# Mouth cancer in cats



## FEWill

Mouth cancer in cats is an extremely serious condition, and if it not detected early, it is almost always fatal. It is estimated that about one third of all cats will die from some form of cancer, and watching for and understanding the early symptoms can make the difference between life and death for your cat.

Most forms of cancer strike middle aged and older cats, and mouth cancer is no expectation. There are several potential cancers that can affect your cats mouth, including fibro sarcoma, lymphoma, and malignant melanoma, but they are usually not the cause. In the vast majority of cases, the cause of mouth cancer in cats is from squamous cell carcinoma.

Understanding Cancer:

Mouth cancer in cats is no different than any of form of cancer, as it is a condition in which rapid cell division and tissue growth occurs. When this happens, it is at the expense of organ specific functions, which in this case, is your cats mouth and throat. The best way an owner can understand this process, is by an example. If the cancer from your cat is biopsied, in most every case the mass of tissues will bear only a very slight resemblance to the normal mouth tissues when examined under a microscope.

However, this mass does not perform any of the functions of the other mouth or throat tissues, and if it goes undetected and untreated, it will completely overpower the functioning tissues. Once this occurs, it does something even more sinister; it states the process of metastasizing to other parts of your cat body.

Cancer of any type is graded or staged according to the degree of malignancy that is occurring. Low grade cancers will continue to grow locally and can reach a large size over time. They will spread to distant organs once this occurs, usually late in the illness, and in this case, can easily spread to your cats internal organs. On the other hand, high grade cancers spread very early and quite rapidly, even though the primary tumor is still quite small and hardly detectable.

In the case of mouth cancer in cats, if it is the result of squamous cell carcinoma, it is almost always malignant and high grade. This is the major reason it is so very dangerous. 
Squamous cell carcinoma is most often associated with skin cancer, and for this reason, it is also associated with over exposure to the sun. However, in mouth cancer in cats, it has another very sinister trait; it is attracted to scars that may lie in your cats mouth or tongue.

Causes:

Mouth cancer in cats, like any other form of cancer, has no real known cause. However, it is widely held in the medical community that this form of cancer is self induced. Cats by their nature are perhaps the most meticulous of all animals, and as a result they are constantly grooming themselves. When they groom, they use their mouth and tongue, and over time, this can cause scarring to occur.

Your cats environment is also full of carcinogens which fall on their hair coat daily from the air as well as anything they come into contact with. When you cat performs their meticulous grooming, a vast number of these carcinogens enter into your cats mouth as well as their tongue. These carcinogens can also cause the cells of the mouth or tongue to divide, and once they divide, they begin to reproduce. Once this overgrowth happens, it lays the ground work for tumors to develop which in turn, can become cancerous.

Symptoms:

Mouth cancer in cats is very easy to spot if you know and understand the symptoms. It is extremely important with any type of illness in your cat to know the symptoms, but with mouth cancer, is can make the difference between life and death. It is also important for an owner to understand that even if you check your cats mouth and tongue daily, you may see absolutely no signs of a tumor. In fact, even the best trained veterinarian can easily miss them, unless the mass is actually growing and considered to be a low grade form and abrasions occur.

If it is the high grade form, it is almost impossible to identify without a biopsy. However, there are several other symptoms that you can watch for. The first sign of mouth cancer in cats is almost always excessive drooling. Any cat will droll slightly on occasion, but the key is slightly. Cats are not dogs and they do not drool excessively, and if you see any type of drooling that appears abnormal; immediately smell their breath. If their breath has a foul odor, you should run, not walk, to your veterinarian, as something is very wrong with your cat.

Another very serious sign to watch for is any type of bleeding that is coming from your cats mouth. Unless they have recently cut their mouth or tongue on something, bleeding is also a real warning sign. Weakness or sleeping more than usual is the next serious warning sign as well as any difficulty in eating. Understanding that this form of cancer is attracted to scares, and any type of scarring on your cats tongue may invite the mass growths, difficulty in eating quite often develops.

Diagnosing:

Mouth cancer in cats is extremely difficult to detect initially, unless you understand the symptoms. It can be almost impossible to see any type of lump or tumor in the early stages inside of their mouths. However, you can still look for any type of an irritation or any type of abnormal texture or abrasion. If you do see either of these, combined with the symptoms, you may have just identified it in the early stages.

