Update #92 -- Morgan has no more mouth problems.

[Moesha]

He was able to eat a little a/d food that I picked up at the vet's office and also some kitten milk. The vet said that as long as he is drinking he can go a day or so without worrying about food. He is so hungry though. He also said that I could increase his pain medicine from twice a day to every 6-8 hours. It'll just take a few days for that sore in his mouth to heal up. It doesn't seem to bother him, unless he is trying to eat. Thanks for reminding me about the baby food idea. I know I looked locally for plain chicken baby food but couldn't find any. My neighbor has a baby that she feeds only organic baby food. Perhaps I'll ask her if she has any chicken I could get from her. At least he has had some nutrition today, although it hasn't been a lot.

[jennielynn1970]

I'm so sorry to be reading about Morgan's mouth issues! I haven't been keeping up with what is going on in PT with all the summer activities and being away from home, but I'll be catching up as soon as I can with the other threads. I think we all get inundated at times, so I think we all can be forgiven.

I hope that you can find something for Morgan to eat that will not hurt his tender gums. Poor boy. Gerber makes a chicken and chicken broth that Calloway used to love (as well as turkey, beef, ham and veal). There wasn't any onion, garlic or anything else in it, and it was a stage 1 or step 1 bottle I believe.

Tons of get well wishes and gentle hugs and scritchies going out for Morgan.

[krazyaboutkatz]

I'm sorry to hear that he's in a lot of pain. Hopefully you'll be able to find something that he'll be able to eat. I used to buy Beech Nut Turkey & Turkey Broth or the Chicken & Chicken Broth. They're stage one. Good luck. I'll keep him in my thoughts and prayers.

[Moesha]

I hate the ups and downs of these roller coasters!

He did well eating this morning. He had some a/d and some EVO canned and a bit of baby food as well. He still couldn't drink much at all. I went by the vet's office and picked up another can of a/d. They are very concerned with what the result is going to be. The vet tech, who has been there for longer than Morgan has been alive, said that it looked really nasty. I think they are all trying to prepare me for the worst. I do appreciate that, but it confuses me. I've had kitties with congestive heart failure and hepatitis before. I did everything I possibly could to help them because there was always a chance of them getting better. There is no chance of Morgan recovering from this cancer, especially if it is the bad kind that everyone is warning me about. He is only going to get worse. I cried all the way home. I just don't know what to do. I don't want him to suffer for a minute, but how do I decide to put him to sleep when he is still acting like my baby boy? I don't think I can.

Then I got home and he is right there at the door to meet me. Then he is up in my lap on his back wanting his belly rubbed. He's purring up a storm and licking my tears away. I did notice that his mouth was bothering him. It had been 9 hours since he had pain medicine, so I gave him some. He HATES that process. I don't even want to put him through that much discomfort, but I will at least until we know what we are dealing with. Then within 5 or 10 minutes he was over at his water bowl drinking like there was no tomorrow! What a relief. I had been making arrangements for my mom to take him in to the vet's office tomorrow to get some sub-q treatment because he just wasn't able to drink, and I couldn't stand shooting the re-hydration concoction in with a syringe. This is going to be such a slow process I am afraid. At least he must be healing inside his mouth. Because even after the pain medicine yesterday he couldn't drink much.

Other than that, he is just like his normal self. He squawks and purrs and follows me around. I don't want bad memories of my baby. I always encourage people to think of the good memories to help them get through the loss of a pet. But looking back at Simone and Olivia, it is those care taking memories that haunt me. This is so unfair. I have faithfully checked his entire body for any odd lump. We had the vet look at everything I found. How in the world could I have missed this huge tumor in his mouth? I feel like I let him down.

[Medusa]

No, Mo, you didn't let Morgan down. It's easy to miss something like that, especially when you are faithful about looking for such things. It was this time of year last year that I was going through my turmoil w/Puddy. She was having good days and bad and just when I thought it was time to give her release, she'd bounce back and be her old self, if only briefly. All I can say is what everyone was telling me back then: you'll know when it's time. As long as Morgan is not obviously in pain and he's acting like himself, why not enjoy those wonderful, good moments? If you see him slipping away and withdrawing into himself, becoming depressed or if he appears to be in pain, then you'll do the loving thing and help him in the way that he needs it. Please know that my prayers go up for you today and always and we pray w/out ceasing in this household. (((HUGS))) Keep the faythe.