1178. Gum ulcer in the 15-year-old cat

Taught the owner how to "inject" feed pellets into the old cat. She had a gum ulcer and so did not eat. The owner did not know how to use the syringe or pill popper and so the pellets fall out from the mouth. 
Why did the old cat stop eating? Is it because she's 15 years old. At the end of the life span? Vet 1 had been consulted and gave some medication.

"My cat attempts to grip the food, but gave up."
So there would be some problems with the mouth. I opened the mouth. A big swollen lump appears at the gum/tooth junction of the left upper canine. This was extracted. The cat still would not eat. The owner had to syringe feed 3 to 4 times a day again.

I examined the case a few days later. There was an ulcer caused by the long sharp left lower canine, causing a red oval ulcer in the opposing upper area where the canine teeth had been extracted. The periodontal abscess of the left upper canine gum area had shrunk. This was good news.

left lower canine was extracted. A big tumour was seen growing on the spinal area. "This looked like a nasty fast-growing tumour. It is best to send to the lab for testing," I said. The big tumour was excised and the lab results showed a poor differentiated carcinoma.

Yet the cat would not eat and the owner had to go on a business trip. He said to me, "My cat does not have cancer as the test did not show cancer. Yet she is not eating. Do you have any medicine to make her eat?" I asked Dr Daniel if he had said that but he did not say that. A carcinoma of the skin is cancerous.

The cat still had that upper gum ulcer. But the main problem was that he did not use the syringe popper properly. He did not insert it far back to the back of the mouth. So the dry pellet just landed in front of the mouth and the cat just pushed it out. Dr Daniel and Min showed him how to do it. We put the cat on the table, one person opened the mouth and the other popped 5 dry food pellets into the mouth via the popper. The cat swallowed.

Nov 13, 2012 update. The owner said that the cat was eating a bit and was interested in food after Dr Daniel prescribed some tolfedine painkillers.

Later,