We just had to put my moms 14 yr old cat down this am. I'm devastated. She was diagnosed just last Saturday. We could not let her suffer. She stopped eating a few days ago but hadn't been able to drink for a week. She was a wonderful cat who had a great life. She will be greatly missed. Thank you for the informative video.
My cat was diagnosed with oral cancer on her 14th birthday two days ago. Yesterday I had to let her go. I can’t describe how heartbroken I really am. She was suffering incredibly. I’m so sorry for your loss.
My cats 16th birthday coincided with a jaw cancer diagnosis. In a few short weeks she deteriorates so bad I had to let her go 5 days ago. I loved her so much but couldn't see her suffer anymore.
@@Genisis429 im very sorry to hear that! 😞 my heart breaks for you, I couldn’t stand to see my baby suffer either. It’s a miserable thing to go through. My cat gave me signs after she left like meowing and I kept thinking I’d see her around the house. I knew I heard her. No one can tell me otherwise. Please know your kitty is in a better place now❤️ im so very sorry.
@@trippynikki476 I've been seeing single little birds come and land near me. I'm sorry for your loss as well. My cat was tough right to the end, so she would want me to be tough. I still cherish her as she was my pal for so long. I get sad as its only been a week, I just talk to her like she's still here. I still say goodbye when I go to work.
I just lost my cat she was 18 years old to this disease I kept her alive for many months feeding her by hand washing her mouth and giving her any food she wanted towards the end she didn't really want any food and she got so skinny so instead of her suffering I put her to sleep to return her back to heaven I miss my Samantha I still have her daughter thank you for the information
18 years old ; that's amazing. We just lost our cat to this; we don't know how old she was because we took her in from the outside but we had her for 9 years, she was a fighter lasted to the end even fought through her blindness until she just had no more energy. I just picked up my grandfather's 13 year old cat has a replacement now I find myself checking his mouth every time he yawns on so far so good. I'm praying he lives the 18
I was in the same situation up until a week ago. my Roxanne was 16 years old and I used to wipe her mouth and eyes in the end. I would blend up freeze dried chicken and make her soup. When I read what you wrote it reminded me of what I went though, how she deteriorated in only weeks. now I have her ashes. Peace David. You were a good cat dad.
Our cat passed away recently it's serious, it's no joke, . I ended up getting my grandfather's 13-year-old cat as a replacement now I find myself looking at his mouth every time he yawns. Thank God he's healthy.
What about cat litter I noticed my male cat who had tongue cancer would clean his feet and there would be some litter stuck to his feet and he would swallow it so what about litter causing cancer
Sadly my cat Lyra was diagnosed with mouth cancer, she was able to keep fighting it for 7 months until her health went downhill. Her mouth tumor grew so large that she wasn't able to eat solids any more. We had to sadly put her to rest in June. Went to watch this doc, to hear the causes and symptoms for peace of mind. Missing her 💔
We just lost our Buddy to a mouth tumor. We did put Him to sleep. But Thank You for this info because I now know we needed to put him out of misery of fast deterioration of declining health. We miss him very much and will always Love and Remember Him
Another reason I’m thankful I never picked up smoking. Unrelated topic to the video, but one of my kitties hand undergone SRT radiation for his nasal lymphoma and today is his last day of treatment (3 of 3). I already noticed after the first day that the tumor shrank. I’m hopeful that he won’t get any late term side effects.Thank you for the information you’ve shared as it has helped me deal with the initial diagnosis mentally and emotionally.
My poor Kitty is suffering with a form of this. The vet suggests a feeding tube out of the side of her neck for hydration & food. I don't want her life to fade away, her little life is very precious to me but her eyes often reflect misery. There are times they are wide, curious and full of that same old life she had (after a tubby and her face is clean) - the doc as given me a asteroid cream for her ear flap to absorb and an opiate that is put on her gum for pain. This does help her eat/mash food into her face, but it's a little messy and sometimes hard to watch. It's hard and rare for me to hear a cat's tummy rumble from hunger. My heart it breaking, she's my best friend. The thought of putting her down is unbearable, what should I do? Go the feeding tube route and try to let her live a few more months or ease her off into a sleep she'll never wake from? Also, this is an important question I'd love to have answered, with all the drooling & mess, is this in any way contagious to my other cat?
