it two or three weeks ago.

[Lilith]

Hi, it does sound extraordinary - but good, and hope she continues well. I wonder if the radiation treatment stressed her out and that's why she's wetting her bed.

To think that a couple of weeks ago it really did sound like she was on the way out - and here she is, carrying on, enjoying life. Long may it last!

[Antonio]

Lilith, the last two days have been great for Lola. Yesterday she spent a long time outside basking in the sun or exploring the backyard. I nearly had some hard time having her back inside
Today it was a little colder but nonetheless she stayed outside for some time. She seems full of life and it's really impressing how two weeks ago the situation was so tragic!

I don't know whether the radiation therapy has weakened her to the extent that she pees her bed at night. It's strange that when she's awake or when I'm home she uses her litter box.
The vets at the clinic were informed but they had no explanation. I also talked to two other vets without any answer to this issue. One of them makes acupuncture and Lola had five sessions of this, once a week, to fix this and other problems. The acupuncture fixed them all but the peeing in the bed...

Lately Lola has been leaving her poo outside the litter box as well, about 10 times so far. I always found an excuse for her, especially because most of these times were while I was cleaning her tray and it wasn't available to her. But yesterday she apparently had no excuses. So I think that sometimes she gets disoriented.

The doctors at the clinic of the radiation therapy told me that all the cats treated for the same cancer as Lola have lived 6-8 months afterwards. We are at the 5th month...

[vanilla]

Hi Antonio,

How are things with Lola?

[Antonio]

Hi Vanilla, hi everybody!
Sorry for not updating this thread lately, but my days have been frantic and busy. I couldn't even find the time to have my breakfasts and lunches.

A couple of days after my last post on this thread Lola had another bleeding from her mouth during the night. On a morning I found her pad with a large red stain, but it seemed smaller than on the previous time.
In the following days Lola was a little weaker and slower than her usual, but kept going and taking her food with the syringe. Though she was eating more than enough, Lola was slowly losing weight. The doctors told me that her cancer was eating some of her food, so not all I was giving her was for her only... A few days later she bounced back to a lively condition. Lola, the fighter!

About a week later it got harder and harder to give her some food. She didn't want to open her mouth wide enough to allow the syringe in it to give her food. Hence it was taking longer and longer to feed her properly. Sometimes she was tired of that torture and I ended up with giving her less and less food. Not good if I had to fatten her up a bit. I also realized that Lola's tongue was getting slightly shorter by the day. It looked like it was eroding little by little. This was becoming a problem to her because she was less and less able to swallow the food that I was giving her drop by drop with the syringe. The left side of her jaw was getting swollen, probably the cancer was spreading outwards.
Food and water had to be given with the syringe, though every now and then she would bite the water in her bowl. I guess she was doing that just to feel her mouth fresh and wet.

Despite this dreadful situation, Lola was still very active and alert. She wanted to do all her usual things, like going out, taking a walk in the backyard, basking in the sun, exploring the house, following me around, curling up on my lap, purring, scratching her post and so on.
She wasn't showing any pain or distress. I could say she was happy.

On the morning of March 27th, Monday, I found out that she had a broken tooth in her mouth. The tooth was still hanging from her gum, but I wasn't able to remove it on my own. Clearly it was causing her so much discomfort so I picked her up and took her to the clinic to have it removed. They told me that it had to be done on anesthesia and we all agreed that considering her eating difficulties it could have been a nice idea to put an E-tube in order to feed her more easily. So they scheduled the two things for the next day at midday, Lola was held at the clinic. The next day Lola was operated for removing her broken tooth and placing the E-tube. I was at the clinic, I couldn't have been anywhere else. But things didn't go well during the surgery and Lola had two respiratory arrests that were going to threaten her life. The vets were very much concerned that she could have died any minute. They held Lola in observation in intensive care for the following 24h, she unexpectedly bounced back overnight and on Wednesday late afternoon she was discharged. She had no visible consequences from the incidents. Lola, the fighter!

Once home the new norm was feeding her with the E-tube.
The next day, during my lunch break I went home to feed her, but Lola was in a bad condition, weak, slow and clearly not herself. I and my wife understood that the feared day had come. We called the vet over and while we were waiting for him we talked to Lola, we gave her hundreds kisses. She wanted to go outside and feel the sun for the last time, she listened to the birds, then she felt weaker and fell on a side, she showed troubles breathing. We took her back inside and gently laid her on her bed. I explained Lola what was going to happen and not to be afraid because I would have been next to her, holding her paw. The vet came, he agreed that it was the end. He gave her the injections and in a few seconds Lola was not with us anymore...

