Your veterinarian may be able to get a brief look in the mouth while your cat is awake, but a thorough examination requires sedation or general anesthesia. The first step in diagnosing an oral tumor is a thorough physical examination, including an oral exam. In other cases, however, oral tumors are not detected until the mass is causing significant clinical signs and negatively affecting the cat’s quality of life. This is the ideal scenario because is more effective when tumors are small. Tumors are often found early, during routine veterinary care. Oral tumors can be found in one of two ways. The only way to distinguish dental disease from an oral tumor is a thorough veterinary workup. Gum inflammation and dental infections can also lead to difficulty eating, oral bleeding, and foul breath. It’s important to note that all of these symptoms can also be associated with dental disease. Your cat’s body may also begin to smell unpleasant, as the saliva is spread across the body with grooming. Your cat may have blood on his or her front paws, from attempting to groom away the bloody saliva from the mouth.Īs oral tumors continue to grow, you may notice that your cat has bad breath or halitosis. You may also notice small drops of blood saliva around your cat’s food and water bowl, on your cat’s bed, or in other places your cat likes to rest. You may notice that your cat is drooling thick, ropey, blood-tinged saliva. In many cases, growing oral tumors begin to bleed.

Cats don’t always show the obvious signs of pain that you would expect, such as pawing at their mouth or acting uncomfortable. Some cats may act painful when chewing, but in many cases, owners attribute the decrease in appetite to nausea, a need to change the food, or other factors. The first sign of an oral tumor is often a reluctance to eat, accompanied by weight loss. Oral tumors are painful, especially during eating. While some mouth cancers are visible, other symptoms can indicate mouth cancer, including bad breath and difficulty eating. It is suspected that environmental contaminants, such as cigarette smoke and chemicals found in flea collars, may play a role however, this has not been proven. No one knows why some cats develop oral tumors. Odontogenic tumors arise from the tissues making up the teeth. Osteosarcomas arise solely from bony tissues, such as the jaw bones. Fibrosarcomas arise from the connective tissues within the mouth, often from the jaw bones. Other common causes of oral tumors in cats are fibrosarcomas, osteosarcomas, and odontogenic tumors. Although they rarely metastasize (spread distantly), they often invade the underlying law bones (mandible and maxilla), making complete removal difficult. Squamous cell carcinomas are a significant medical problem, because they tend to be locally invasive. These tumors grow from the lining of the oral cavity, including the gums, tongue, palate, and tonsils. Approximately 70% of oral tumors in cats are squamous cell carcinomas. The most common oral cancer in the cat, by far, is squamous cell carcinoma. Oral masses in cats may be caused by inflammation, infection, or even trauma. There are several different types of tumors that can develop in the mouth of a cat. These represent about 70% of oral tumors in cats.

The most common type of oral cancer is squamous cell carcinoma.

Signs of serious head trauma in cats