My mum cat got put down yesterday due to cancer in his mouth jawline, he was to far gone for surgery and we didnt want him to suffer but i wish he was here
Thank you Dr. Sue for such a clear and educational video. My cat was just diagnosed last week during what we thought was going to be a tooth extraction. Have you seen any studies that could possibly link SCC to radioactive iodine treatment (I-131)?
And all these tests are not cheap. Bloodwork, Biopsy, office visits, meds. If you are lucky that would be 1000 dollars and that would be just for starters. It`s always hard to say goodby to your fur baby but do you really want to put them thru all that. And then quality of life for them.
Hi, I took my cat Merlin in May 12, 2023 for noticing bloody drool as evidenced by dried blood on his coat. It also smelled like dried blood. Merlin has been on gabapentin for a few yrs for pain related to tooth resorption since none of the Vets expressed any concern for him getting in asap for a dental procedure or for a teeth cleaning even after I brought in a tooth that fell out back in 2019. the Vet never said humm... you should get merlin in for a dental so we can do a full mouth xray & oral exam to check for any signs of disease. He's only been a wet food eater and he's never had a dental and I never brushed his teeth. Now today 4 yrs later, I see him in severe pain hardly eating due to the oral pain & bleeding which started out as bloody drool that was getting all over his fur during grooming. I have an appointment with a board certified Vet dentist to see if there is anything he can do to stop this bleeding, relieve the pain and also obtain a biopsy. I've been giving Merlin his gabapentin in a slushy form of proplan CN mixed with churu sticks, and his blood pressure pill. His pain medication is oral buprenorphine. He's also diabetic. Merlin doesn't have a confirmed diagnosis of the oral squamous cell carcinoma yet because we haven't had the biopsy. I would like that done and continue to implement palliative care as my primary goals for Merlin. I'm not going to throw my hands up in the air and opt to euthanize until the biopsy is done. the Vet dentist appointment is June 14th. Merlin is a fighter, and I'm not going to let him go without this last round of trying to fight for him and try to get him help.
Merlin was peacefully laid to rest at home by a mobile Vet who offers in home euthansia. Merlin couldn't use his tongue to eat or drink anymore. And the dreadful pain he was suffering with. I have never imagined a cat's tongue or mouth could develop such a quick & deadly cancer. I think the cause is in the commercial food. Every cat food brand uses tuna as the main meat source. I believe I overfed my cat too much wet cat food containing tuna, gave him too many treats with tuna. I never gave him human canned tuna though. He also never had a formal dental cleaning while under anesthesis as is recommended. I don't feel that I was a diligent cat owner. : (((
Merlin was euthanized at home with a mobile Vet due to his tongue being overgrown with the cancer under his tongue. Merlin was unable to use his tongue at all to eat or drink. It was literally a living nightmare seeing such a precious fur baby suffering with tongue cancer that would bleed so much blood while trying to eat. I never did any type of oral exam on my cat. but in the future I will be doing oral inspections of the cat, will train the cat to accept a gum and tooth massage with a finger cat tooth brush, and I won't feed the cat too much wet cat food containing tuna. I will give the cat a premium dry cat food that doesn't have any fish or tuna. The very limited research out there says owners who smoke and can tuna or can cat food with tuna is a link to oral cancer. I fed Merlin so much Weruva wet food and that brand puts primarily tuna in all flavors. I wish I would have known about the tuna.
I see this was a year ago but I'm going through this hell on earth. Mothers can't stand for their children to hurt. As far as I know I just can't live with this. I cannot express my love for mine and others kitties.
I've had one cat that had an oral tumor and one had a tumor on the side of her nose. Both were unfortunately very fast in progression. Nothing can fix it😢
I think my cat has cancer, but I don’t have the money to check and see if she has it and I feel so upset because she has been with me for so long. Lump on left side of face, swelling now on left side of head, and hair lost started yesterday.
I have a cat with SCC, but I've never used flea collars, I don't smoke and I never feed Tuna or any seafood to any of my cats. Are there plant toxins that could possibly contribute to SCC? I know I have a Tree Tobacco in the backyard and Oleander in the backyard, but I'm not sure if they're carcinogenic to cats. I also grew milkweed last year in the yard.
