Feline oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma.
What is it? A fast growing invasive cancer found inside the mouth of cats.
Where is it located? It can be found on the gum tissue, the roof, or under the tongue, pretty much anywhere inside the mouth. There may be a tumor present or there may not be. The cancer invades the bones of the teeth and jaw and depending on location and growth may invade the sinus cavity.
What are the signs? This is difficult because cats are very good actors. By the time you notice any signs it's probably already very advanced. Pain - if they stop eating or in the case of my cat, he stopped eating dry and switched entirely to wet food (but he was diagnosed with Feline Stomatitis some years ago (plaque allergy) so when I took him to the vet I thought this had flared up again). Drooling - can be blood tinged. Drooling alone doesn't mean cancer, it can be gingivitis or tooth absess, or anything tooth related. None of the symptoms of SCC are much different than tooth problems. Odor - my cat developed a very bad smell in his mouth. Tumor - if you are able to open and look into your cats mouth, do it. My cat is very skiddish and difficult but I still looked in his mouth. That's when I saw the tumor and made him an appointment sooner rather than later.
How is it diagnosed? You have to have a biopsy. In the case of my cat the vet was almost certain the tumor was related to a bad molar - inflammatory tissue - and that it would resolve with antibiotics and dental surgery was scheduled. As precaution I opted to have a full blood panel done. His blood work was normal...so please learn from this, don't go by blood work alone! At the time of his dental the tumor had not shrunk (3 weeks after antibiotic treatment) and she still felt it was inflammatory, but asked if I wanted to do a biopsy. I did. It was positive for cancer. At this point since his vet had pulled 2 teeth from that side she had seen the bone deterioration already. There is no way to know how long my cat had this cancer lurking in there and it wasn't until he stopped his dry food that I noticed anything. Don't blame yourself because even annual exams won't catch it unless there are obvious signs inside the mouth, such as a tumor. Sometimes there is no tumor and by the time the tumor shows up, the cancer is already invading the bone. Cats hide pain very well. My cat acted normally until he had his dental surgery which resulted in more hiding and sleepiness, lack of appetite, and extreme anxiety (he's an anxious kitty to begin with) (he was on pain med and antibiotics following surgery)
What can be done? You have 3 choices. Radical surgery (removing part of all of the affected jaw ; not all cats can have this done and a feeding tube may be needed for remainder of life) followed by radiation and chemo or supportive care with pain med and/or alternative therapy,and antibiotics or euthanasia.
What's the prognosis? What's quality of life like? What can I expect? This is a very invasive fast growing cancer and this is gonna seem harsh, but there are no good outcomes. My vet told me this and my research also told me this. I will provide links to good information at the end of this post but I want everyone to be realistic about what to expect. Even if you choose to do the extremely expensive route of seeing an animal oncologist for traditional cancer treatments, your cat will have a very limited life expectancy.
The treatments cure nothing and may do little to treat anything and may only provide you with an additional couple of months. Cats, from my understanding, just do not do well during this type of approach. The idea of a feeding tube for life and constant trips in the carrier (long distances), pain, repeated treatments, nausea...non of that sounded like a good idea for me and my cat. I chose supportive care. I am over a month in from time of diagnosis and it has been an extremely rough road. It is very likely that I will be saying goodbye to my cat very soon.
My cat was in relatively good condition (considering) at time of his first consultation. The dental surgery, had I known it was cancer, I am not sure I would have had it done, although his back molar was in very bad shape. However, I know now that his tooth was so bad because of the cancer. One thing I have read over and over is this cancer is generally localized. Meaning it is unlikely to spread to other parts of the body, but its a VERY aggressive cancer. If your cat is eating well at the time and you also choose supportive care I am going to suggest to you that you ask your vet to prescribe pain medication right away. My vet wanted me to wait until he seemed to need it as long term it can be costly and side affects. I am living with this right now, if you are too I know the suffering you are going through. I know it. Tramadol has been wonderful for my cat but because it's in pill form and his mouth is worse (and he's extremely hard to medicate anyway) it's not easy to administer. Ask your vet for options and choose what's best for you and your cat.
Keep in mind that you may be needing to take the cat back in several times. I have taken him 3 times, for various things, since being diagnosed. The tumor will ulcerate and bleed and you may need antibiotics periodically. I am dealing with this now. Two weeks ago he was given an antibiotic injection for bloody drool and it's beginning again and so now I am faced with a decision. More medication or end it despite the fact he is still eating. There is absolutely no easy answer for this cancer. There is no cure. You are very unlikley to catch this early and it's not your fault.
