In my yard I have two semi-ferals, a 2-yo boy and a 5 or 6-yo girl, both fixed.
They arrived on their own, they're positively feral, not stray, and are rather friendly.
Last May I noticed that the girl was a little down, she would eat less, she was losing weight and her coat was getting bad. I suspected it could be CKD, so I took the cat to the vet. I would have liked to inspect her mouth at home, but she just does not allow me.
The vet looked into the cat's mouth with no problems (the cat gets paralysed with fear at the vets') and the diagnosis was lymphoplasmacytic stomatitis. It's a condition where, basically, the cat's immune system is rejecting its own teeth.
The first therapy was a shot of Depomedrol with the request to go back with the cat after 3 weeks. Four weeks later I was there again, the situation was slightly improved, so the vet gave the cat another shot of Depomedrol.
At the next visit, because the condition was slowly improving, the vet prescribed to continue the treatment at home with Prednisolone, 1.25 mg a week. We went back 6 weeks later and the situation had worsened, so the prescription was changed to 1.25 mg every other day. Another 7 weeks and the cat's mouth was in a terrible condition. The vet gave her another shot of Depomedrol, and said that this was her last chance, the next step would be the teeth removal, though there's no real guarantee that the stomatitis will heal.
Despite her awful condition, the cat keeps eating regularly and her coat is fine since the first shot. But if the only definitive solution to her disease is revoming all her teeth, I think this is what I should do.
My concern is that I don't know how an outdoor cat can manage her life when she has no teeth in her mouth.
Do you have any exprience or advice?
I'm attaching some photos.
May 21, 2019 - The situation at the beginning
June 18, 2019 - 4 weeks after the first shot of Depomedrol, a little improvement.
July 5, 2019 - 2 weeks after the second shot of Depomedrol, a great improvement.
August 22, 2019 - 6 weeks after 1.25 mg Prednisolone a week, it has got worse!
October 11, 2019 - 7 weeks after 1.25 mg Prednisolone every other day, the situation is awful!
They arrived on their own, they're positively feral, not stray, and are rather friendly.
Last May I noticed that the girl was a little down, she would eat less, she was losing weight and her coat was getting bad. I suspected it could be CKD, so I took the cat to the vet. I would have liked to inspect her mouth at home, but she just does not allow me.
The vet looked into the cat's mouth with no problems (the cat gets paralysed with fear at the vets') and the diagnosis was lymphoplasmacytic stomatitis. It's a condition where, basically, the cat's immune system is rejecting its own teeth.
The first therapy was a shot of Depomedrol with the request to go back with the cat after 3 weeks. Four weeks later I was there again, the situation was slightly improved, so the vet gave the cat another shot of Depomedrol.
At the next visit, because the condition was slowly improving, the vet prescribed to continue the treatment at home with Prednisolone, 1.25 mg a week. We went back 6 weeks later and the situation had worsened, so the prescription was changed to 1.25 mg every other day. Another 7 weeks and the cat's mouth was in a terrible condition. The vet gave her another shot of Depomedrol, and said that this was her last chance, the next step would be the teeth removal, though there's no real guarantee that the stomatitis will heal.
Despite her awful condition, the cat keeps eating regularly and her coat is fine since the first shot. But if the only definitive solution to her disease is revoming all her teeth, I think this is what I should do.
My concern is that I don't know how an outdoor cat can manage her life when she has no teeth in her mouth.
Do you have any exprience or advice?
I'm attaching some photos.
May 21, 2019 - The situation at the beginning
June 18, 2019 - 4 weeks after the first shot of Depomedrol, a little improvement.
July 5, 2019 - 2 weeks after the second shot of Depomedrol, a great improvement.
August 22, 2019 - 6 weeks after 1.25 mg Prednisolone a week, it has got worse!
October 11, 2019 - 7 weeks after 1.25 mg Prednisolone every other day, the situation is awful!