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Hi everyone

It was less than a year when I was on here so sad about my Ollie and his passing after a very quick and sudden cancer. Now I'm back to talk about Pickle, Ollie's brother.

He's been diagnosed with hyperthyroidism - that's ok - I know all about it and know it's treatable. However there is something darker going on. He has lumps under his chin and today the vet found a lump in his mouth. His lymph glands are up and the vet suspects lymphoma.

He's given me options:

Anaesthetic and taking biopsies and a dental while we are at it as he's got bad teeth at the back.

Or:

Palliative care - steroids to reduce lumps.

Pickle is 13 and apart from being thin he's absolutely his normal self, eating, drinking etc.

I think biopsy is the best route. I think palliative care is a bit assuming and kind of giving up on him.

Any thoughts would be great.xxx

I think in your situation I would go for the biopsy route as Pickle seems strong enough to cope. It would be terrible if the lumps are treatable and you didn't know it.

I agree. 13 isn't old for a cat these days. If there is a chance of 'nipping it in the bud', it is definitely worth it. When my Alice was taken in by Cats Protection, she had a large tumour on her face (we found out from a biopsy) it was operated on and she lived for another 6 years and died from something unrelated at the age of 17/18 the vet guessed.

Are his thyroid levels back within normal limits? If not, anaesthesia is riskier

Thanks for your replies. His thyroid level is now 102 which is down from the level it was when he was diagnosed. But apparently normal levels are under 60!

I think biopsy is the best route. Anaesthesia is risky at all times but to leave it longer I think, might be a mistake. The lumps under his chin have increased since initial diagnosis.

Worrying times. x

While I agree a biopsy is the best way, I wouldn't want to do it with thyroid levels that high as it affects their liver which means he may not be able to process the anaesthetic - what thyroid meds is he on?

He's on Vidalta 15mg a day, they upped it on Saturday from the 10mg a day tablet.

I agree with the others, 13 is no great age and I would go ahead with the biopsy, especially as he needs trhe dental as well. I also agree that it would be a good idea to try to get his thyroid levels down a bit more first, though. Good luck.

Hopefully the increased meds will get his levels down so it's safer to operate

Morning.

Trouble is his op is tomorrow (Tuesday) I'm thinking I should postpone for a few days. Feel sick with worry. x

In your position then I'd ring the vet and talk through your concerns. That should help - good luck.

Hi Everyone

Just to let you know we made an appointment to see the vet before the procedure today, this vet is one I'm more familiar with and is more decisive than the one that has been treating Pickle, she was unavailable when I originally took Pickle in. She is pretty certain that the mass in his mouth is cancerous and this type of oral cancer is sadly not curable. She added that very often poking around with this type of tumour can make it a lot more aggressive and therefore we decided against the biopsy route and proceeded with the dental as I've noticed he's having a bit of trouble chewing of late.

The vet that has been treating Pickle and performed the op, just telephoned to let me know that Pickle has come through and is very sleepy, but he is awake. He removed two large molars. We will be going in tonight to pick Pickle up and he is going to show us how to administer the pain relief - not quite sure what form this will take...

As to how long Pickle has, no-one can say, ages hopefully.... but I just want to make him as happy and as comfortable as I can.

xxx

That's great that he has come through it OK, you must be so relieved. Hopefully he'll be more comfortable now. Good luck this evening.

Yes. I was worried sick about him. Going to pick him up now. He's been making the most of the fluids bless him. x

Glad you got a second opinion, although surprised they still went ahead with the dental. Sorry to hear the vet thinks it's likely to be oral cancer, myself and a lot of others have been through that. I hope he has plenty of quality time, antibiotics and metacam can help. Spend as much time with him as you can and take plenty of pics

Hi

We agreed that going forward with the dental was a good option, he had two very large infected molars and he seems so much brighter now they've been removed. Also without doing the biopsy it meant that he was under for a shorter period and thus, less risky.

