Our cat appeared to have a cut on the bottom of her mouth under her tongue but on taking her to the vets he advised that she actually had a tumour. At the vets we were able to see that there is effectivly a hole on the bottom of her mouth. She doesn't appear to be in any pain and is eating ok at the moment. Though she isn't grooming her chest properly she appears fine in herself considering she's fairly old anyway and has never been very active. We understand there is nothing we can do about the tumour and the vet advised to keep an eye on her until she isnt able to eat due to her mouth not working properly and then we will need to have her put down. I'm just concerned as to how to ensure she remains comfortable in the meantime as it wasn't explained whether this will cause her any pain, or if there's anything we should/can be doing to help her until the time comes. Obviously it's going to be difficult to make the decision ourselves as to when she 'needs' to be put down and I just want to know we will be looking after her properly in the meantime. Thank you.
Cerys
Tumours within the mouth in cats do seem to occur fairly frequently. The main problem that you get is associated with infection of the tumour due to
the mouth being very contaminated place. The use of antibiotics and possibly
steroids can help the cat to resume grooming and keep eating better. Once
they wont eat with steroids and antibiotics then you must consider
euthanasia as the only available option. Radiotherapy and radical surgery
are the only other options but at 15 you would have to question the long
term advantages to the cat.
Paul J. Wilson
