Need some good thoughts for Boo

I hope it turns out to just be a bad tooth. Good thoughts and purrs for Boo
and your nerves.

Cheryl

"cybercat" wrote in message
...
Our 14-year-old has had lots of health issues, but has been feisty and
tough through it all. Last thing was last July, a mammary tumor we caught
early that was benign, though the vet says 85% are malignant. It was
diagnosed on the afternoon and out the next morning. (They grow fast, and
change fast, so if you notice a lump, get your animal in there and get it
out. From diagnosis to aftercare it cost $350 at our vet. Did we need it
for something else? You bet. But her prognosis was good, and she could
live another five years or even more, so we found it.)

Now, she has a growth in her mouth. It seems to be on the gum on one side.
It was not there last July, as they checked her thoroughly when she was
under anesthesia. She has been to the vet probably three times since last
July, her weight has been good, her appetite is ALWAYS good. She does have
a thyroid condition and a heart condition and must be pilled twice a day.
Because of her heart condition, when we first took her about her mouth,
they did not want to put her under. They gave us a 2-week round of
antibiotics and sent us home, hoping it would clear up a mouth infection
and that would be the end of it, but it has not been.

We first noticed a change back in January, when she became even more
combative about pilling. She stopped eating any dry food at all and wanted
only canned. Then in February, right after she had a vet appointment for
labs to check her thyroid level (a hot $40, not much at all quarterly to
see that her dosage is right) we noticed a smell worse than normal cat
breath and she began pawing the left side of her face AND her paw was
brown, as in dried blood. This is when we took her in. The vet (not our
favorite) said she could see a growth, that is is not in the usual place
to be a cancer, but if it is cancer, this type is almost always fatal in
cats. (This, and her heart condition, is why we did not get her right in
and under and biopsied. And, we hoped it would just be a tooth abscess.)

Throughout, she has eaten like a champ, plays, appears in weird places to
find the best patch of sun, begs for food, mouths off if we touch her and
she is not in the mood. In other words, she is herself. But we noticed her
having trouble chewing, she paused and kind of shook her head and pawed he
mouth, that same side. Just a few days ago she finally began eating less,
and lost weight. Then just yesterday she did not want her canned food at
all, or soft goodies. I got her chicken and turkey baby food, no onions of
course, and she likes that, and will eat tuna water with some tuna in it.
I give her small bits, and as soon as it is finished, put down more, to
try to keep up her strength.

Monday morning 8:45 she has an appointment with her usual vet, to go under
anesthesia and let her have a look and biopsy. We are still hopeful that
it is just a bad tooth. If it is, she will get a full dental while the vet
is in there! Thanks for listening and for keeping us in your thoughts.

Will be hoping for the best for Boo.

Barb

On Mar 22, 10:20*am, "cybercat" wrote:
"LauraM" wrote:
I hope your Boo is doing better. *I was on vacation for a week and am
catching up on the threads today.

Thank *you. She is much better today, the bath seemed to make her feel so
much better. (Her mouth is smelly, so when she grooms herself she gets
smelly, and she drools a lot.) The GREAT news is that she is on her second
full jar of chicken baby food! She balks because her mouth bothers her, but
if I squat and speak to her telling her "good girl" and pet her, she begins
to purr and eats. It is sad, though, because after just a few bits she
tosses her head and growls out of sheer frustration, from whatever is in her
mouth gettng in the way of eating. Thankfully her appointment with the
wonderful vet who removed her mammary tumor is tomorrow morning, early. So
one more day of frustration for our boo. We are SO lucky she is, err, shall
we say, "enthusiastic" about her food! In a cat easily put off their food,
this would be deadly quickly since they get into kidney/liver trouble so
fast from not eating.

I hope you enjoyed your vacation! Thank you for thinking about us.

I hope that the vet will be able to take care of her mouth easily.
But you're right....thank god she's eating even if it's not as easy as
usual. That's always a good sign when kitties maintain their
appetites! Let Hobbes and I know how it goes tomorrow.