13yr old cat with lump in mouth 😭

[Icantstopeatinglol]

Just as the title says, my gorgeous cat has been slavering for about a month. I did an online consultation and didn’t seem to get anywhere but the last 2-3days there been blood too. Had her to the vets today and they’ve said she has an infected tooth but also a lump underneath which they’re not sure what it is. She’s on antibiotics and painkillers and I need to ring on Monday to book her in to get the tooth removed. They’ve mentioned possibly a tumour. Just wondered if anyone has had experience of this?

Sorry to hear this. Sadly I have and it didn't have a good outcome. She went in for tooth extraction and to examine the lump further, they were certain it was cancer without doing much more testing. She was 18 though, we put her to sleep a few weeks afterwards.

But - it could be an infection, abscess. You need bloods etc to tell you for sure.

Does she have any other symptoms?
Good luck.

I took my cat to the vet with abdominal pain and the first thing he said was what's this lump.
She had pancreatitis that almost killed her but fortunately the lump was lymphadenitis. An infected lymph node. That went away with antibiotics.

Stealthmama no other real symptoms. She’s a quiet cat anyway but she does look thinner to me but they’ve weighed her and she’s not lost much weight. Just worry she’s in pain. We’ve got painkillers to keep giving her for the time being until they can remove the tooth. They’ve said they can send the lump off to confirm what it is but would that affect treatment? As in, if they found it was a tumour would they do anything?

This happenned to my 7yr old cat last summer.
Im afraid it turned out to be cancerous and I had to have him PTS.
Surgery just wouldn't have been humane, even if the cancer hadn't spread.

I had an awful feeling before going that it would be bad news. I’ll be gutted if it is cancer, the kids will be devastated

To answer one of your questions, to remove the tumour, they'd have had to remove a part of his jaw, which meant he'd never be able to eat normally again, and that was the best outcome.
The vet didn't reccomend it, so we had him PTS before he was too unwell.
There was no point in medicating him to the hilt for an extra couple of weeks, it just seemed cruel.
We still miss him everyday.
His name was Zazzles, I had a thread on here all about him which is probably searchable if you want to read it.

Yes. Similar age. He was losing weight and there was a red lump under his tongue. His breath/dribble also got bad. Sadly had to get him pts.

But that doesn't mean that your cat has the same. You've done the right thing having the vet look at it.

On boxing day early hours of the morn my cat who sleeps at the end on my bed was sick clear fluid but with blood in it. She seemed abs fine and only happened once.

First thing in the morn I rushed her to the vets as due to her age (21) I worry about everything. The vet could see what she described as a sore/lump in the back of her mouth and said it's most likely cancer and that it's fairly aggressive. I was beside myself.

She takes lexicom for arthritis and the vet said this was the best thing for her and to keep an eye. Fast forward to feb took her in to get her nails cut and the sore was totally gone, we presumed shed maybe bumped it.

Hope everything is ok for your cat just wanted to share.

Thanks for all the messages, I think I’m preparing for the worst but also keeping a little hope too. She’s booked in for tomorrow to hopefully get the tooth and lump removed. Spoke to the vet and were just going to see if it grows back as that will determine what it is and as I wouldn’t put her through chemo etc for the sake of weeks or months I’d rather spend that money on keeping her comfy. So I’ve ordered her a new fluffy bed as she loves to be warm and cosy (our other cat doesn’t like hugs at all and will just sit near you), she loves the warmth as she’s so tiny bless her

Good luck for tomorrow, I hope it will be fine, fingers crossed.

Hamsterian Thank you

Sorry to hear this, OP. Unfortunately yes we have experienced very similar which turned out to be squamous cell carcinoma. We caught it pretty early but it wasn't treatable.

A small lump under her jaw that got bigger and bigger until she looked very distorted and grotesque, she lost her bottom two canines and her lower incisors became loose and squished up. Also a large hole developed in her gum which caused terrible breath and drooling blood. She was 14 and as someone above mentioned, surgery would have involved removing a large part of her jaw and she would never have been able to eat or clean herself etc - that's no life for a cat - and it probably would have only bought her a year or two anyway. The vet recommended against it and we totally agreed.

The (very kind and lovely) vet said keep her going for as long as she can eat and is happy but he predicted a few weeks, and prescribed steroids which kept her going. She actually went on about six months, as happy as anything, and found very clever ways to feed herself. It was only in the last week that she suddenly went downhill, stopped being able to eat properly and dropped weight, but we had her PTS while she was still fairly happy because we knew it was going to get much worse very quickly and didn't want her to suffer.

I very much hope this is not the case for you and odds are it's nothing serious but I'm telling you just so you know a potential outcome and if it is sinister it doesn't come as too much of a shock.

Sending unmumsnetlike hugs.

Thank you evilharpy I’m hoping they manage to remove the tooth and lump at the very least so she’s comfortable. She’s a quiet cat anyway so it’s hard to know if she’s in pain but she’s not ate as much as usual today. Which is understandable with a sore mouth.
I’m keeping hope but preparing myself just incase

Thinking of you today and your much loved cat. Hope it all goes well.

Victoriabun Thank you. Dropped her off so fingers crossed they at least get the infected tooth out.

Thinking of you and your girl today Icantstopeatinglol.

Devastated She had a tumour that was worse than they thought so they gave me options of bringing her home for a few days, putting her to sleep while she was still under anaesthetic or letting her come round and putting her to sleep this afternoon when we could be there. I’ve gone down quickly while she was still sedated and my gorgeous little girl has gone. I’m so sad and miss her so much already

I was there when she was put to sleep and gave her lots of kisses and told her how much I loved her

Oh love. I'm so sorry, your heart must be broken. We were so lucky that we still had our girl for quite a while and were able to prepare but I can't imagine how I'd have felt if she was taken from us so suddenly.

So sorry to hear that your cat had to be pts. Take comfort that you did all you could for her and I'm sure she had a happy life.

evilharpy They did give us the option of bringing her home for a bit and they could give her steroids but from the way the vet was talking it wouldn’t have been long. I’m missing my little shadow so much

I’m so sorry for your loss

You did the right thing for her. I’m so sorry, the grief is awful isn’t it.

Miss her so much