My Name is Leo

An adored cat deals gracefully with a jaw tumor while his owner quietly falls apart.

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Location: Philadelphia area, Northeast, United States

Sunday, July 30, 2006

The Week's News, in Pictures

Call me "The Blogger Who Cried Wolf." Again.

After thoroughly convincing me he was a goner all day Wednesday, Thursday found Leo back to his now-normal routine of drooling, bleeding and, ta da!, eating without vomiting.

I have no explanation for his recovery, just as I had no explanation for his malaise. (Repeat mantra: Expect the unexpected.)

So, I thought I'd share a few of his glorious moments of the past week. Be forewarned that there is blood involved.


Tuesday morning -- he had vomited repeatedly the night before.
I set out a typical kitty smorgasbord --
AKA: Please, Eat Something! Anything!
Notice his practiced nonchalance.




Wednesday morning. Not...feeling...well...at...all.
Vomited, and no interest in food all morning.



Wednesday afternoon -- you can tell Leo was weak because he actually let me clean him up rather thoroughly.

Not in the tub though - that's just for lying on. No, the best I could do was painstakingly comb the goo out of his fur.

Actually, he was starting to feel better by the time I took this and I think he ate something soon afterwards. It's the best photo I've taken of him in a long time.



Thursday morning -- appearances are deceiving -- because this is Leo feeling better -- he actually ate a ton right after I took this photo.

Um, yeah, I did remove the blood clots from his mouth and chin first.

And so it goes...

12 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi, I don't know if you still look at this blog, but i would like to thank you. My name is Erin, and i am a freshman in highschool that has a cat, my Zippy who if fourteen, who is going through this. She was just diagnosed. Thank you for showing me what to expect on the long journey ahead. Thank you again

2/20/2014 7:43 PM  
Blogger Cyn said...

Erin, thank you for your comment. I have a 14-year-old daughter who is also a freshman (coincidentally I overheard her talking about Leo to one of her friends today) so I can relate to what you must be going through. So sorry to hear about Zippy :( This disease does seem to affect cats differently, so maybe Zippy will have an easier time than Leo did. Anyway, I'm happy that the blog is helpful to you and thank you for commenting at what must be a very difficult time.

2/21/2014 8:14 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hello reading this made me cry my cat died of oral cancer also and her birthday was October 8 2000. Reading this made me believe that she is in a happy place thank you. R.I.P.

1/25/2016 5:47 PM  
Blogger Cyn said...

Aw, I'm so sorry to hear that. I'm glad reading the blog was able to help you. Take care.

1/25/2016 6:36 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Thank You so much for your blog. It has helped me so much. I am glad Leo is at peace.

My Lexi is going through a similar thing right now. I unfortunately couldn't afford the surgery to remove it. It grew to the size of almost a cutie orange towards the outside of his mouth and looks sadly like bloodier days Leo went through. He never seemed to be in pain until recently but I have been struggling with the decision of Euthanasia.

I am sorry our babies had to go through this, but I thank you for sharing his story so me and Lexi know we're not alone. I hope I feel the same relief for him as you felt. God Bless and prayers to you and yours, and Leo up in heaven :)

3/03/2016 2:42 AM  
Blogger Cyn said...

Sorry for the belated reply, Georgia...and sorry about Lexi. It really does break my heart every time I hear about another cat having to deal with this.

Don't feel bad about not affording surgery, because there's no guarantee that would have done more than just prolong the inevitable. And probably would have been very stressful for Lexi. As you said, these tumors usually aren't painful in and of themselves.

I'm glad sharing Leo's story could help you in some way. It's so sad to hear of another cat (and owner) that's had to deal with the same problem. Take care.

4/28/2016 8:36 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

You communicated perfectly about the specialness of Leo. I also have a very warm personable orange cat named Theodore. He has an oral tumor. We're trying to heal him with cannabis oil. Thank you for sharing.

1/26/2017 9:58 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

I just wanted to thank you for this blog. It saved my sanity when my beautiful Gizmo went through this illness. The photos and description helped me know what was coming next and reassured me that what I was trying was the best I could. You are amazing

1/07/2018 12:56 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

My 13 year old cat's assumed diagnosis came today. I say assumed because I'm not sure yet whether I will ask for a biopsy or not.. but there being a tumor of some kind is apparent. He had a couple of teeth that needed cleaning and possibly to be pulled, so at first the signs of drooling, etc. were assumed to be because of his teeth getting worse. (I think it developed very quickly.) But all the signs are there.. his poor little tongue can't even do what it did just days ago, it sits funny in his mouth now. And along his jaw line you can feel a hard mass. X-rays also show a good bit of his lower jawbone is gone :(
This is all sudden news for me so I immediately searched online and found your blog. AS others have said, thank you for documenting it all. It was very hard to read but I feel somewhat better after having read about your experience.

5/15/2018 6:40 PM  
Blogger Lili said...

I too had to put my Thumbs down yesterday. He developed a tumor on his chin and it grew to take over his chin and left jaw within 4 weeks. Since it was bleeding and Thumbs had lost weight and much of his want to eat, I decided it best for him to rest and not go thru pain or the constant bleeding if he rubbed on anything. He was 16 years old and rescued from a puddle of water during a rain storm at the age of 3 weeks along with his beloved sister Nala that waited for him in heavens gate. I will forever remember this sweet, silly boy, loving boy with a heart full of love.

9/05/2018 9:17 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

is the author of this blog still here?

3/05/2023 10:19 PM  
Blogger Cyn said...

Yes, the author is still here.

3/06/2023 7:00 PM  

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