Advanced Stomatitis

[danterossetti]

My lovely 10 year old red boy has advanced stomatitis. I adopted him three years ago and it was discovered at his first vet check a month after he arrived. He has had intermittant antibiotic and steriod treatment when it has flared up but the periods when his mouth wasn't sore became shorter and shorter. Two months ago he had full dental clearance and initially it looked like it had resolved it but now the stomatitis is back as bad as ever. He is unable to tolerate any dried or wet food (no chicken, fresh fish etc) just liquids. He has had more long acting steriod today but I am concerned for his long term prognosis. I discussed it with my vet today and he said that the only option was steriods for the rest of his life as he had seen poor response and side effects from long term non-steriodal anti-inflammatories. I feed him Classic cat food and offer dried food with no additives (although he doesn't eat it) as well as fresh chicken, fish etc when he is able to eat but I don't know what else to do. He is a tall cat, very leggy but has never weighed more than 5.4 kgs in all the time I have had him. At present he is hovering at 5kgs. I hope some of you have had experience with advanced long term stomatitis and can help... thanks in advance.

[jckkerrison]

If you just put stomatitis into the advanced search in the top right corner you will see several threads where it has been discussed but I am sure they will come on & answer you on this thread too but it could just give you some reading in the meantime,i have a red boy that has had gingivitis from an early age & we used to have to use ab's & steroids as & when it was necesary but as he has got older his gums have actually improved,good luck....

[danterossetti]

Thanks so much for the encouragement, it's nice just to hear something positive.

[alecat]

I am taking my 2 year old red boy to the Vet tomorrow for the same condition. His is mild at this point, but was going to inquire about getting his teeth cleaned to see if this would help. I brush his teeth 3 times a week with little change! he eats decent grain free dry and wet fancy feast (the only wet food he will eat) I too could use some guidance to see what helps. I read a blog somewhere that Transfer Factor can be helpful to stimulate the immune system?? I am just starting to reasearch this and will go into the archives here! Best of luck to everyone!!

[candes]

There is a cure for this you know. It may not look good, but your cats will feel good again. Just have all their teeth yanked out. They will be able to eat just fine afterwards. When you can't help them feel better anymore, you will know it is time.

I myself thought I was faced with the same decision for my Teddy Bearz at only little more than one year of age. He has had very very mild gingivitis, and all of a sudden he lost 2 of those tiny front teeth. The emergency vet said that his gums etc were in wonderful shape. So perhaps it was resorptive tooth disease. I was mentally prepared to have all of Teddies teeth extracted, since that would have been best for him, pain wise. You have to get over the appearance business and accept what is best for the cat. And as prepared as I was, it wasn't needed afterall. The darn buggar had an extra tooth with resultant overcrowing. A slightly "off" bite. And also a tendency to chew metal, plastic, and wood. He will actually split crazy rings by stretching them with his teeth and paws together. (What a bruiser.) And those tiny teeth are prone to trauma damage. Also, the overcrowding likely brought on the gingivitis.

The $100 consult with a dentist was the best money I ever spent on him. He is chewing on a cardboard box as I type. Groan.... Don't go losing more teeth Teddy! Arghh....

[candes]

I am taking my 2 year old red boy to the Vet tomorrow for the same condition. His is mild at this point, but was going to inquire about getting his teeth cleaned to see if this would help. I brush his teeth 3 times a week with little change! he eats decent grain free dry and wet fancy feast (the only wet food he will eat) I too could use some guidance to see what helps. I read a blog somewhere that Transfer Factor can be helpful to stimulate the immune system?? I am just starting to reasearch this and will go into the archives here! Best of luck to everyone!!

I have some advice specially for you since your baby has it mildly. Brush his teeth daily! And the dentist also suggests rubbing Biotene gel on the gums daily in addition to brushing with regular toothpaste. Use water additives such as "Healthy Mouth". And give plenty of dental treats. And also promote chewing any way you can. Lottsa kibble etc... You can also use dental rinses but beware of anything with alcohol in it. Imagine alcohol on sore gums! Yowza!!! Now all this advice was given to me just for gingivitis. Stomatitis is a different ball game. With somatitis, the cat is having an immune response to plaque! So get rid of every last bit!

Oh here I go with the lysine treats again. Lysine helps a cats immune systen. Anyways, Teddy Bearz was taking it well over a year ago for a herpes infection. And quite by surprise, it helped his gingivitis a lot! I think Lysine is something most MC owners should at least consider. Since purebreeds tend to have decreased immune function. It can't hurt anything and often times helps.

[candes]

My lovely 10 year old red boy has advanced stomatitis. I adopted him three years ago and it was discovered at his first vet check a month after he arrived. He has had intermittant antibiotic and steriod treatment when it has flared up but the periods when his mouth wasn't sore became shorter and shorter. Two months ago he had full dental clearance and initially it looked like it had resolved it but now the stomatitis is back as bad as ever. He is unable to tolerate any dried or wet food (no chicken, fresh fish etc) just liquids. He has had more long acting steriod today but I am concerned for his long term prognosis. I discussed it with my vet today and he said that the only option was steriods for the rest of his life as he had seen poor response and side effects from long term non-steriodal anti-inflammatories. I feed him Classic cat food and offer dried food with no additives (although he doesn't eat it) as well as fresh chicken, fish etc when he is able to eat but I don't know what else to do. He is a tall cat, very leggy but has never weighed more than 5.4 kgs in all the time I have had him. At present he is hovering at 5kgs. I hope some of you have had experience with advanced long term stomatitis and can help... thanks in advance.

Oh what a handsome boy. But his mouth looks so sore. Oh the poor baby... I really feel for him. You know the same advice I gave to alecat isn't a bad idea for you too. Give it a good last shot. This is in addition to any meds the vet may prescribe. But you may want to consider extractions if that fails. Mynewbabydarcy went that route. Perhaps you may want to PM her? I think she could offer you a lot of good support.

[danterossetti]

Thanks for the advice but as I mentioned he has already had all of his teeth removed two months ago but the stomatitis is back as bad as ever. I had seen you mention the Lysine treats in a different thread but unfortunately they are not available in the UK, maybe I can get some shipped from the USA for him to try.

[jckkerrison]

Thanks for the advice but as I mentioned he has already had all of his teeth removed two months ago but the stomatitis is back as bad as ever. I had seen you mention the Lysine treats in a different thread but unfortunately they are not available in the UK, maybe I can get some shipped from the USA for him to try.

Lysine is available in the human form so perhaps Candes could let you know the dosage of the ones she uses & you could adjust the human ones I know a friend had to do that with Taurine for a cat that she was making her own diet up for, we do have a member on here who has helped me with products in the past perhaps she will pop up & tell you of an animal version over here,I am not into work for a few days but will certainly try & find out when I do go in if there has been no response.

[candes]

Thanks for the advice but as I mentioned he has already had all of his teeth removed two months ago but the stomatitis is back as bad as ever. I had seen you mention the Lysine treats in a different thread but unfortunately they are not available in the UK, maybe I can get some shipped from the USA for him to try.

Oh so that is what you meant by dental clearance. Wow what a stubborn case! It is awful that a cat doesn't respond to the extractions, since what does it leave for major treatment? You know if any root tips are left behind, you will still have problems. Did a dentist do the extractions? No matter who did it, ask them if there is a way to check for root tips leftover. I have no clue how since the tissue is all healed over and you can't see them. Perhaps a MRI would work? Dunno....

Lysine is 500 mg for adult cats. You can sprinkle the crushed up pills in their food.