My sweet, brave, valiant Lola went to the Rainbow Bridge on Thursday, March 30th
I had to take a leave day from work on Friday, I could not go to work in that condition. I have kept my mobile phone off since.
Lola was cremated two days later, on Saturday morning with a private cremation, and now all I have of her is a little urn with her ashes.

Lola took half of my heart with her, I'm desperate.
I can't help but remember my last hours with her. She fought an incredibly long battle for most of her last years, she always won, she was stronger and stronger after each victory, but eventually she had to surrender. I think Lola had lived more than her 9 lives.
Had she lived to May 15th she would have turned 17.
I won't ever be the same anymore, my half heart won't allow me to fully love again, to be fully happy again.

The last thing I did was to promise Lola that I'll be with her soon at the Rainbow Bridge never to part again.

RIP my sweet Lola, you were my life, my pride, my reason of living, you'll be in my half heart and in my thoughts for the rest of my life!

[booktigger]

I'm so sorry to hear this, but you went over and beyond for her, I hope in time that can give you some comfort. RIP little on

[Kay]

nothing will comfort you at the moment, but I can promise that your memories of Lola's last few days, which I know will be torturing you because they repeat over and over in your mind, will start to be replaced with memories of happier times, when she was fit and well - and you will start to feel better

the sad fact is that we will outlive a succession of pets - all we can do is love and care for them while they are with us, mourn them when they go to the Bridge, and keep our hearts open for another needy soul which needs our love and care

it hurts so much to say goodbye, but the only way to save ourselves from the pain is to never say hello, and that would be to deprive ourselves and our pets many years of sharing a loving home

[Ruth B]

I am so sorry to read this, the love you had for lola and what you did for her was incredible, and I am sure her love for you was the same. I know there is little that will comfort you at the moment, but try and concentrate on the good times when she was healthy, if you have photos of her in her prime keep those close at hand and when the mind starts to think of the last few days get them out and use them to help turn your mind back to the better times.

At the moment you may feel that she has taken half your heart with her but the love she obviously had for you tells me she would not want you to join her again before your time, and I am sure she would understand if (and when) another soul comes along that needs that kind of love from you, and you will find you have all your heart to give again.

It is the hardest decision any of us pet owners have to make, and one of those instances when true love means that you have to put their wellbeing far in front of your own, however, in my mind the years of joy we get from them more than makes up for the weeks of tears after they are gone.

Don't forget us here, even though Lola may be over the bridge we are still here for you, and we all understand what you are going through.

[Lilith]

So very very sorry to hear. Yes, I'm certain you will be reunited and that physical death is not the end, but it doesn't take the pain of bereavement away. You walked the extra thousand miles for her and she will know it. Sleep tight little Lola x

[Janey]

So sorry to read this Antonio I know how hurt you must feel now, I truly do. I really don’t know what to say as I know little will help right now, only it will get better for you in time and I’m sure Lola knows just how much you meant to her.
God bless little Lola xx

[Didi]

I'm so sorry to read this. I have been following Lola's amazing journey and one thing that is crystal clear that you loved her with all your heart and have walked a long hard Path with her, and you did do it with her and at the end of the day that's all we can do. I remember reading a piece just over a year ago when I had to have my gorgeous little chatty boy Milo put to sleep and that was that cats give us their whole lives and all they ask in return is that we are with them when they need us that we put their needs before ours at that awful time and there is no doubt that you did that. I still find it hard without Milo I still feel,guilty about letting him go as you say he took part of me and my heart with him but I can now stand back and know that I did the right thing that in return for him giving me his whole life I gave him what he needed at the end and that was peace. It took a long time and I am still walking that path but now I feel less guilty I feel less sadness and I know if he could tell me he would say I did the right thing for him and if Lola could speak tomyou I have no doubt she would say thank you. Thank you for fighting for her, thank you for always being there for her and thank you for giving her the greatest gift of all peace xxxx

[Antonio]

Thanks everybody for your words of support, they helped me a lot through this terrible moment.
I am still crying if I look at a photo of her, I still can't believe it is true. Sometimes I think she's just away from home for one of the treatments at the clinic. She spent so many nights away from home in the last times due to her conditions, so when I see her spot empty I think it's just a matter of time then she'll be home again.
I am keeping calling the other cat with the name of Lola. This name follows me, haunts me.
I have put her bed away, it still retains the shape of her body on it... everything in the house reminds me of her.
No, I can't believe it's true.

