Need Some Good Advice...very Sick Cat

[Jesset1977]

My kitty is almost 8 months old. He was dumped with his litter in a flooded area. Someone saw the guy dump them out his car window and was able to save all but mine..he was found days later. Long story short I fell in love with him right away and hes my bestfriend. Never thought I'd say that about a cat. Hes been on antibiotics for 6 months. Has a lump in his throat and on his head. Tested both...throat lump is ok..the head is melanoma.not known if cancerous so will probably freeze that and hope to kill any bad cells. His blood work came back horrible. His lymphosids went from 7,300 2 months ago to 12,500 now. Hes perfectly happy on antibiotics once a day now, but 48 hours without and he can barely breathe and mouth breathing. It's an awful thing to see. If anyone has any advice at this point I'm willing to try anything. I'm at the point of researching myself and asking the vet to research everything I find.

We are scheduling a chest xray next week. She said after that theres not much more they can do other than keeping him comfortable and hoping for the best. Praying something shows up on the xray.

And asked her to please research this tonight.

Just hoping maybe there is a vet here or someone that went through this that can offer some advice.

Will also mention he is on lysine, an immune booster, saline drops, and some powder I put on his food...probiotic. we have literally tried EVERYTHING. He seems so happy most of the time. Hard to imagine hes sick. Husband is about to deploy and we like to put money away beforehand but this is making it impossible. Hoping the vet starts cutting us a break.

 

[ArchyCat]

Melanoma is a nasty skin cancer in humans. Aggressive treatment is required. Surgery in humans. Plus it can spread or other lesions appear else where.

Hope he makes it.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

My heart is breaking for you. I wish I could give you some real information, but...you've googled, so you've come up with the same things I have. I am lighting a candle for your precious boy right now!

Whatever happens, please know that YOU ARE NOT ALONE!

 

[Jem]

The lump in his throat could be restricting his airways which is why he is having a hard time breathing. Some tumors can grow pretty fast. This happened to our kitty just a few months ago, although his tumor was cancerous and unfortunately the surgery to remove it was not successful. I would have the vet take another GOOD look at the lump.
You say he has a melanoma on his head, but cancer is unknown? Melanoma IS cancer, and it can spread very quickly, I would recommend removing it surgically and not just freezing it off and ASAP. If you catch it early enough you may be able to prevent the cancer from spreading.

 

[Jesset1977]

Thank you for your responses. The way she explained it is....there IS a malignant melanoma. And one that's not cancerous. Older cats generally get the malignant. I have to pick and choose my battles now...I think whatever is causing him to be so miserable and counts so high needs attention first. So I'm trusting my instincts and having the cheapest option on his head done. I do think it has something to do with the lump in his throat or maybe another one that we cant feel. So I'm focusing on paying for this chest xray first. Wish I had the money to keep shelling out...already over 2000 as of today and hes only 8 months old. Thanks for the well wishes and so sorry for the loss. I've lost a lot of people in my life..including my mom at a young age. I tell everyone the hardest loss I had was my dog. Its heart breaking making the decisions for them.

 

[Jesset1977]

I'm definitely calling the vet again tomorrow. If he has cancer and shes trying to sugar coat it I'll be pretty pissed off. Thanks again.

 

[Jem]

I'm definitely calling the vet again tomorrow. If he has cancer and shes trying to sugar coat it I'll be pretty pissed off. Thanks again.

Maybe she just did not express herself well.
He could have NON-melanoma skin cancer, which basically means it is basal cell or squamous cell, which are much easier to treat and are not likely to spread. Or perhaps she is concerned of this "tumor" to turn into melanoma because it looks like one, but it is only in a "pre-cancerous cell" phase, which is known as actinic keratosis.

 

[catsknowme]

I have several former ferals who have survived pretty awful diseases. I really thought that Coco, who is FIV+, would die in the 2017-18 winter. Because of difficulties in isolating their food, antibiotics is not a good option. I started adding a decoction of marshmallow root/slippery elm bark/licorice root to canned food to create a slurry. I also added L-lysine, which you are already doing. You can ask your vet about that....I have one semi-feral here inside that I am giving antibiotics to & he needs the antibiotics long term. Because slippery elm can coat the digestive tract, I keep the dosings of antibiotics & other medicines at least 4 hours apart from the herbs. I also use Homeopet's Feline Nose Relief at 10 drops per pint of quality water.
And I make sure that the litter is unscented/fragrance free. Plus I avoid strong smelling cleaning agents, air fresheners, incense, etc. - basically what you would do for a baby with asthma.

 

[Faikey]

If it is cancer I really suggest as the vet also suggested as she had a cat with cancer to not put the little guy through the painful treatments if it is malignant.
I feed my sick cats the fd canned cat food to help keep the animal hydrated.
You can also microwave it and easily put the antibiotics in their food without them knowing it. I did this for several cats. The stuff smells awful cats love it and it's a great way to get them to take antibiotics. And the food is healthy as muffins.

I was going to suggest asking about steroid injections? If relevant to reduce inflammation. My cat was on both antibiotics and the steroid shot and did very very well.