Caution: Drool
This post contains graphic photos of cat drool, so proceed at your own risk.
I wanted to put these up for others who have a cat experiencing the same problem -- thick drool seems to be a universal symptom with cats who have cancers of the mouth, especially SCC (squamous cell carcinoma).
Our vet thinks Leo's jaw tumor is osteosarcoma or fibrosarcoma, but without a biopsy we will probably never know if it is that or SCC.
Leo only drools out the left side of his mouth, which makes sense since the tumor grew from his left side of jaw.
For months (a year?) before the tumor was discovered, I noticed that he was drooling (clear, watery) when I was petting him. Nothing as drastic as these photos -- only evidence would be a small wet spot on my arm or shoulder. Thought it was old age...plus stuff on internet talks of cats salivating as a normal part of kneading (reflex based on kneading as kitten during nursing.) In retrospect, I think it may have been a warning sign.
Anyway, these photos were taken a few days ago with the rare event of a dual drool (usually he has just one strand at a time.) The drool is thick; I guess its consistency is best described as mucus-y.
If it's not evident in photos, he is totally unbothered by the gooey drips. Happily (for me) the drool doesn't have any sort of malodor at this point (but it smelled nasty when his concurrent oral infection was at its worst.)
I wanted to put these up for others who have a cat experiencing the same problem -- thick drool seems to be a universal symptom with cats who have cancers of the mouth, especially SCC (squamous cell carcinoma).
Our vet thinks Leo's jaw tumor is osteosarcoma or fibrosarcoma, but without a biopsy we will probably never know if it is that or SCC.
Leo only drools out the left side of his mouth, which makes sense since the tumor grew from his left side of jaw.
For months (a year?) before the tumor was discovered, I noticed that he was drooling (clear, watery) when I was petting him. Nothing as drastic as these photos -- only evidence would be a small wet spot on my arm or shoulder. Thought it was old age...plus stuff on internet talks of cats salivating as a normal part of kneading (reflex based on kneading as kitten during nursing.) In retrospect, I think it may have been a warning sign.
Anyway, these photos were taken a few days ago with the rare event of a dual drool (usually he has just one strand at a time.) The drool is thick; I guess its consistency is best described as mucus-y.
If it's not evident in photos, he is totally unbothered by the gooey drips. Happily (for me) the drool doesn't have any sort of malodor at this point (but it smelled nasty when his concurrent oral infection was at its worst.)
posted by Cyn | 10:57 AM
1 Comments:
My cat is doing the same thing right now & i can tell he is not happy, He is 13 now, & has always been happy & playful, But hes loosing weight & has developed some acne around his chin and the right side mainly. I also recently brought him to vet where they told me hes got bad gingivitus. :( I hope your kitty gets better
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