Fatty acids & eosinophilic granuloma complex

Does anyone here have any experience with using Omega 3 fatty acids to treat eosinophilic granuloma complex? I'd love some feedback. JC had a lesion ("rodent ulcer") on his upper lip in July, which was diagnosed as EG and which disappeared after two cortison injections spaced two weeks apart. From what I've read, there's about a 90% chance of a recurrence. I've joined a Yahoo (Germany) group, and several people there have reported success after using fish oil capsules (1 500 mg. capsule daily when the condition is acute, 1 500 mg. capsule weekly to prevent a recurrence). I don't have a lot of faith in homeopathic remedies or "natural medicines", and will have him treated with cortisone if the lesion reappears, but I'd prefer to prevent it, if possible. I bought some fish oil capsules ("Ameu" brand here in Germany) today containing 70 mg. of icosapent and 50 mg. of doconexent (Omega 3 fatty acids) in 500 mg. of fish oil, as recommended. Do you think there is any harm in giving him one capsule a week? He already eats a fair amount of fish (approximately 3 2 ounce cans of tuna, salmon & chicken, and a mixture of cod, squid and shrimp for cats weekly). The capsules are used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and neurodermatitis in humans, but then the dosage is 10 - 20 capsules daily. I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts/experiences.

The fish oil has been proven to help with EGC. It's even published in veterianry handbooks. The other suppliments found in the capules you can get won't hurt anything.
I would probably cut back on the amout of fish he gets only because it's not a balanced diet. Tuna can also do more harm than good. I would use the fish as a treat, and make sure he's eating foods formulated for cats as 95% of his diet.

The fish is in an "ultra-premium" food (almo nature, from Italy, consisting of fish and/or meat with rice and spring water) formulated for cats. JC gets dry food (Felidae, Solid Gold or Nutro Natural Choice) every day, but is extremely picky about canned food. He won't eat poultry unless it is mixed with fish, and will occasionally eat lamb or beef, but so many felines have died of BSE (mad cow disease) here in Europe that I'm afraid to give him any food containing beef unless it is imported from North America. He consistently refuses to eat any food that is in a can larger than 3 ounces, and Hill's (or Fancy Feast,for that matter, which I'm not crazy about)isn't available in the small cans here. I'm sceptical about feeding him a solely dry diet for fear of urinary tract problems, and cooking for him isn't an option (he won't eat "homemade food"- I have a big collection of cookbooks for cats). With the exception of "Chicken Soup..." (unavailable here), we've tried just about every premium canned food on the market. I simply don't know which is the lesser evil - dry food only, or dry food plus three canned "fish meals" a week, with an occasional can of lamb or beef when he consents to eat it. His urine was far too concentrated, according to our vet, before we got him to eat this brand of canned food. I'm just worried that the fish oil will be "too much fish" when given together with his beloved almo.

My kitty has eosinophilic granuloma complex also. (Not rodent ulcer though; when she has a break out she has rashes on her back legs and lines down her belly.)

It got tremendously worse when we introduced a new cat into the house. Her vet put her on an oral prednisone and low allergen ZD cat food. This improved things quite a bit.

When I heard of Feliway for friction between cats, I got one right away to help with the kitty spats here. Well the Feliway not only helped with territorial problems, but it also put her in complete remission. Today, she is still on the ZD diet but no longer needs prednisone.

It makes sense when you think of it. .. if her skin condition worsened right after introducing the new cat, the stress is what was the main trigger for the rashes. Then the Feliway — which helps with stress — helped her EGC.

Just thought I'd share my experiences. Hope the fish works for JC.

:kitty5:

A lot of people say that stress plays a big role in EGC, so I can see where the Feliway would help. One thing I've noticed is that several people in the Yahoo group have a number of cats, and often more than one cat has EGC, even when the cats are eating different foods. It makes you wonder if there is an allergan in the environment, a food, treat or liquid all the cats are getting, or just stress. I'm going to try the fatty acids. The only thing is, if the rodent ulcer doesn't come back, I'll probably never know whether it was a one-time occurence, or the fish oil helped. One of my mom's dogs has terrible allergies every summer, with ulceration around the eyes, and absolutely nothing has helped.