Rodent Ulcers

I've been treating Everest off and on for rodent ulcers since April but every time it appears to go away it comes back. The latest is the worst yet. He has a pot on his leg where it keeps coming back despite using prednisone. This afternoon I saw that he had blood on his chin. There was a spot on his lower lip that was being treated but it has gotten worse. I took him to the animal hospital after I saw it and they gave him a shot of Depo Medrol and put him on Clavamox. I got home around 9pm and he has been sleeping ever since. I put in a call to my vet about what is going on and that I needed to get him in Tuesday for some blood work and a biopsy for the area on his upper leg.

I really believed that this was under control. I feel terrible and that I'm a bad dad for not noticing what was going on with his mouth sooner than I did. He has some dried blood around the spot on his lower lip, but I'm afraid to gently clean it because he may start bleeding again.

My Sophie started getting them earlier this year. This was the thread

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...hlight=sophies

She's had another two since, but the vet said unless they get big she didn't need to go every time for an injection because they go away on their own, which hers did dry up as fast as they came.

I asked if there was anything l could do such as clean them, but he said just to leave it being the size hers were.

Your not a bad Dad, just keep a close eye on how big they get, because if their the size of Sophies my vet said they won't bother her, because that was a major concern for me

I'm concerned that he hasn't eaten or drank anything since sometime yesterday. I haven't seen him use the box yet either. He did move off of the bed and onto some laundry I had on the floor.

Can Clavamox and/or the Depomedrol cause cats to lose their appetite? I know his mouth his probably sore and that could have something to do with it. I did give him a dose of Clavamox. I was worried that he would start bleeding again when I went to do it, but there is no blood from giving him the pill.

The clavamox can affect appetite. But the depomedrol ought to stimulate it.

I didn't know anything about rodent ulcers until we adopted Chumley, our FIV+ kitty. He had all sorts of problems, and our regular vets weren't able to sort them out.

Rodent ulcers are a type of immune response, often a problem with some type of allergy. For Chumley, even the regular vets didn't really want to use steroids (the typical treatment) because they function to suppress the immune response, and with FIV, his immune system is already compromised.

You can experiment with foods to see if something is causing an allergic response.

That said... we went searching and found a vet (a licensed DVM) also trained in alternative treatments (Chinese treatments & other). http://www.ahvma.org

I hate to keep promoting alternatives, but where western medicine fails, chinese medicine seems to help - and immune-related problems are one of those areas. The treatment she prescribed for Chum stopped his diarrhea within four days, cleared up his rodent ulcers, and cleared up his loss of furr/overgrooming.

We did switch him to an all-wet, grain free (except whole rice) diet, but that was part of the treatment plan (which included herbs for his GI system and his "yin" deficiency, and his "extreme spleen Qi deficiency.").

Our Tuxedo, who has a completely unrelated problem, had a condition controlled for a time by prednisone. It stopped working. He was switched to depomedrol (another steroid, but with a slightly different mechanism of action). The depo, knock wood, worked, and continues to work.

Thank you.

I called the veterinary hospital we went to yesterday and they said the clavamox can leave a bitter taste in the cat's mouth which can make them not want to eat. The person I talked to said to try a little tuna or some canned food to entice him to eat. Everest doesn't like canned food, except for licking the gravy off. Maybe that will help?

Yay!!!!

About a half hour ago I came back from the store with some baby food, tuna, and canned cat food, and some litter. As soon as I freshened the box Everest went in there and urinated and defecated. I also opened up a can of tuna and left the water on it. It took a few tries of wetting his nose so he would lick it off, but he has been licking at the tuna in the bowl. After the first time he licked the tuna he walked away and a minute later went back to it. He's even doing a little bit of light grooming as I type this.

Luna has had 2 ulcers this year and had injections for them both. We are investigating possible food allergies but she could also have the herpes virus if her mother had it which we don't know. Her vet also suggested a supplement I can add to her food to prevent herpes break-outs. It's relatively inexpensive so I will probably do that in addition to the allergy investigation.

