My cat Snowball, who is 15 years old, was recently diagnosed with oral cancer. Apparently there is a tumor under/on her tongue... she also has failing kidneys.
Among a ton of other problems, I've noticed (it's hard not to) that her fur/skin is turning brown. She's licking herself a lot and I'm wondering if it's because of the tumor in her mouth collecting bacteria.. and then she licks her fur, spreading the stuff. It's all over her face and her front legs. I've attached some photos to show you how bad it's getting.
I've tried giving her a bath (something we've never ever given her) but she won't have any of it. I've tried hydrogen peroxide with cotton balls, but it doesn't really come off... plus I can only clean her for about 15 seconds before she gets a bit violent. I'm going to pick up some dry shampoo and try that... but I have a feeling it wont work too well for that problem. It'll probably help clean up the smell (she smells awful) but not anything else.
Have any of you seen this problem before? I don't know what to do! My vet seems to ignore it every time I bring it up because she has so many other problems to deal with, so I'm not getting any help there. What about those neck things that prevent them from licking themselves? I've always thought they were kind of cruel, but I don't know... I thought maybe it was allergies so I am feeding her grain-free food but it doesn't seem to be doing much.
Agh! I just feel awful for her. When I was a little girl I remember my mom saying to me that cats are clean animals and deserve to have clean litterboxes (she was teaching me to empty the LB every day)... that's always stuck with me and even now I feel like I should be doing everything I can to help her get clean -- she deserves it.
Any ideas? Thanks so much in advance for your help!
Among a ton of other problems, I've noticed (it's hard not to) that her fur/skin is turning brown. She's licking herself a lot and I'm wondering if it's because of the tumor in her mouth collecting bacteria.. and then she licks her fur, spreading the stuff. It's all over her face and her front legs. I've attached some photos to show you how bad it's getting.
I've tried giving her a bath (something we've never ever given her) but she won't have any of it. I've tried hydrogen peroxide with cotton balls, but it doesn't really come off... plus I can only clean her for about 15 seconds before she gets a bit violent. I'm going to pick up some dry shampoo and try that... but I have a feeling it wont work too well for that problem. It'll probably help clean up the smell (she smells awful) but not anything else.
Have any of you seen this problem before? I don't know what to do! My vet seems to ignore it every time I bring it up because she has so many other problems to deal with, so I'm not getting any help there. What about those neck things that prevent them from licking themselves? I've always thought they were kind of cruel, but I don't know... I thought maybe it was allergies so I am feeding her grain-free food but it doesn't seem to be doing much.
Agh! I just feel awful for her. When I was a little girl I remember my mom saying to me that cats are clean animals and deserve to have clean litterboxes (she was teaching me to empty the LB every day)... that's always stuck with me and even now I feel like I should be doing everything I can to help her get clean -- she deserves it.
Any ideas? Thanks so much in advance for your help!