At this point, your veterinarian can quickly perform a biopsy to determine if there is indeed any type of cancer present. This is a process where your veterinarian will take a small piece of tissue from you cats mouth and examine it under a microscope. It is done while your cat is under a general anesthesia, so it is not at all painful for your cat. If cancer is found, it is then subject to what is called a chemo assay, which will help to identify what stage it is in as well as potential treatments.

Treatments:

The treatment for mouth cancer in cats will all depend on the stage of the cancer. Chemotherapy treatments are very effective at slowing the progression, but it is not a cure for cancer. Cats also suffer from the same side effects as humans do with this form of treatment, and it includes vomiting and hair loss.

Surgically removing the cancer gives your cat a much stronger chance of survival. However, this will also depend on the stage of the cancer. If it cannot be totally removed by surgery, it will in most every case come back.

Mouth cancer is extremely painful for your cat, making it almost impossible for them to take pills or even some liquids. There is a transdermal cream that your veterinarian can provide to ease the pain, but if they do have mouth cancer, you should also strongly consider switching your cat to a very soft form of food.

Summary:

Mouth cancer in cats does not imply an immediate death sentence. However, if you do not see the symptoms early and seek immediate professional help, your cat has very little chance of surviving this sinister form of cancer. The most important thing any owner can do is to watch for these symptoms, especially as your cat ages.

Liquid Vitamins for Humans Cats and Dogs


----------



## jille67

Thanks for this, it is very informative. I would advise anyone to read this carefully. Unfortunately my cat has shown no signs of this cancer and my vet has told me she has the worst form of it and the quickest to develope. She is 17 nearly 18 years old so sleeps alot anyway. She is very feisty so when the vet tried to look in her mouth she had to sedate her just to have a look, she puts up a fight no matter what you do to her. She eats constantly and since this has been found she has had ham, fillet steak the lots of other treats so not gone off her food. She washes fine and licks me. No pain either, she has since been put on metacam, but the only reason she went to the vet in the first place was because she had an eye infection.

SHe has it in her cheek and I think going into her jaw, but not her tung or her throat. She is seeing a specialist tomorrow, so hopefully they can may be slow it down or at least insure she won't be in pain for how ever long she has left.

Jill


----------



## FEWill

Hi jille67

Please let us know how it turns out.

This is your baby for so many years and as all of us know, your pet becomes part of your life. I just lost my baby of 15 years to a liver disease.

Please keep us all updated

Thanks,
Frank


----------



## raverminx

im hoping and praying this isnt the case for my new kittie, shes only 10 months old, so still a baby. she has a lump in her mouth that is being removed on monday. She is showing no signs of cancer though, shes extremely active, eating well (shes even gained weight as she has a very good appetite) 
her breath doesnt smell and no drooling. She doesnt eat wet food though, ive tried but shes having none of it! i think after her op on monday she might change her mind though!
i only got her easter sunday, im hoping, praying that its just nothing. the vet thinks it might be an allergic reaction, it hasnt grown since it was first noticed about a month ago, but it now has some ulcers on it. 

I lost my baby harvey who was only 2 on good friday to renal failure, and maybe it was a bit too soon but to help the grieving process i some how ended up getting my little millie. If i lose her too i dont know how i will cope. 
Shes having loads of tests done at the same time, bloods etc. im dreading it, i dont want to hear bad news, it would destroy me. to lose 2 cats in such a short space of time.... it would honestly kill me.


----------



## Charity

Hope all goes well for your kitty on Monday Raverminx, I understand your worries after losing Harvey. I felt the same last year when I lost YoYo and then Maisie within a short space of time plus Mouse not long after that but when you are grieving and coming to terms with one loss, fears are magnified so try not to think the worst. I'm sure it will be OK. Let us know how it goes, will be thinking of you.


