Been quite a bit depressed these past couple weeks. I took my cat to the vet and discovered she has a tumor growing under her tongue. Very likely oral squamous cell carcinoma and there's no meaningful treatment that helps and they all offer terrible quality of life. She's mostly ok for now but I can tell she's slowing down and not her normal self. My heart is feeling broken.
Something Random
- Thread starter ddrueding
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jtr1962
Storage? I am Storage!
I'm sorry to hear this as well. I know the feeling very well. Just make her as comfortable as possible and enjoy whatever time is left.
Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
I lost a cat to breast cancer at the beginning of 2024 and a kitten to brain cancer in 2020. The kitten absolutely killed me, because I spent so much money and went through so many different diagnoses that offered varying levels of hope for improvement. He literally passed while he was on the vet's table to be put down, and the only reason I ever found out what happened is that my vet has been a family friend for decades and was bothered enough by it to do an autopsy.
The comforting thought I always have is that our pets have far better lives in our care than they would've had. Most of my cats have lived into their late teen years. They've been warm and known no need unfulfilled. They're the lucky few compared to ferals and strays. A cat who knows what brushes are and can openers sound like is probably a very fortunate pet indeed.
The comforting thought I always have is that our pets have far better lives in our care than they would've had. Most of my cats have lived into their late teen years. They've been warm and known no need unfulfilled. They're the lucky few compared to ferals and strays. A cat who knows what brushes are and can openers sound like is probably a very fortunate pet indeed.
sedrosken
Florida Man
Things like this are another reason why I just... couldn't.
Gödel
Storage is nice, especially if it doesn't rotate
I hear you, Florida Man. My wife and I met over an abandoned kitten in a Berkeley dorm basement in the '70s, and we had 
s throughout our various stages of marriage. But when we lost the last of them a few years ago, we decided we wouldn't get any more cats, because we're now in our 70's, and we wouldn't want to worry about who would care for them if we became infirm or something.
Pets are an amply-rewarded investment, but they require significant care and planning, daily and sporadically (such as travel).
Peripherally, my wife and I both had and loved dogs when we were kids, but we've only had cats ourselves. OTOH, our two daughters got dogs, so I joke that it "skips a generation". But I like to say that I love dogs . . . other peoples' dogs.
Pet's "personalities" can be so fun; in general, dogs have "unconditional love", while cats' are a bit more conditional, so more prized.
s throughout our various stages of marriage. But when we lost the last of them a few years ago, we decided we wouldn't get any more cats, because we're now in our 70's, and we wouldn't want to worry about who would care for them if we became infirm or something.Pets are an amply-rewarded investment, but they require significant care and planning, daily and sporadically (such as travel).
Peripherally, my wife and I both had and loved dogs when we were kids, but we've only had cats ourselves. OTOH, our two daughters got dogs, so I joke that it "skips a generation". But I like to say that I love dogs . . . other peoples' dogs.
Pet's "personalities" can be so fun; in general, dogs have "unconditional love", while cats' are a bit more conditional, so more prized.
mubs
Storage? I am Storage!
So sorry to hear, Handy. I wish your cat the best. Having had cats ourselves and having lost them, I feel the pain.
We miss them terribly, but we couldn't travel much when we had them. So despite yearning for them, we have steeled ourselves to not adopt. Co-incidentally, we've been traveling a lot the last few years.
What Merc said is so true. Cats fending for themselves don't last long, sadly.
We miss them terribly, but we couldn't travel much when we had them. So despite yearning for them, we have steeled ourselves to not adopt. Co-incidentally, we've been traveling a lot the last few years.
What Merc said is so true. Cats fending for themselves don't last long, sadly.
Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
There's a stray I've been feeding for the last few years. She's had a litter of kittens every June like clockwork. She kind of nests with her babies under a car that only moves a few times a year; the guy who owns it can't drive it any more, but his son uses it maybe the second week in August and every year like clockwork, moving that car kills a half-dozen kittens who had no idea their shelter could do that. We've tried to make mama kitty a better place to be, but so far this cat has not figured out the pattern. Mama kitty is more and more ragged. I think she's four or five now, but she has a chunk missing out of her ear now and she walks with a permanent limp. There's no chance that she doesn't have every communicable disease known to cats. While she's willing to ask for food, she doesn't want to be an indoor girl, so leaving out a can of wet stuff every so often is about the best I can do for her.
I just found out that there's a national shortage of a common, generic medication I take every day. I ordered a refill on my Rx the second week in October and because of tarriff or logistics-related BS I can either wait until the third week in December to get it, pay a compounding pharmacy to have it made for me or hope an overseas supplier can ship it directly. My current supply runs out in two days.
I just found out that there's a national shortage of a common, generic medication I take every day. I ordered a refill on my Rx the second week in October and because of tarriff or logistics-related BS I can either wait until the third week in December to get it, pay a compounding pharmacy to have it made for me or hope an overseas supplier can ship it directly. My current supply runs out in two days.
jtr1962
Storage? I am Storage!
A heated cat shelter might help if she can be convinced to have her kittens there instead of under the car. My brother has fed strays for years. Same story. They look more and more ragged after a few years, and eventually stop coming around altogether. Any cat which sleeps on a warm bed with a human is very lucky indeed.