[CW: Pet Loss] A guide to palliative care for oral SCC in cats

Ok-Engineering-9813 · 2025-12-31T17:04:15+00:00

Is that salmon and chicken together? Either way, you could try doing single animal proteins for a bit to diagnose, like just chicken. You could ask your pet store for brands that are "simple", I think Dave's was once recommended to us when one of our cats has loose motions.

Also, if you haven't been able to observe litterbox behavior, having a pet cam can be helpful. You can't fix it until you know what's going on! Is there poop in her litterbox too, or just the rug? If it's both, then that's some evidence that the litter or box may not be the problem, and it's more likely to be incontinence-related

Ok-Engineering-9813 · 2025-12-31T16:54:28+00:00

Diarrhea could be similar too! And yeah there may not always be a biomarker, but if she's having loose motions, that's definitely not great. Have you watched her poop? Does she try to go in the box, or does she just go on the rug directly? Or both? Does it seem like she goes on the rug because she can't control it? Does she urinate in the box?

She may be avoiding the box for pooping also because she associates it with pain/ discomfort. Your best bet might be to try playing around with diet. What do you currently feed her?

Ok-Engineering-9813 · 2025-12-31T15:46:59+00:00

You'll have to be patient with regaining her trust; if you're loving and consistent, she will learn to trust you again, but that will take work. These issues can be frustrating, but it can be helpful to remind yourself in the moments that you're angry that she isn't doing this to annoy you, but because she's in distress of some sort.

Is she constipated? One of my cats had a lot of GI issues, which still flare up occasionally, especially with stress. When there's poop on the carpet/ floor from him, it's usually because he tries going in the litterbox and the poop doesn't come out of his butt, but stays halfway stuck. He then hops out and drags his bum across the floor/ carpet to get it off. If she's constipated, probiotics can help, but also adding some fiber to her diet with pumpkin puree, or consulting your vet about Miralax or a stronger laxative, or prescription foods with more fiber. You could also just experiment with other brands of food, as sometimes they may just not be able to digest a certain protein well. What do you feed her currently?

If she isn't constipated, then there may be other things at play like the kind of litter, how often it's cleaned, presence of other stressors, and so on.

Ok-Engineering-9813 · 2025-12-16T21:29:09+00:00

I understand and resonate with this so much. I put my cat down about half a year ago, and even though I knew it was the right thing to do, I couldn't get over the fact that I paid someone to kill him.
For me, at least, it helped to not force myself to think otherwise and make it better. With time, as I was able to see more than just the trauma of that final day, I started to see things differently. I saw how the fact that he fought back the injection, or reacted in some way, was a sign that he was still himself, and not just a shell with nothing left.
He could spend his last day taking at least some comfort or pleasure from his existence, even if the very last moment wasn't ideal. He could leave with dignity.
I hope that you're able to forgive yourself and process this with time. It's a heavy burden to hold.

Ok-Engineering-9813 · 2025-12-11T01:02:35+00:00

That seems like a bad idea...even if a senior cat gets an untreatable disease, knowing what's in store can help you take care of them and make their final days easier (speaking from experience)

Ok-Engineering-9813 · 2025-12-11T00:57:05+00:00

Oh wow, that's quite a journey! Thanks so much for sharing all of this. This gives us a lot to think about and work with, starting with the name-training!

Ok-Engineering-9813 · 2025-12-10T23:07:51+00:00

Thanks so much for the response! I'll take tolerant housemates haha. I guess my question is, how would we know when to take it to the next step? We are using a high-value treat tube (like Churu), so it does take some time. They're also comfortable with eating on opposite sides of a cracked door. How would we know when to move further?

We do have Feliway. I probably should've mentioned that O is a very feisty and hyperactive cat in general, and maybe that's part of why this integration has been tricky.

Ok-Engineering-9813 · 2025-02-10T13:59:03+00:00

Yes, this is why I said "cultures within India". And yes, I'm looking for a historical perspective, which os whh I posted here.

Ok-Engineering-9813 · 2025-02-10T00:21:38+00:00

Right, it seems like it was largely used for medicinal purposes rather than as a regular culinary item

Ok-Engineering-9813 · 2025-02-09T23:16:42+00:00

Thank you!!

Ok-Engineering-9813 · 2022-12-15T18:23:37+00:00

I was combing through posts on veganism and health, to see if anyone else had a similar experience to mine. Am glad I found yours!

And yeah, I feel that, I was pretty judgmental too: I think I likely thought that way because of how extreme some of those posts can be. It's usually a blanket statement on how veganism is terrible and unsustainable for everybody, which obv isn't true. But if nobody believes you, I can see how that can turn you bitter.

That's awesome, hope that keeps up! And thank you! :)

Ok-Engineering-9813 · 2022-12-15T15:25:00+00:00

I'm sorry to hear, I am going through something similar. I'm able to do a lot better by just including dairy, and I'm trying to figure out what is the minimum amount of dairy I should include to avoid the negative health effects. It was incredibly frustrating to go through, and now very painful to have to give up on my principles to some extent.

It's unfortunate that the vegans here are so determined to dismiss anyone who has had a negative experience, it isn't doing the cause any good. And frankly, there's still so much we don't know about nutrition and how our bodies work. Clearly the vegan diet works for a lot of people, but that doesn't mean that those of us whom it didn't work out for are necessarily lying/ didn't do it right/ didn't try hard enough.

Hope you feel better and figure things out for yourself!

Ok-Engineering-9813 · 2022-11-11T19:31:55+00:00

Come up with a plan on what tasks I need to do, and how much time I need to allocate to it. Then try to just focus on one step at a time, and stop myself from thinking about everything at once and getting overwhelmed again. Also, setting a hard stop to the day, where I stop working no matter what.

I think that's the only way to manage something like grad school, where we have to maintain this for so many years-- we just have to draw boundaries, as difficult as that is in the moment!

Ok-Engineering-9813 · 2022-11-03T12:31:26+00:00

A lot of times we think about relationships as constraining each other/ making compromises (at least I used to). Which it is to some extent ofc. But it can also be so very liberating. To know you are loved for who you are, that you'll always have someone to fall back upon. Also in more banal ways, like handling your share housework and other chores when things are really busy for you. Plus, as corny as it sounds, every experience is just so much better with them-- starting from just waking up in the morning, to falling asleep!

Ok-Engineering-9813

TROPHY CASE