Ulcerated Tongue

My son in law has an 18 yr old long haired female cat (Moo) who has an
ulcerated tongue and had to have a feeding tube inserted today. She's
been unable to eat for days. She is also diabetic. Anyone with
experience in this area?
All advice gratefully accepted!

"rose ricciuto" wrote in message
...
My son in law has an 18 yr old long haired female cat (Moo) who has an
ulcerated tongue and had to have a feeding tube inserted today. She's
been unable to eat for days. She is also diabetic. Anyone with
experience in this area?
All advice gratefully accepted!


Unless your vet says her condition is easily curable, I would seriously
consider putting her down....After all, she has had 18 (presumably good)
years, and it doesn't sound to me like she is going to enjoy whatever time
she has left......I know its hard to do, but there comes a time when its
really the best thing for the cat......

On Aug 27, 10:01*pm, "Bill Graham" wrote:
"rose ricciuto" wrote in message

...

My son in law has an 18 yr old long haired female cat (Moo) who has an
ulcerated tongue and had to have a feeding tube inserted today. She's
been unable to eat for days. *She is also diabetic. *Anyone with
experience in this area?
All advice gratefully accepted!

Unless your vet says her condition is easily curable, I would seriously
consider putting her down....After all, she has had 18 (presumably good)
years,

Listen, asshole-
Don't you ever tell someone to kill their cat when you don't know the
first thing about the cat's condition. The cat has an ulcerated tongue
which is a common symptom of a calici break. It's treatable as is the
diabetes. A feeding tube is being used to give the cat some relief and
keep her weight up while she's being treated and her tongue can heal.
And so what if the cat is 18. Many cats are now living into their
twenties and it's sickening that you would write off a cat just
because she's older. If you have some ideas on how to keep her
comfortable that's fine. But you're putting the cart so far before the
horse it's not visible. This person came asking for advice to help
the cat, not a recommendation to kill it.

On Aug 27, 9:19*pm, (rose ricciuto) wrote:
My son in law has an 18 yr old long haired female cat (Moo) who has an
ulcerated tongue and had to have a feeding tube inserted today. She's
been unable to eat for days. *She is also diabetic. *Anyone with
experience in this area? *
All advice gratefully accepted!

Has the cause of the ulcers been determined? Regardless, once
treatment begins it can take up to a few weeks for those to heal so be
patient. Pain medication is also helpful and ideally buprenex would be
the best option. Athough most people are instructed to squirt this
particular medication in the cheek pouch with a syringe, this can be
problematic as, if it is missed and the cat swallows it instead the
pain control will be ineffective. Since your son is givng the cat
insulin shots he can give this medication by injection as well and
that will ensure the cat gets the full effect of the pain meds. As to
the feeding tube, if the cat has to wear a cone you should look into
getting one of the softsided ones. These are much more comfortable for
the cat and they can get around better.

On Fri, 27 Aug 2010 22:19:57 -0400, (rose ricciuto)
wrote:

My son in law has an 18 yr old long haired female cat (Moo) who has an
ulcerated tongue and had to have a feeding tube inserted today. She's
been unable to eat for days. She is also diabetic. Anyone with
experience in this area?
All advice gratefully accepted!

The ulcer on the tongue could have any number of causes.

Because she is diabetic, and at her age, getting it to heal could be
difficult to impossible.

Your vet can probably, with enough tests, find the cause for the ulcer,
and a possible treatment.

The question is whether Moo can have any sort of quality of life, while
being fed through a tube, and having an ulcer on her tongue, a very
sensitive part of her body.

I have to say if she were my cat, I would think it may time to consider
letting her go, given her age and illness.

But, she is not my cat, and I can't see how sick she is.


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"catlady" wrote in message
...
On Aug 27, 10:01 pm, "Bill Graham" wrote:
"rose ricciuto" wrote in message

...

My son in law has an 18 yr old long haired female cat (Moo) who has an
ulcerated tongue and had to have a feeding tube inserted today. She's
been unable to eat for days. She is also diabetic. Anyone with
experience in this area?
All advice gratefully accepted!

Unless your vet says her condition is easily curable, I would seriously
consider putting her down....After all, she has had 18 (presumably good)
years,

Listen, asshole-
Don't you ever tell someone to kill their cat when you don't know the
first thing about the cat's condition. The cat has an ulcerated tongue
which is a common symptom of a calici break. It's treatable as is the
diabetes. A feeding tube is being used to give the cat some relief and
keep her weight up while she's being treated and her tongue can heal.
And so what if the cat is 18. Many cats are now living into their
twenties and it's sickening that you would write off a cat just
because she's older. If you have some ideas on how to keep her
comfortable that's fine. But you're putting the cart so far before the
horse it's not visible. This person came asking for advice to help
the cat, not a recommendation to kill it.

Have some trouble reading, huh? - I suggest you take a remedial reading
course before you resume calling people assholes......Try bringing my post
to your first class meeting, and let the instructor tell you what I said.