The vet was very pleased with him and said the two molars came out easily and were very big. We have to go back Friday as the vet, Simon is going to take him off Metacam and start him on steroids which he says should calm both the lymph glands and oral mass down.

Thanks everyone for your comments. Will keep you posted as to his progress. xx

I'm surprised they want to swap Metacam for steroids - Metacam is a COX inhibitor, which is supposed to help slow cancer down, I've not heard of steroids having a similar effect.

Hi everyone

Well, the steroids have certainly helped to reduce the lumps, however on his last bloods check his thyroid levels are still too high, so they have upped the Vidalta dosage.

He was doing really well, taking his tablets in a ball of cheese - he loves cheese which is pretty apt considering his name!! However the last couple of days I have felt he sounds very snuffly with his breathing and I wonder if the mass in his mouth has enlarged. He is still eating well and acting pretty normal, although he does sleep a lot more these days. I did also notice that he struggled a bit with eating the pieces of cheese this morning, he got there in the end, but I am concerned. At the last vet appointment (13th June), the vet looked in his mouth and said whilst it was still red, it had not got any worse.

Thoughts.

xxx

Well, I'm glad that he seems to have made good progress, but if he continues to struggle to eat then it's probably best for the vet to check it out. When my Alpha had cancer in her upper jaw I ended up having to mash her food up for her, and eventually liquidise it with a little water. I really hope that this was just an 'off' day for Pickle and that he manages to bounce back. xx

Glad the steroids have helped - you might be able to just leave a message for the vet regarding his eating - my Sam had oral cancer and he struggled toward the end eating.

Hi

Well, Pickle perked up again and was eating his food normally and whoever else's he could get to!

However, what I am now noticing is he sounds like he's got a cold, very snuffly through the nose and this sometimes has an effect on his eating .

Anyone heard of Vidalta or steriods having cold like side effects? Or could it be a knock on effect from the mass in his mouth?

xx

It sounds more likely to be related to the mass than the medication to me, but the vet would advise better

I agree that it sounds as though it might be the mass affecting his breathing. My poor Alpha eventually lost her sense of smell as the cancer spread and I started to add a little warm water to her food to increase the small and tempt her to eat. Best to get it checked out - all paws here crossed for him. xx

Hi

Took Pickle to vets on Saturday. He said it could be an infection due to low immune system but it could be the cancer. He gave him a couple of injections and also gave me a couple of tins of prescription food which is high in calories etc as he has lost a bit more weight. He did manage to eat some.

Sunday I was thinking I'd be taking him to vets today as he just didn't seem to be doing well. Then all of a sudden he's doing his old tricks ie. Chewing binbags and then when I fed the fish there he was on the back of the sofa waiting for his portion of fish food. He'd not done that for a couple of days.

Simon the vet said he did look better than he expected him to look and that he was a little fighter.

xxx

Go Pickle!! That's lovely to hear, bless him.

Hi

Well, the change in Pickle is amazing, he's eating loads, the special high calorie food Simon the vet gave us seems to have him wanting more and he proceeds to get in on Bumble and Spike's food also, I'm sure he'd get to Shelby's too if she wasn't eating hers in another room!!!

He doesn't seem to be snuffly anymore either AND he's purring again, the snuffling seemed to stop him being able to purr, but now he's purring .

Further check up at vet's on Monday 4th July. He had his T4 blood test and another B12 injection. Simon was impressed as he has put on a bit of weight, 2.4 now. Later on Simon rang me with the thyroid level results and happily they are now in the safe zone!!! That is good news, so we will continue with the dosage.

However, this morning was not so great, he had some spreadable cheese off my finger (this is what I use for his pills of an evening), he was happy enough to have lots of that, but he wouldn't eat his special food today, licked some off my finger and then jumped down and ate some normal food, however didn't eat much at all. Perhaps he is just under the weather this morning. Will see how he is tonight. Simon did say on Monday that the long lasting antibiotic injection he gave him before (when he was snuffly) will be wearing off now.

xxx

He's bound to get off-days now and again - let's hope this was just a small blip in what sounds like a big improvement overall. xx