Cat Chat Feline Forum

Hi All, unfortunately like so many do I suspect - I'm reaching out for the first time in this forum because I just found out my 6 year old boy has got this awful disease.

I took him to the vet on Monday after seeing some patches on the duvet that looked like pink tinged drool on the duvet where he had been sleeping and noticed he seemed to a choke a bit eating a dreamie. That was it, first signs. I thought he had a bad tooth. He has a tumor underneath his tongue. The vet was amazing, on Wednesday he had a CT scan which showed that the mass has not yet impacted his jaw bone but a lymph node is swollen. They biopsied the mass and lymph node and results expected in 7-10 days. They cut the mass back for his comfort but that's it. Nothing can be done. How did I go from having what I thought was a healthy 6 year old boy to an expectancy of weeks, maybe a month? I can't deal with it. I can't stop crying, I can't stop feeling guilty - like I missed this. I can't understand how I am going to deal with his loss.

He's home now, and is in relative good health otherwise, no weight loss, still eats, still plays. But I know this won't last long, the mass will keep growing, he will be in pain and he will struggle to eat and drink and that's it. I am not going to prolong his life, as soon as I see he is suffering I will take him. I just don't understand. I can't process.

Hi Kerry and I'm so very sorry to hear this.

I lost one of mine recently (kidneys) and when you first know of a fatal diagnosis it hits you like a ton of bricks. A lot of us and our cats have been through this and you've come to the right place - you will get a lot of support here. Many members have lost cats to SCC. I lost one, but 20 years ago; it was never fully explained to me although the vets were brilliant, but treatment is much more advanced these days, though the thing can't be halted, I know.

I can't really add much more but just wanted to say that I'm so sorry to hear, and you will get good advice on here, and please keep talking when you need to - there will always be someone to reply, who knows what you and your boy are going through - all the very best, Lil x

Welcome to the forum and I'm sorry it is something that is so awful that has brought you here.

I've never had one with SCC but I've had to make that final decision a few times and it is never easy.

Don't feel guilty about not spotting it sooner, these things develop can very quickly and cats are notorious for hiding it if something is wrong with them. It sounds like you are lucky to have a wonderful vet who will try everything possible to keep your boy going and give him as good a quality of life as possible, and please remember in the end we have the option to not let them suffer, when it gets too bad we can let them go peacefully.

Make sure you get plenty of photos and make sure they are stored in more than one place, the number of times I have heard people say they have lost everything when a phone has been stolen or damaged. You have a chance now while he is still himself to build up an album of happy memories that you will be able to look back on later.

Should you need to talk or be after advice here are people here who will listen and understand and some that have had cats that have had the same diagnosis who can tell you their experiences.

@kerrydenman,
I'm so sorry you are going through this with your kitty.

My cat Lola had a SCC under her tongue. She was officially diagnosed in early October 2016, though the first suspicions arose at least three weeks earlier.
Due to a totally different disease, she had a total body CT scan done in July, and this scan revealed the disease we were going to treat, and nothing else.

When less than two months later I noticed some bleeding, my heart sank, I rushed her to the vets and expressed my fears, the vets dismissed my fears as an oral infection.
It wasn't.
When the diagnosis for an SCC was clear, the mass was about 35 mm in diameter. I asked the other clinic to review the CT scan of July and they saw that the mass was 5 mm. They just missed it in the first place.

My cat underwent a radiotherapy course and a chemotherapy course, and this gave her 7 months of life.
The first 3 months were good enough, then she started declining.
There's a thread for my cat, here in the Forum
https://www.catchat.org/felineforum/vie ... 045#p42045

The only certain thing with SCC is that there is no escape, no way to heal, no way to leave it behind as a nightmare and go back to a normal life.
Be strong for your cat, be his strength when he feels weak and tired.
It'll be a roller coaster of emotions. There will be days when you have to feed him and let him drink with a syringe.
I am not lying to you, these will be dark days. Do not lose your temper.

And as Ruth B sid, this is the moment to take tons of photos of your kitty, and to love him beyond measure!

Again, I'm sorry

Hi. Sorry you and kitty have had to go through this awful experience. Can I ask you for an update please? Was the biopsy positive for scc? How have things been since you last posted? I hope you’re ok xxx