My cat was making a weird grinding noise so we done ct scans and they cleaned his teath while under but his teath were ok he was only 18 months old these were specialist vets centre. Said found nothing on the scans and ct scan so they suggested it could be stomach issues so we changed food and still grinding. Yesterday vet check and vet noticed a lesion on one of his back teath the same side as his grinding occurs we are so worried now could it be cancer?
I just found out yesterday my cat Shia has a tumor in her lower jaw. Happened out of nowhere. Her toungue sticking out, stinky drool sometimes blood. It's the reason her mouth won't close. I haven't put her down yet caused way too much money. She is 17 years old. She learned to detect when I'll have seizures. I do have another cat but Shia is my first. I saved Shia life once and I can't do it again.
My girl 15 year old cat has a tumor underneath her chin When I took her to the wet 3 weeks ago She has terrible smell in her mouth, dropping, tongue to the side, and blood in one side of her mouth inside. Vet gave her some antibiotics for her mouth ,and the bad smell went away, 2 weeks later vet gave her steroid shot And the swallon under chin got smaller but today is looks very swallon... I have notice when I first took her to the vet one of her big teeth on the bottom where the chin is It was broken....... I don't know if I should have the vet take off the teeth completely.. And if thats the problem. Cuz he say the vet Its a tumor 😇 Pls. Help tell me something
Thank you for this video, and your other videos. My kitty was just diagnosed with pretty advanced state SCC this week and was put to rest 2 days ago. She was fine then started drooling excessively so I took her right in. I am very concerned, because I have 4 other cats, and I asked the specialist if she thought it was contagious, as in, my other cats could possibly have caught it from her. (Like FLV) She said she did not think so, which was concerning but I didn't ask more about that since I was in duress and concerned for my Cali kitty. I thought I would ask you if you have found that SCC has been contagious to other cats? I also wondered if it was cat food in a can or specifically canned cat tuna that gave a higher rate of SCC, or if it was canned human tuna? Or is there a difference? I currently feed mostly canned cat food to my kitties but now I wonder if that is something I should change. I guess I am just trying to be the best cat-mom that I can be and give my other 4 fur babies the best life that I can. I've watched your videos on SCC and they really helped me understand, I am just really concerned about my other 4 kitties. ♥
I’m so sorry for your loss, we just had to put our 9 year old cat down 2 days ago. This disease is horrible, he fought to eat, the pain in his mouth was so bad. At least he isn’t in pain anymore 😢
So sorry as u go thru today. Sending strength to get thru this. I actually in process making my 13 yr old momma girl cat appt for euthanasia. It’s starting to get worse daily & she quit eating 2 days. Just drinking some water. Giving her neurotin for pain but it’s not helping 😢
Well I would imagine that cancer on animals and human is caused by the same things, 1 a weakened immune system caused by old age or a bad diet. 2. Being exposed to different chemicals In the Atmosphere or at home. 3. A very rare genetic Mutation took place in the body that the immune system did not recognize or could not kill.
