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- Dec 3, 2015
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I just found out today that my cat Flakes might have cancer. The vet seemed quite sure but they took a sample to send out to a pathologist to confirm and we should know within about 2 days.
My sweet furbaby is at least 16 years old and he's been a part of my family for over 15 years. He was first my mom's cat and then when I got married 12 years ago, he came to live with us. He's been pretty healthy (impeccable blood tests, vets often don't believe us when we tell them his age) aside from some random stuff here and there like URIs. In the past few months though he's needed several teeth pulled. The first extractions were done in April and it had to be done at a different vet than our regular one because our regular one was closed due to a possible COVID exposure. The new vet messed up so bad (I won't go into too much detail), they didn't do any X-rays and missed teeth that needed to be removed AND their techs forgot to put ointment on his eyes so they dried out and he got a corneal ulcer.
Luckily our regular vet opened back up so all visits from then on were there. On top of the ulcer, Flakes had uveitis in his eye and the first vet missed it. Our regular vet treated it and it went away. After the first extractions healed, we noticed that Flakes was still having some dental pain so we did another exam and got X-rays done this time. They found a few teeth that needed to be pulled and after a quick call to ask if it was OK, they pulled them while he was already under for the exam. That was a couple weeks ago. He had the uveitis in his eye flare up again after the extraction for some reason and the vet prescribed medicine to get it under control.
About a week later, we started to notice that his face was swelling up on the same side as the eye with uveitis and his eye was watering a lot. So he had yet another vet visit. This time they said it was an abscessed tooth and they scheduled him for their first available surgery spot which was today.
A couple hours after we dropped him off, they called with the terrible news. The abscess was not an abscess but it was a tumor and they are pretty sure it's cancer. And based on my research, oral cancer is basically a quick death sentence for any cat and treatment is often not worth it. It might prolong his life slightly but it also might not.
I am heartbroken and scared. I don't want to lose my cat but I also don't want to prolong his suffering. And I am angry because I don't know how this could have crept up so quick with all the vet visit. And I'm angry because I've done everything right as a pet owner and he's still sick. I've researched the best kind of cat food, the best cat litter, I've kept up on vet visits and dental cleanings, I make sure he drinks plenty of water, etc. I'm angry that my poor baby is going to die soon and there's nothing I can do to stop it. Cancer is the worst.
I hope that this is OK to post on this subforum, I wasn't sure where else to post it.
My sweet furbaby is at least 16 years old and he's been a part of my family for over 15 years. He was first my mom's cat and then when I got married 12 years ago, he came to live with us. He's been pretty healthy (impeccable blood tests, vets often don't believe us when we tell them his age) aside from some random stuff here and there like URIs. In the past few months though he's needed several teeth pulled. The first extractions were done in April and it had to be done at a different vet than our regular one because our regular one was closed due to a possible COVID exposure. The new vet messed up so bad (I won't go into too much detail), they didn't do any X-rays and missed teeth that needed to be removed AND their techs forgot to put ointment on his eyes so they dried out and he got a corneal ulcer.
Luckily our regular vet opened back up so all visits from then on were there. On top of the ulcer, Flakes had uveitis in his eye and the first vet missed it. Our regular vet treated it and it went away. After the first extractions healed, we noticed that Flakes was still having some dental pain so we did another exam and got X-rays done this time. They found a few teeth that needed to be pulled and after a quick call to ask if it was OK, they pulled them while he was already under for the exam. That was a couple weeks ago. He had the uveitis in his eye flare up again after the extraction for some reason and the vet prescribed medicine to get it under control.
About a week later, we started to notice that his face was swelling up on the same side as the eye with uveitis and his eye was watering a lot. So he had yet another vet visit. This time they said it was an abscessed tooth and they scheduled him for their first available surgery spot which was today.
A couple hours after we dropped him off, they called with the terrible news. The abscess was not an abscess but it was a tumor and they are pretty sure it's cancer. And based on my research, oral cancer is basically a quick death sentence for any cat and treatment is often not worth it. It might prolong his life slightly but it also might not.
I am heartbroken and scared. I don't want to lose my cat but I also don't want to prolong his suffering. And I am angry because I don't know how this could have crept up so quick with all the vet visit. And I'm angry because I've done everything right as a pet owner and he's still sick. I've researched the best kind of cat food, the best cat litter, I've kept up on vet visits and dental cleanings, I make sure he drinks plenty of water, etc. I'm angry that my poor baby is going to die soon and there's nothing I can do to stop it. Cancer is the worst.
I hope that this is OK to post on this subforum, I wasn't sure where else to post it.