Posted on 03/23/2009 5:39:30 PM PDT by GRRRRR
My oldest cat-14 years old, Smokie, has bone cancer in his jaw. Most of his right mandible has been eaten away. It was swollen and sore a week ago and I took him into the vet today.
Vet said there isn't much to do for him, just watch how he eats and his overall behaviors will tell us how he's doing. She said there is a surgery, they don't do it, to remove the affected bone area and replace it with steel. It's 1500$ at least and no guarantees of recovery or cure.
She had to sedate him for x-rays today and it took three hours for Smokie to come out of it. He's eaten 3/4 of a can of food and is all back to 'normal' for now.
She also gave me some oral pain killers for him, 2mL every other day.
OK gang, any thoughts on how long this might take for my best buddy? I almost sent him off this morning, I KNEW it was cancer before I even took him in...
If your vet is bringing up the surgery option, she probably has some reason to believe that the cancer hasn’t spread beyond the mandible, so perhaps you shouldn’t be too quick to give up.
Many years ago, a friend of mine had a late-middle-aged cat which developed cancer in his mandible, and she had most if not all the mandible simply removed. He was a VERY odd-looking cat after he that, but seemed perfectly happy and lived for many years post-surgery. He ate by licking at his food, and after being seriously overweight all of his adult life, post-surgery he was quite svelte. Eating took effort so he only did as much as he needed to — probably the cancer/surgery actually extended his lifespan, because he had definitely been on the fast track to obesity-related ailments before that. Talk to your vet about this option, which would probably be less expensive than the option involving reconstruction with steel parts, and would probably also have a much shorter recovery time.
And please make sure the painkiller Smokie is getting is NOT Metacam. It shouldn’t be used for this type of thing, but I keep hearing scattered reports of vets who prescribe it inappropriately — it very often destroys kidney function.
Maybe it’s time for Smokie to pass on, but if so, you’ll feel more at peace with that if you know you’ve explored all the options.
Awwww....I’m so sorry. Prayers up for you and Smokie.
Metacam is extremely dangerous for cats, and is supposed to be limited to one-time use, and not even that if there’s the slightest hint of pre-existing kidney problems.
http://www.metacamkills.com/ Dehydration greatly increases the risk of severe kidney damage, and since cats who are sick and or in pain may not be eating or drinking enough, they are prone to dehydration.
The manufacturer’s original prescribing information and veterinary marketing materials encouraged all sorts of innappropriate uses of this drug and contained false and misleading claims, leading to a formal reprimand from the FDA and requirement that they modify the information. Unfortunately, a lot of vets don’t seem to have updated their knowledge.
http://www.fda.gov/cvm/Regulatory_Notice_Letters/w022304bi.pdf
There are much safer options for pain relief in cats.
I don’t like to make decisions about what other people should do when they have an animal that is seriously ill. Every pet/owner relationship is different. There isn’t a pat answer for when to do what.
Our eldest (and favorite) Siamese is currently living with renal disease. I firmly believe he will let us know when he’s ready to leave. At present he continues to eat, cuddle, purr like a madman, tool around the house, and periodically tell us off. When the day comes that he curtails those activities, we will let him go.
In the interim we’ll listen to the vet and give him meds, an occasional painkiller and lots of love.
I’m sure you’ll make the right decision. And remember, teaspoons full of lamb baby food usually make kitties smile.
I wish you all the best. Please keep us posted.
I’m so sorry you and Smokie are going through this. He is a lovely kitty.
My 14-yo cat Adrienne got bone cancer in her cheek, which was not operable due to the location, so we did not have to make the choice (to treat or not to treat the cancer) that is facing you right now. Rather than putting Adrienne to sleep immediately, we chose to give her painkillers and basically think of it as kitty hospice, just keeping her comfortable as long as possible. It was difficult for me, but I still feel that was the right decision. Adrienne was an exceptionally tough old boot, and she made it pretty clear she did not want to go anywhere, let alone the Rainbow Bridge. We had another dearly beloved cat that was ill for only three days when we knew it was time to let him go, but Adrienne hung on for months. Your cat will indeed let you know if and when he is ready to call it a day.
As for deciding whether or not to treat Smokie, if you can talk to some pet owners who have actually had cats who had the same operation, perhaps that will help you make up your mind. As others have already suggested, googling on appropriate search terms may help you to find forums where such pet owners may have posted.
Best wishes to you and Smokie at this tough time. He is lucky to have you for his human.
Prayers up for Smokie. He is beautiful. Is he holding his mouth open in the photo because his jaw hurts? Poor thing.
Oh, thanks much for the thoughts, but that is a picture from a while ago.
It is a powerful, painkilling drug, and precautions are in order. You run into the same thing for other veterinary NSAIDs such as Deramax. Some animals react badly to it, that’s the reason to be very cautious and observant when first beginning to administer, and to always look for blood in the urine. It can be very beneficial as well, far more often than detrimental side effects can occur. As I mentioned, my dog benefitted mightily from Metacam.
It sounds as if FReeper GRRRRRR has been advised of necessary precautions to me. But, continuing to administer it is not my decision. I was terrified by these borderline hysterical websites myself. Many people have lost pets due to being ill-informed, it seems.
I learned that from my other cat....he has a bad tooth which infected his brain and he also had a stroke. I religously get my cats teeth cleaned —if not every year....every 2 years now...it’s well worth the cost.