I thought my 8 year old cat had an cold cuz he started out sneezing. Then cough and bad odor from his mouth and blood from his nose! I assumed it was an respiratory infection. The vet said all of his symptoms were from his canine tooth was infected and he needed it extracted! Their office did not do them. So made an appointment with another Vet. Appointment day came and they were going to do it but first had to give him an exam. Felt I got hit with a ton of bricks. They said his upper mouth was so badly damaged that there really was no way to save his gums. At first they thought the amount of damage was caused by him being attacked. I told them he is an inside cat. They asked could he have fallen from high! I told them no. There was nothing in or home high enough to cause damage like that. They asked did we have other animals. I told them a dog but clarified our dog loved him. They were like brothers. If anything our dog would protect him from us, anyone or anything if they tried to mess with his brother. They felt his body and felt a tumor there too. The Vet put it all together and broke it to us that he had oral cancer that had spread. I was so shocked to see how badly that form of Cancer takes a toll of their bodies. I felt so bad cuz the Vet told me our cat was suffering in pain. She also said he was losing muscle mass. I blamed myself cuz how did I not know he was so sickly. She comforted me telling me that Cats hide sicknesses well. I told them I wanted them to put him to sleep. I even rushed them asking how soon can they do it. I just didn’t want him in pain not a day, hour, minute or second more! My baby was suffering and he remained strong til the end. It was so hard for me to make that decision. My husband broke down so bad he begged me to let him go home and eventually pass there. I told him NO. That it wasn’t fair to him. That we could not be selfish keeping him here for our own needs. I didn’t stay to see him be put to sleep. My husband wanted to but I told him NO. Within an hour, they called to tell me he was gone. The Vet told me he was ready to go. I knew I did the right thing and I honestly believe he was thankful I let him go😢. My husband thanked me for not allowing him to be there through it! He told me he would have carried that around bothering him. Crying as I type. Tears of joy though! Cuz I have faith that he is in a healthy spiritual body home with GOD! I can imagine, Jesus walking in the most beautiful grass with all of the heavenly animals running around him😊!
They found the tumor when I brought her in for a dental consult. She has no symptoms. She's scheduled next week for a dental/tumor removal and biopsy. (The regular vet didn't even mention cancer and the ER vet wouldn't address it until I asked him point blank if it was likely cancer and he finally said yes.) I took her to the ER specialty today and they just tried to convince me to go with this approach from my regular vet and didn't refer me. It seems the opposite of what is recommended by the online SCC community. Is there any chance if we caught it early? Is including a dental (even if she needs it) just stupid at this point? Maybe it'll make her feel better? Do you think contact with asphalt could cause this? This is the 2nd of 4 cats (she's only 10 - he died of SCC at 14) that have this and one other died of lymphoma. There's no smoking/flea collars/tuna. They do eat wet and dry (high quality) food. I'm worried that they often lie on asphalt and have been exposed to the debris from construction nearby. They have a catio but also sit outside on the asphalt for an hour or so each day under a motorhome. Maybe they're ingesting bad chemicals when they clean themselves? I need to stop this horrible cycle. This disease is evil.
I just noticed a big brown “tumor” on my cat’s gums and lip. It looks like he has a chicken liver stuck between his teeth. I have a bad feeling about it. Takin him to the vet tomorrow. Thanks for the videos on palliative care. He just had radiation iodine for thyroid a couple month ago. I can’t imagine this will be treatable given how big it is seemingly out of nowhere.
My 15 years old cat had a mandibular ssc. The first thing I notice on him was ocular secretion and behavior changes. Oh no rhino again! But no, he never sneezed. One mouth later I notice the tumor in his mandibule 😿
Hello Dr. Sue, my 12-year-old cat Sophia was diagnosed with oral mouth cancer! All the vet did was look at her didn’t run any test! Nor open her mouth and look in it! She has a growth on her right side that looks like a swollen face, drooling, and occasional blood coming out of her mouth! How do I know 100% that this is what it is and not something else? She’s eating only wet food, behavior is normal other than that! I’m frustrated because I’m not 100% sure that’s just what it is! My vet told me to put her down, but I don’t feel like it’s time! If this is what it is how do I know when it is time to put her down ? Please help, what do I do? I’m devastated!!! Thank You for the video! Please answer me I don’t know what to do!
My cat just got diagnosed with fscc. What about IB-DNQ for treatment. There was a clinical trial in 2017, and I can find any info about what happened with the trial
I would appreciate it so much if you could respond, Dr Sue. Could this present as a small, bump/pimple-like black lump in the mandibular area? There is a small visible bump sticking out from my cats mouth. She is getting checked thoroughly tomorrow. I have seen it there for one month now, could it still be an early stage lesion if it ends up being this? She has no other symptoms, otherwise she’s doing great. 😿no drool, blood or bad breath.
@@laurencerava-derreumaux1066 Hi, a positive update! The vet excised the bump and it hadn't grown internally; just a superficial bump that was easy to deal with. She's perfectly fine a year on. I recommend you get your vet to do the same. If it's a deeper bump they should send it off to inspect for cancerous cells. I suspect it was just an enlarged spot caused by feline acne, which is super common.
