In Shock

Yesterday my roommate noticed our kitty Rowan had some blood on her fur. He looked her over to see if she'd been biting on herself. He couldn't find any bite marks or scratched open sores, so he assumed she bit her tongue. When he looked it over, there was a little blood in her mouth but her tongue looked fine. We decided it would be best to keep an eye on her and get her to the vet today if need be.

By the time we saw her today, her whole side was red. It looked like she'd painted her fur. We called the vet and got a work in appointment, which meant we would be down there for hours.  I assumed at this point that she'd lost a tooth or two and was bleeding from that. I really had no even inkling of an idea that it would end up being worse.

By the time my roommate got her into the vet's examination room, the bleeding from her mouth wouldn't stop. He was having to keep towels against her and was soaking them. The vet came in and had to given her anesthesia so could look in her mouth.   She had a tumor that had developed under her tongue. It was open and bleeding. It was the first visible sign of what was probably very aggressive cancer. Given the rate of the blood loss, it was unlikely she would survive anything he tried to do.

We came home with an empty cat carrier. I'm still in complete shock over this. It was so sudden. Until just yesterday, she didn't look unhealthy. There were no signs of this. I don't know how to process it. Right now, it just feels so unreal.