Very tough decision.....knowing how I am, I would go with the surgery.....but if your cat took 3 hours to come off of anethesia, then I would think twice about it....
Our vet says that as long as they are eating and grooming themselves they still have a good quality of life. He said when they stop eating and grooming themselves, its time to let go. Its strange for me to run up on this thread today, cause I just got back from the vet with my 14 yr old Manx. He has feline leukemia. He is developing large tumors. He has one in his abdoman and a large one on his neck and shoulder, 2 on his stomach and 1 under his front leg. The vet has been treating him with medication for 2 yrs and he said there is no reason he can’t live out his life with medication. But we know if it starts interfering with his breathing, it will be time to let go, but until then, we are just going to keep pampering and loving him and hope for the best. My advice is to let him live till he doesn’t want to anymore. You will know.
So I get home today, there he is at the door, MEOWLING!! FOOD FOOD FOOD!!
Just like always...this is good!
I’ve participated in a Yahoo Group for feline renal failure for many years, and believe me the Metacam issue is not “hysteria”. There are a huge number of cats who have been driven into severe and permanent renal failure by this drug, usually after receiving more than the single dose that the current prescribing information gives as the limit, but in a few cases just from a single dose. If the kidneys are damaged enough that you start seeing blood in the urine, with cats at least, it’s already too late. The problem seems to be much more serious in cats than dogs, and I think part of the problem is that many vets try to transfer their experience with using it in dogs, to cats. In the vast majority of cases, there was no good reason for the cat to have received even a single dose. The better vet hospitals are now using Fentanyl patches pretty routinely for post-surgical pain.
Fentanyl is very effective for pain, but to my knowledge has no potential “off label” benefit for cancer treatment, palliative or otherwise, unlike Metacam. I do know that cats and dogs react quite differently to certain medications, and some that are quite good and very safe for dogs, are problematic for cats.
I honestly can only speak for my own dog, Woody, who passed away in October of 2007. Metacam was a godsend for him, and it, in part, enabled us to have a year together that we otherwise would not have had. He was happy as a clam, and had better mobility and higher spirits during the time of his treatment, right up to his death, than he had had for at least a year prior to that point. I loved him dearly, and still do. I did everything I could for him, short of making him feel any more discomfort than he already did. A “cure” for him was out of the question, as the cancer had metastasized when discovered, so we/I chose the palliative route. I don’t regret it at all.
That sucks. I’ve been there too. Prayers up my friend.
What a cutie!
The Metacam issue for cats is very different from dogs. Cats have special problems dealing with any NSAID.
There are three versions of Metacam http://www.metacam.us/index.lasso?page=matrix&GUI=gui_1 . Oral metacam is labelled for “dogs only”, and with good reason, as it is designed for repeated home use. There are two different pacakges of Metacam for injection, one for cats and another for dogs — the contents are identical except for a small difference in sodium chloride concentration, but the issues are so different for cats vs. dogs that the manufacturer has been required to have two different products with completely different package inserts. The insert for the cat product includes strong warnings that are not included in the insert for the dog product, including in bold face type “Do not administer a second dose of meloxicam. Do not follow meloxicam dose with any other NSAID.”
The bottom line is that the manufacturer’s information is that oral Metacam is not to be used in cats AT ALL, and injectable Metacam should be used in cats only as a single dose. There are just hundreds of horror stories out there about vets using both oral and injectable Metacam in cats in multiple doses, and leaving cats with severe kidney failure, and often very quick death. In some cases this has occurred after only a single dose in accordance with product labelling, but more often it has resulted from using Metacam in a cat in ways that it is only properly used in dogs. It’s really best not to use Metacam in cats at all, since there are other painkilling options that don’t carry the risk of Metacam-induced kidney damage and the suffering (both cat and human) that accompanies it.
As for how long, etc...
A few years ago, I lost one of my cats. She started getting sick in Late March, and we thought it was due to the China pet food scare since both she and her buddy were sick. Tons of tests later, and they couldn't find anything wrong. So we assumed it was the food. But, she kept losing weight and would walk for a bit, then lay down like she was winded. So I took her back and they did xrays to see if she had a lung infection. The vet was speechless. She had lung cancer- two golf ball sized growths in both her lungs. Lung cancer is extremely rare in cats, and to this day, I can still see the look on the vets face when he told me. I, of course, started crying yet Dusty just sighed, as if she was saying, 'now they finally know'.
I asked the vet how long, how will I know, etc. All he said is, she will let you know.
And he was right.
Around two weeks later, Dusty was sleeping on my bed with me. She didn't sleep much though, which meant I didn't sleep much either since I was so worried about her. Finally, around 6am that morning, I turn and asked her how she was. She just looked at me, put her paw on my hand, and rested her head on her paw. It was time. She let me know.
I said goodbye to Dusty later that day.
Animals are amazing creatures and I truly believe they will do everything they can do to spare you sadness. So whatever you do, whatever your choice, for all the years of love and companionship your cat has given you, be there for him and make sure yours is the last face he sees before heading to the rainbow bridge. It is the least we can do for the unconditional love they have given us.
My kitty does this exact same thing. He has lost a lot of weight. He only weighs 8lb 3 oz. He just walks a few steps and lays down.
Get your kitty to the vet ASAP and demand they do an xray.
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