My vet initially told me no treatment he may live 6 months - this is very unlikely. There is no way to know how long the cancer was in his jaw before I saw the tumor. 1-3 months is what every vet blog / website says if you choose no treatment. If you choose treatment you may get 6 months. To me the risks, the pain, the stress, the expense of treatment wasn't worth it as I felt his quality of life would be worse and the end result would be the same. If there were better prognosis after treatment it might be a different story. My vet told me that she too would not do the treatments because it makes very little difference. I can't see going into high amounts of debt if the treatments don't work. And I can't see him living on a feeding tube because half his jaw was removed. What kind of life would that be? You could look into just doing radiation but I have read that is really only done for pain, so in my opinion you can put them on tramadol for far less money.
If you do catch it early and you are able to medicate your cat relatively easily you might look into alternative therapy's. They will not cure the cancer, but it could help with appetite, possibly minor pain relief, and maybe slow the growth. You have many options that way. I am giving him a liquid product from a company I trust. It's not "for cancer" but is for immune health to provide better quality of life. I had intended on trying other pills and such but it proved too hard to administer when he is so anxious and putting into his food doesn't work. Please don't put anything into the food if you have other pets. (as i do) Do not crush the pain med and put into food even if you don't have other pets. You will not know when the cat consumed it and in the case of tramadol you can only give every 8 hours up to 3 times a day.
Here I will provide some links to sites with information on the cancer and alternative therapy. Prayers to you and your cat during this time. Its not easy emotionally, I know. I will be saying goodbye to my Siamese very soon and my heart is broken. I wanted to do more and I can't. I want to take this away from him and I can't. I can't fix it. It's such an awful disease and what's worse is there is no cure, and there are SO MANY cats suffering from this cancer and there are no known reasons why. The causes some say don't fit my cat at all. He was not a canned food eater until now (post-cancer), he never ate fish, he was never in a home where people smoked, he tested neg for feline diseases, and he has never worn a flea collar - those are the reasons websites give for contracting this terribly aggressive cancer. One thing I can tell you is, I have always believed my cat had a poorly functioning immune system though vets would never diagnose this as a cause to other issues he's had in the past or from his stomatitis (plaque allergy), but that is something to think about as cancer cells can be defeated with a properly functioning immune system.
Please read:
Holistic approach using Artemisinin (I bought this but have had no success getting my cat to take it. Perhaps it has a bitter taste and I started another remedy so I didn't continue to try)
Mushrooms for cancer (I was putting this into his food until I started him on the liquid remedy which contains Chaga Mushrooms)
Info on SCC and More Info
What I am giving to my cancer cat (This liquid preparation is from a company I trust and used (a heart remedy) for my dog who had heart disease. The product I was giving her worked very well and she never was put on conventional medications and lived quite well for over a year until at 14 years we let her go)
I also give my cat his vet prescribed Tramadol dose. We were able for the the first week or so to give just once a day and noticed a big improvement in his behavior. We have upped to 2 times a day. It unfortunately stresses my cat out, but not all cats are as high strung. It also seems to be be bitter tasting and causes him to foam and drool at the mouth profusely. It also causes some constipation. The benefit outweighs all that. He has some really good days where he plays with toys and acts normally. Eating is where the problem lies and it is getting worse which is why the time is coming to say goodbye. I was hoping to have more time but it doesn't look possible. Its a hard thing to do especially when some days he seems really good. There are definite ups and downs. I am assessing now if the tramadol is still managing his pain. We decided when the time comes he needs stronger medication that its probably best to say goodbye even though that's not what we want. I also am pretty sure that day will come before he gives up eating. But you need to do what is best for you and your cat. As this cancer grows the symptoms get much worse and it's hard to watch. I don't know what else to expect as I am still living it but I know what can happen and I know I don't want to see some of that happen or make him live through it. When your cat is not longer having good days or happy at all that may be a better indication then giving up food. Of course if they give up food that pretty much means they have given up the fight and probably best to help them on their way. My cat's weight was down 1 pound, 2 weeks ago after having maintained his weight for over 4 years. He is still eating, but not nearly as much I guess. Weight loss is to be expected with a cancer patient. He had bouts of low appetite here and there also because of antibiotics.
update to this post. my beautiful boy was just in too much pain and I couldn't bear to watch it anymore. we put him to rest and end his pain on April 1, 2014.
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