I have friends who knew about her, they were following her situation almost daily. I sent them a WhatsApp message when Lola left me, I switched my phone off shortly afterwards and I haven't switched it on yet. I know that they must have replied me but I wouldn't want to read their messages, they could remind me of that day, I could have to reply them back and I wouldn't know what to say. I don't even want to be called by anybody because I couldn't stand a convesration about Lola.
I had sent an email to the vets who did the radiation therapy in October. They were always in contact with me, they would call me every Friday afternoon to know about Lola. They have received my email, they wrote me back they would have called me, but my phone is off... I can't deal with such a conversation. I still don't know when I will be able to.

Don't forget us here, even though Lola may be over the bridge we are still here for you, and we all understand what you are going through.

I have never forgotten you, I have thought of you often during my last two weeks with Lola, but time was at a premium for me. I hardly had time for myself. I have lost 5.5 kg (12 lbs) of weight in the last weeks because I hadn't enough time for me.
Sometimes I had thought to write something while at work, but then again I felt my heart being crushed by the pain for what I was going through lately. The worst moment for me was the morning, when I had to wake up and face the new day.
I would dread what I was going to see in the morning... blood or pee on the pads? Had Lola used the litter during the night? How was her nose (she had a carcinoma in her nose and the radiation therapy 5 years before left her with a chronic rhinitis. Her nose needed to bel cleaned very very often)? And was her mouth clean? Was I able to feed her? Would she have fought me during the feeding? But above all, how was she?
These thoughts were destroying me and when I had done everything in the morning (and I swear to you, it would take me not less than 90 minutes!) I was so tired and worn out that I would have liked to sleep for the remainder of the day, but I had to go to work with the dreadful thought that the day wasn't over yet, that at midday I had to rush home for her second meal, that the evening could have been worse than the morning, that on the following day I had to do it over and over.

I was left alone by the vets who didn't want to hear anything from an owner who was doing things that they weren't approving. In their opinion I was a crazy owner, I was torturing my Lola just for the sake of myself, they wouldn't believe that she was still lively despite her situation, in their point of view I was lying, not telling the truth, only to justify my stubborness. These are the same vets that when they knew that Lola had been valiant and heroic till the end were so proud of her. How hypocritical of them!

I couldn't tell anybody what I was going through, nearly nobody would have understood. I was alone...

I have to admit that I was tired, but I would have done this for the rest of my life, because Lola just deserved this and much more.

In addition to what I was doing to and for Lola, I have the other cat, Palllina, who is hyperthyroid but she has some other issues that are keeping me very alert and worried. I will discuss about these problems in a different thread.

Again, thanks so much for your support. Lola has left her pawprints on many hearts.

[Antonio]

This was my beautiful Lola when she was still very fine. This photo in was taken in August 2015, a few months before she started feeling bad due to her adrenal gland gone crazy. Since then she had kind of a little sadder look. The grey spot on her tiny face was the result of the first radiation therapy to fight the nasal carcinoma, a cancer up inside one of her nostrils. At first she went bald on her nose and forehead, then the hair grew back grey.
That grey spot added so much to her beauty
She was a tortie shell, mostly black.

Following the radiation therapy in 2011 she came back home very weak and was never able to jump to the window sill again. A bit of arthrosis and some joint pains added later.
So I made that timber stair to help her reach the sill with ease. She loved it. She went up and down all day long
Lately I had added kind of a handrail on the outward side to prevent her from falling from the steps because she had also got blind.

I do miss her so badly !

[Lilith]

What a beautiful lady!

A 'naughty tortie' - might have known. They're feisty. Like my lovely Tess, who I lost to the road and still mourn 10 years later. I wore her collar as a bracelet for weeks. On here, honestly, you're not alone. I thought I was going half-daft after Tess died. The other cats were a comfort though and I hope Pallina is for you - have you got a photo of her?

The staircase is a great piece of work too ... errm when you say handrail, don't you mean paw-rail?

Hugs x

[Ruth B]

She was a real beauty, i have a soft spot for torties too, it's over 13 years since my Patch went and there are times I still miss her, she was similar, a dark tortie, and so intelligent, Lola has that same look, like she know exactly what you are thinking.

Please don't think I was complaining about lack of updates, I knew you had been so busy looking after her, I just wanted to say that, even though Lola may have gone, we were still here for you, to offer the support that seems to be a bit lacking in your local area.

[Janey]

What a gorgeous girl, beautiful eyes. Sounds like she loved the stair you made her. Hope you’re ok.

[Antonio]

What a beautiful lady!

