Squamous cell carcinoma

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Wesley and Spicoli

Wesley and Spicoli

Member Since 2017
One of our civvies was just diagnosed today. We are going in tomorrow for surgery - removal of some/most of the right ear, and removal/resection of the lump on his head. I'm a little nervous as all this happened so fast.

Any one have any advice or experience with this?
 
Deep breath, hold, release, deep breath, hold, release. Repeat as necessary to help with the stress and nervousness of this diagnosis.

What is your civie cat's name?

Operable is good. Make sure the vet gets clear margins when operating. Keeping you and your cat in our thoughts and hoping for all the best for your cat in surgery tomorrow and during the recovery process.

There are radiation treatments and chemotherapy treatments available to help treat this. Ask your vet if they think this would be appropriate for your cat. Not all cats are good candidates for these treatments. Explore your options is my best advice.

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is unfortunately a very aggressive cancer. I've had 2 cats with oral squamous cell carcinoma and it was not operable in either case, since it was in their jaw. Radiation and chemo do not usually extend the life expectancy of cats with SCC. Sometimes other treatments can improve the quality of life, so you need to decide if that is something you still might want to try.

I opted for hospice care with my kitties. BUT, you need to decide what you think is right for you and your cat.
 
This breathing thing is hard! And Spicoli doesn't know what to do with all this attention and coddling not being directed at him :rolleyes:

His name is Taco aka Taco Fish. We found him (really he found us) 5 years ago after his family moved states and abandoned him.

They will be sending out what they remove for a histopathology report, so it might be a few days till we get word on the margins/grading. I was surprised that I had to ask for this to be done.

I'm so sorry about your fur babies. :bighug::bighug: It's never easy losing them.

In the event that surgery doesn't or can't remove everything I doubt we will go will go with the radiation/chemo since as you said, it doesn't really do much for SCC. But if recommended we might try it. Palliative care/ hospice will probably be more likely.

Here's a pic right after we moved :) He's such a good, laid back little man.

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Thanks for the advice and thoughts. They are so greatly appreciated.
 
That's a bummer. I really do hope they get it all and it hasn't spread. Like Deb, one of my cats had it in her jaw. Three months prior she has her 18 yr senior check up and the vet said she had never seen a cat that old with such perfect blood work. Cancer sucks. :(
 
Thanks you guys :) I'll keep this updated as we find out what's what through this. Things are FINALLY calming down in the house for tonight. We took some pictures of me the DH and taco. The others know something is up and Taco is in his room for the night. I take him in at 8:30AM so I might know something by the end of day. He won't come home until at least Friday. But his room is all set up, and just so happens his dad ordered a cat tower for that room a few nights ago. He's going to be so spoiled...
 
Well he made it through surgery! They ended up taking some of the other ear as well, I kinda thought they might. But he's resting comfortably and gets to come home tomorrow morning! Now we will have Toothless (Spicoli) and van Gogh :) Won't find out anything further till next week most likely.
 
Sending well wishes for Taco after his surgery today. Keeping you and Taco in our positive thoughts as you await the pathology report results.

Toothless and van Gogh! What perfectly funny nicknames for 2 of your kitties.
 
We got him home this morning :) He's doing well. So far it's been eat, fight collar, eat, fight collar. He's managed to slip it off twice. Luckily, he doesn't want to paw at his stitches, he just hates the e collar. It's going to be a struggle to keep it on him for 2 weeks! Anyways here he is :)
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He looks pretty good to me. Aren't you glad that he does not have one of those plastic collars, they are awful. Hope everything continues to go well for Taco and his family.
 
Come on Taco! Leave your collar on! Yeah, we know it's not much fun to wear one of those silly things, but it will help you to heal better and faster.
 
The more I look at it, I think it is a Beautiful Blue Collar because Taco is wearing it. I hope he is feeling well and not a lot of after shock from the surgery.
 
Taco's doing great! Got the pathology report back yesterday - clean margins! So looks like for now, we're cancer free!!
Keeping the cone on has been nearly impossible. He's s slim dude and it literally will just slide all the way off... Luckily, he doesn't seem to care about his stitches. The amputations? are healing nicely and so is the resection.
And yesterday was doubly awesome as I got my acceptance letter for vet tech school :)
Sorry for the late response, for some reason I wasn't getting my email notifications..
 
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