Last week, I noticed that Barney, my orange and white cat that shakes a paw for treats, seemed to be a little finickity when walking. Upon further discovery, I saw what looked to be a blood blister on his toe, but concerned that he may have broken something, I took him to the vet immediately.
When the vet spoke to me, she said the x-rays showed nothing at all broken, but told me "that's not what I am most concerned about". She wondered if I had noticed the puffiness under his right eye. I told her I had, but that he gets into scuffles with the other male cat in our home (Barney is Numero Uno) and though usually comes out the winner, he sometimes doesn't. She told me she had found a bad tooth in his mouth that definitely needed to come out. This surprised both my husband and I, because at the age of 15, he has never had any plaque or tartar build up on his teeth.
So I approved taking the tooth out after bloodwork was done. She said she was hoping for an abcess up near the tooth, and that once the tooth came out, so would the pus and fluid. There was no abcess, but instead a tumour. I am still waiting for the pathology results on the tumour, but as hard as it was for her to tell a sobbing 52 year old woman, she was honest and said it looked like a squamous cell carcinoma.
I am babying my little child (this WAS my child, I have no human kids) as best as can be. Over the years he has had problems with his back (spinal curvature and osteoporosis) that we have been giving him Cartrophen injectible and Bupenorphine for. Earlier this summer he made a valiant effort to walk all the way to the mailbox with me, but bless his heart, he only made it half way and waited for me.
Something tells me his time is near. This cat has helped me through breast cancer and my husband's accident that left him a quadriplegic. I would talk with him, and with his eyes he always answered me back.
I will keep you all informed, but for a little while, I may not be my usual self here. Funny, I have never liked the month of November.