A 'naughty tortie' - might have known. They're feisty. Like my lovely Tess, who I lost to the road and still mourn 10 years later. I wore her collar as a bracelet for weeks. On here, honestly, you're not alone. I thought I was going half-daft after Tess died. The other cats were a comfort though and I hope Pallina is for you - have you got a photo of her?

The staircase is a great piece of work too ... errm when you say handrail, don't you mean paw-rail?

Hugs x

Yes, I should have called it a paw-rail
I do have photo of Pallina, I will post some of them as soon as I start a new thread about her and her hyperthyroid.
Thanks for your lovely words.

She was a real beauty, i have a soft spot for torties too, it's over 13 years since my Patch went and there are times I still miss her, she was similar, a dark tortie, and so intelligent, Lola has that same look, like she know exactly what you are thinking.

Please don't think I was complaining about lack of updates, I knew you had been so busy looking after her, I just wanted to say that, even though Lola may have gone, we were still here for you, to offer the support that seems to be a bit lacking in your local area.

They told me that torties are very smart and intelligent, furthermore they have a hidden strength as Lola proved to have.
I didn't mean that any of you was complaining about lack of news, I just wanted to let you know that it wasn't my intention to stay away from the forum so long.
Your words of support have been of great help throughout the last weeks, thanks so much!

What a gorgeous girl, beautiful eyes. Sounds like she loved the stair you made her. Hope you’re ok.

I'm not totally fine yet, I find it hard to talk about her to other people. I keep seeing her nearly everywhere. I haven't cleaned or moved anything of her stuff. Everything is like it was when she passed away, as if she is away for a while and then she comes back...

SCC is common in cats and dogs due to genetic predisposition but luckily there magical treatment is available in the form of vinca alkaloids e.g vincrestine and vinblastine. Even pets specialist recommend that!

We did chemo therapy using the drugs that the doctors told us to use.

[vanilla]

So sorry to hear of your loss too Antonio. I had hoped she was still going strong with the amount of care that you gave her. I too keep seeing my boy everywhere. When I leave the back door open when cooking or washing up, from the corner of my eye I see a big shadow walk in but when I turn to look he's not there. I do miss him so much I often hope to see him sitting outside on the doorstep waiting to come in...

[Antonio]

So sorry to hear of your loss too Antonio. I had hoped she was still going strong with the amount of care that you gave her. I too keep seeing my boy everywhere. When I leave the back door open when cooking or washing up, from the corner of my eye I see a big shadow walk in but when I turn to look he's not there. I do miss him so much I often hope to see him sitting outside on the doorstep waiting to come in...

Thanks Vanilla, it seems we are going through the same nightmare
Yesterday I switched my mobile phone on after 12 days. I switched it off when Lola passed away, I didn't want to be disturbed by anybody. Same thing for the landline home phone.
As soon as I switched my mobile on I received a phone call from a friend who wanted to know about Lola. I started telling her something but then I had to stop because I was crying. I also found 22 WhatsApp messages, from people that want to know about my sweet little Lola.
One at the time I will catch up on them. It is still too hard for me to talk about her.
Thanks for your kind words.

[JulieJulie]

Antonio, I've not been on here for a long time, and I haven't read everything as its too painful for me, but I wanted to let you know that I lost my fur baby to the same horrible cruel illness last year, and how you described her passing was very familiar to me, with me holding her as the vet let her go. One of my other cats climbed onto the bed and cuddled up with her even as the vet helped her to pass over and lay with her for an hour after she had left her poor ravaged body to get her Angel wings. How anyone can say that cats don't have feelings is beyond me.

All I can say to you is that after the Angels had taken my baby she looked so peaceful and I knew it wouldn't have been fair to keep her going any longer. I didn't want her to starve to death and her tumour had spread upwards to her eyes making her blind. Every day of her last 3 months broke my heart and I rang and cancelled the vet several times over her last few days as she crashed and then seemed to be interested in life in equal measures over her last few days.

But I owe it to her to remember her life with joy and love and to be thankful for the many wonderful years we had together. I too believe we will all be together for ever - in fact, I believe that we will never be apart and that her spirit is near to me at all times, but I'm a great believer in the animal spirit world, that's not for everyone but I feel her energy lives on in the house.

I now pour the love I shared with her into looking after the rest of my furry family (I have 9) and use all of my experiences, good and bad, to ensure that they have a better life.

Don't wish your own life away - look how hard she fought for every day of her life - you must follow her example - eternity after we pass over is a long time - live every day in the moment as she did. You will be all together soon enough.