Originally Posted by Essayons89

After the first time he licked the tuna he walked away and a minute later went back to it. He's even doing a little bit of light grooming as I type this.

Click to expand...

Excellent!!!!

It has been 35 hours since he received the shot, and he had his thrid dose of Clavamox before 12am. I don't know if I like this combination of medication, he's nowhere close to where he normally is. He did use the box for a second time, but he really isn't eating anything. I tried some baby food, he didn't like that, or the canned cat food. I'll be glad to get him in to see his vet.

What's the heat like where you are?, because mine don't eat much when it's warm.

What about drinking as well, is that ok?. If it's warm, l put some ice cubes in their bowl because that encourages them to drink.

I have the air conditioner on. As far as I can tell he's not really drinking, except when he licks the water off of the tuna. I'm very concerned.

Ok. How long have you got to wait for the surgery opening?.

Does he seem lethargic at all?

He's lethargic, sleeping most of the time. When he is awake, he is laying down looking around. There have only been a few times where he was doing some grooming. As far as I can tell he hasn't used the box today, nor eaten or drank anything. I left an urgent call on my vets pager. I'm meeting her at the office at 2pm to have some blood drawn and get some fluids in him.

Back from the vet. She drew some blood for CBC and Wellness tests and gave him sun SubQ fluids, as well as fedding him a couple bites of Hills A/D. The area on his upper leg and chest are much smaller than they were Sunday afternoon, and his lips and gums also look better. My vet said this was due to Depo. As a result of that, and the issue of him not eating much, she took him off of the Clavamox. Once he gets to eating again consistently for a few days she will do the biopsy. I have to work tonight, but when I get home I'll feed him a few more bites of the Hills. Hopefully, getting the Clavamox out of his system will help his appetite return. I'll have the results of the blood work tomorrow.

I also want to look into what may have been causing this. I'm strongly considering taking them to an allergy specialist.

Thank you for all of the advice and comments so far.

Hopefully by tomorrow he'll feel a lot better. When Jack was sick with a uri he wasn't drinking much, so l would sit with him on my lap and give it to him using a dropper. It did the job perfectly!.

Lots of mega healthy coming your little boys way.

Gosh I'm so sorry he was feeling so poorly! I hope taking him off the clavamox helps!!!! Fluids (when they're dehydrated) almost always help them feel better.

When will you have the results of the blood work?

And when you say his lips and gums look better - what was the problem?

He has/had a couple of small ulcers on his top lip, and there was one beneath his lower lip. They aren't as dark and ugly looking as they were Sunday evening, they are lighter in color and look to be starting clear, as is the patch that is on the inside of his upper right leg.

I'll have the results of the blood work on Wednesday. I forgot to mention in my previous post that he has had no fever or elevated temp, his weight his good, and no problems with his breathing or heartrate (not sure if anyone was wondering about those). What little he has taken in as far as liquids and foods stays down (no vomiting).

I'm going to feed him a couple of baby spoons worth of the wet food the vet gave me. I don't want to make him sick, so I could use some advice on how much, or little, I should give him at a time.

Thank You.

I'm scared that he could be having a bad reaction to the DepoMedrol shot. I've found older posts/threads on here that described the same things going on with Everest- lethargic, sleepy, lack of interest in eating or drinking. The length of time the cats were like this varied from five days to a couple of weeks. I'm worried about him and very stressed.

Again, when Jack had his URI l would sit him on my lap and let him lick off the food l had on my fingers. I would have to obviously gently dab it on his mouth to start him licking it but it worked.

Have you got a dropper to do the water?

If your still worried, ring the surgery again as soon as it opens

I don't have a dropper, need to pick a couple up today. I do want to do this so he can get some fluids in him. How did you do this to keep him from choking at all? Can I use the eye dropper to feed him food, such as a slurry made with water and baby food? How often did you give him water with the dropper?

I can't get Everest to lick anything off of my fingers and dabbing a litle food on his mouth to get him to lick it off and eat something worked once with the tuna on Monday but hasn't since. Regarding the surgery, the vet doesn't want to put him under until he starts eating again.