"ingold1234[at]yahoo[dot]com (Gandalf)" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 27 Aug 2010 22:19:57 -0400, (rose ricciuto)
wrote:

My son in law has an 18 yr old long haired female cat (Moo) who has an
ulcerated tongue and had to have a feeding tube inserted today. She's
been unable to eat for days. She is also diabetic. Anyone with
experience in this area?
All advice gratefully accepted!

The ulcer on the tongue could have any number of causes.

Because she is diabetic, and at her age, getting it to heal could be
difficult to impossible.

Your vet can probably, with enough tests, find the cause for the ulcer,
and a possible treatment.

The question is whether Moo can have any sort of quality of life, while
being fed through a tube, and having an ulcer on her tongue, a very
sensitive part of her body.

I have to say if she were my cat, I would think it may time to consider
letting her go, given her age and illness.

But, she is not my cat, and I can't see how sick she is.


Be careful....."catlady" will call you an asshole.......:^)

On Sat, 28 Aug 2010 17:40:44 -0700, "Bill Graham"
wrote:


"ingold1234[at]yahoo[dot]com (Gandalf)" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 27 Aug 2010 22:19:57 -0400, (rose ricciuto)
wrote:

My son in law has an 18 yr old long haired female cat (Moo) who has an
ulcerated tongue and had to have a feeding tube inserted today. She's
been unable to eat for days. She is also diabetic. Anyone with
experience in this area?
All advice gratefully accepted!

The ulcer on the tongue could have any number of causes.

Because she is diabetic, and at her age, getting it to heal could be
difficult to impossible.

Your vet can probably, with enough tests, find the cause for the ulcer,
and a possible treatment.

The question is whether Moo can have any sort of quality of life, while
being fed through a tube, and having an ulcer on her tongue, a very
sensitive part of her body.

I have to say if she were my cat, I would think it may time to consider
letting her go, given her age and illness.

But, she is not my cat, and I can't see how sick she is.


Be careful....."catlady" will call you an asshole.......:^)

I've made the mistake of trying too hard to save a cat so I know where
you're coming from. I suspect that I just made his last few months of
life painful and uncomfortable because I didn't want to let him go.
But it does seem a bit too soon for Moo, not in terms of age, but
because she clearly has a vet and they're treating her.

If it looks like she just needs to get past a few weeks of discomfort
and then will resume a reasonably happy life, then fine. But if she's
about to undergo a lengthy period of discomfort and will just die
anyway, then 18 has been a pretty long life.

I've never had a cat live longer than 16, and I've always given them
good vet care and quality food.

"dgk" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 28 Aug 2010 17:40:44 -0700, "Bill Graham"
wrote:


"ingold1234[at]yahoo[dot]com (Gandalf)" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 27 Aug 2010 22:19:57 -0400, (rose ricciuto)
wrote:

My son in law has an 18 yr old long haired female cat (Moo) who has an
ulcerated tongue and had to have a feeding tube inserted today. She's
been unable to eat for days. She is also diabetic. Anyone with
experience in this area?
All advice gratefully accepted!

The ulcer on the tongue could have any number of causes.

Because she is diabetic, and at her age, getting it to heal could be
difficult to impossible.

Your vet can probably, with enough tests, find the cause for the ulcer,
and a possible treatment.

The question is whether Moo can have any sort of quality of life, while
being fed through a tube, and having an ulcer on her tongue, a very
sensitive part of her body.

I have to say if she were my cat, I would think it may time to consider
letting her go, given her age and illness.

But, she is not my cat, and I can't see how sick she is.


Be careful....."catlady" will call you an asshole.......:^)

I've made the mistake of trying too hard to save a cat so I know where
you're coming from. I suspect that I just made his last few months of
life painful and uncomfortable because I didn't want to let him go.
But it does seem a bit too soon for Moo, not in terms of age, but
because she clearly has a vet and they're treating her.

If it looks like she just needs to get past a few weeks of discomfort
and then will resume a reasonably happy life, then fine. But if she's
about to undergo a lengthy period of discomfort and will just die
anyway, then 18 has been a pretty long life.

I've never had a cat live longer than 16, and I've always given them
good vet care and quality food.

One of the great advantages cats, and other pets have over us humans, is
that when their quality of life becomes very bad, we can put them down. And,
they die peacefully in the hands of a vet who knows what he/she is doing. I
only wish I could have that advantage when the time comes, but alas, we
humans are forced to suffer. Even when we choose death, and find a good
doctor to help us, the society throws him in jail! - Go figure.....

Thank you all for responding. Moo had to be put to sleep last week.
She began vomiting the food from the tube which caused her tongue to
bleed severely and was urinating blood as well. She was truly loved and
queen of the house. My poor son in law still thinks he killed her by not
doing enough.
Sorry about the delay in saying thank you but we were up north dealing
with my mother in law who is now in hospice. We can truly be kinder to
our furred friends than we can to our fellow humans.
Rose