Cancer

[hillbie]

I realize that there isn't anyone who can give medical advice, however I like to get comments about this.

We have a 10 year old feral. He lives at our house. We did a TNR on him about 10 yrs ago. He doesn't leave the yard and is fearful of everything.

He's all white, so he's sensitive to the sun. He always has burnt ear tips and now his nose is scabbed all the time. My husband has created shade areas for him.

The scab is traveling down to his mouth. It used to be just on the top portion and started in 2018 it would flare up then go away, very faint. When it went away, the hair didn't grow back. The part moving down to his mouth is recent, within the last 6 months.

We don't if he in pain, and not sure how to tell.

What tests would need to be performed and approx cost?

My husband is confident he can get him into a cage to take him to a vet. As you can see my husband can pick him up. He won't come near me. He's not mean, just scared all the time. I'm not sure how things will go once I put him in the car and take him to a vet. We are guessing it might be cancer


We'd like see if we can try medications at home. We're not adverse to purchasing medications rx or over the counter. It will be VERY hard to apply creams to his face. Pills are okay, as we can hide it in his food. We've already made the decision that we won't be spending a lot of money and will put him down if we need to start down the road of many tests.

[fjm]

As vet fees and procedures very so much from one country to another, and even from one area to another, I think the best way to get an idea of costs would be to contact your vet and ask for advice. It looks and sounds very like fairly advanced squamous cell carcinoma and if that is the case your vet will quite possibly be able to diagnose it without expensive tests, and will then be able to advise you on treatment options, or whether euthanasia is the kindest way.

[hillbie]

Thank you, fjm

[Mollycat]

What a sweetheart.

I once had a cat who had a similar looking scabby nose. I don't recall cost but in her case treatment was a simple one-off "skim" of the top layer of cells from the nose planum, and I do know it did not run into a four figure sum, I would have remembered that. We had no follow-up chemo or creams or anything. After a while it came back, we saw the vet and were offered options but recommended to wait and see as it was slow evolving and she was not the best patient. She had no further treatment and died of old age in her sleep several years later, from memory maybe about 7 or 8 years.

His does look a bit more involved but I would agree with the idea of getting a vet to take a look, but keep your feet on the ground and stand firm on what you want and are able to achieve, don't be guilted or bullied into treatments you don't feel are appropriate. In the end quality of life for any cat beats length of life - the life in the years not the years in the life, or as Ralph Waldo Emerson said "It is not the length of life but the depth" - and especially so for a feral cat who is unlikely to let you treat him daily.

[susand]

Ignore this, it is a ‘test’ post as I had some IT issues yesterday.

[Ruth B]

A trip to the vets is the best course of action in my mind, even from a basic examination, a vet is likely to be able to tell you if if is cancer or if it might be something else, and you can then make any decisions from there. It could be the vet could do a biopsy easily to know for certain if if was cancer and if it was malignant. I don't know if he would be better if your vet could do a home visit and see him in surroundings he feels safer in, assuming your vet would do a home visit.

If it was just the ears then having the tips amputated can clear the problem, but if the one on the nose is cancer then I would imagine the outcome is less clear. If it starts to block the nose and he has trouble breathing then his quality of life is going to go down quickly.

I fully understand and agree with you not wanting to put him through a lot of tests or intensive treatment. He has obviously had 10 happy years living in your yard and if the diagnosis is bad then it is better to let him go peacefully instead of having his last few weeks or months filled with the stress of vets visits and forced medication.

[hillbie]

In the end quality of life for any cat beats length of life - the life in the years not the years in the life, or as Ralph Waldo Emerson said "It is not the length of life but the depth" - and especially so for a feral cat who is unlikely to let you treat him daily.

Thank you!

[hillbie]

[quote="Ruth B" post_id=72101 time=1669713933 user_id=3973

I fully understand and agree with you not wanting to put him through a lot of tests or intensive treatment. He has obviously had 10 happy years living in your yard and if the diagnosis is bad then it is better to let him go peacefully instead of having his last few weeks or months filled with the stress of vets visits and forced medication.
[/quote]

Thank you!