----------



## raverminx

Millie had her op today today to remove a tumor from her mouth, obviously her mouth is going to be sore so she has to have wet food, fresh fish. got to wear one of those lamp shades and will probably be quite drowsy. She got in, ripped the lampshade thing off, refused the fresh food and went straight for the dry biscuits. drowsey? shes running around playing with her toys like nothing has happened! Thats one brave kitty, now the painful waiting game to get the biopsy results and pray, fingers, toes, legs and eyes crossed its not the C word.

its only during a check up that the lump was discovered, it hasnt grown since it was first noticed, and again no symptoms whats so ever, no drooling, smelly breath, discharge or weight loss. 
The vet said the tumor came away very easily without problems so it wasnt attached to other parts of the mouth, however the tumor was just under her tongue.

Had blood tests and xrays etc, and all came back fine, no other tumors are in her body and her bloods are perfect (including kidneys phewww)

The vet isnt sure what the lump is, but maybe and hopefully it was a foreign object that became infected and didnt heal. I hope thats the case anyway, and not cancer. Ive googled for hours and hours to the point that im convinced she has cancer and is going to die. sometimes google isnt a good thing after all!


----------



## GingerNinja

Lots of positive vibes for little Millie 

Xxx


----------



## shinra

interesting post.
my cat was diagnosed with this today, some sort of tumor in her throat.
has been on antibiotics for awhile trying to clear up what we thought was an infection, drooling, difficulty eating etc.
Is horrible, only lost her sister in february also to cancer- although I still can't seem to accept and process that fact.
I do wonder why both at 12 have succumbed to cancer, everyone tells me that 12 isn't really that old.


----------



## raverminx

shinra said:


> interesting post.
> my cat was diagnosed with this today, some sort of tumor in her throat.
> has been on antibiotics for awhile trying to clear up what we thought was an infection, drooling, difficulty eating etc.
> Is horrible, only lost her sister in february also to cancer- although I still can't seem to accept and process that fact.
> I do wonder why both at 12 have succumbed to cancer, everyone tells me that 12 isn't really that old.


sorry to hear this, thinking of you


----------



## raverminx

GingerNinja said:


> Lots of positive vibes for little Millie
> 
> Xxx


thank you, im just so so worried but she is acting like nothing has happened. considering she probably has a sore mouth where the tumor was removed, she is still eating her dry biscuits without problem, running around and well just being her normal self! all of her blood work has came back with no problems, just still waiting for the biopsy results which could take up til friday. the suspense is driving me insane. ive really got to stop googling this though as its making me so paranoid. im hardly sleeping as im so worried.


----------



## GingerNinja

Oh I know how bad Google is 

Please try not to worry xxx


----------



## raverminx

GingerNinja said:


> Oh I know how bad Google is
> 
> Please try not to worry xxx


at the moment i hate google, every time i type a symptom in it always comes up with the worst possible scenarios. im trying not to worry, im looking at her and thinking how can she possibly have cancer when she looks so normal, and acting normal! ive set myself up for the worst so it wont be a shock if it is, im looking at her now and get a feeling its not going to be cancer. The tumor came away easily and was fully removed so it hasnt spread anywhere else in her mouth.
shes only a baby still, and all the stuff i have read suggests its very uncommon in kittens. xxx


----------



## GingerNinja

I'm sure you're right. Get a good night's sleep, we are keeping everything crossed that it isn't cancer


----------



## raverminx

thank you for all the replies.... millie doesn't have cancer  it was an old injury that hadnt healed properly.

her blood work came back perfect, so shes in perfect health phewww. i swear my anxiety went through the roof, i was convinced she had oral cancer. she loves to scare me lol


----------



## labradrk

I lost my lovely old BSH cat to this type of cancer. It's a particularly nasty one because when it's actually noticeable, it's usually terminal


----------



## raverminx

labradrk said:


> I lost my lovely old BSH cat to this type of cancer. It's a particularly nasty one because when it's actually noticeable, it's usually terminal


So sorry to hear you lost your one  it is one of the worse type of cancers in cats. My baby showed no signs of the dreaded c word other than a routine check up and they found a lump under her tounge, I has prepared myself for the worse but in my mind I couldn't get my head around it as she's still a kitten and other than a lump no signs.

The vets I use had said that if she did have cancer then they would of cought it early as the tumor came away easily. They also said that there is a special cancer treatment place in kent for animals which have me some hope.

Again I'm so sorry to hear of your loss x


----------

