Sores/plaques won't heal, I'm at my wits end

I just don't know what to do, no matter what we do the sores/plaques on my cat Spot's stomach/abdomen just don't get better. None of the treatments we've tried have helped. He keeps licking them so they can't heal. We ended up doing surgery and biopsy on them a few months also to discover the cause hopefully and to help we hoped. That was a disaster (long story, I think I wrote about it when it happened). It did heal eventually after surgery and for a while he was fine but then the sores came back again. The biopsy indicated eosinophilic granuloma complex which is what we'd thought, but nothing seems to help. I just don't know what to do anymore. The only thing that ever makes any difference is if I either force him to wear a cone or otherwise prevent him access to it so he won't lick. The only other way to keep him from licking I have found is having him wear a baby onesie to cover it because it is on his lower abdomen so it is difficult to block. He hates to wear it and it is only effective if he wears it 24/7 for an extended period before there is any improvement, and he's miserable the whole time it's on. But as soon the cone or onesie is off he will start making the sores worse again.

there's an ointment on amazon that helps discourage licking wounds when applied, it's called Lick Guard Ointment for dogs and cats. maybe that'll help?

Hi there, 

Sorry you are going through this with your cat, it does not sound fun! Hopefully someone with more experience with this will chime in. The only thing I can advise is keep him the the onesie and maybe he will get used to it. 

I am assuming you have tried steroids and antibiotics. The following an excerpt from Wendy Brooks D.V.M., D.A.B.V.Pt:

 In most cases the eosinophilic granuloma responds to cortisone derivatives though often an aggressive regimen must be used. Typically an injection of long acting corticosteroid (such as Depomedrol) is given every 2 weeks until the lesion is gone or for three injections whichever comes first. Most eosinophilic granulomas resolve with one injection but some are refractory and will not resolve until antibiotics are used. Some are more refractory still and require more exotic treatments

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It sounds like you have tried probably tried these conventional treatments but there are some holistic ones that might be worth looking into. Here is a thread on them (http://www.thecatsite.com/t/163684/eosinophilic-granuloma-complex)

My maltese poodle has a lot of skin growths and boils. She had a giant growth on her head and we got it removed and thankfully it did not grow back because the vet removed a ton of skin around it which seemed to help in not having it grow back. It sounds like the surgery did not go well last but if you do it again maybe go to a surgeon who will remove all of the infected skin. My dog has since developed a few more smaller growths on her body and there isn't really anything we have found to prevent this. Some animals are just prone to these things apparently. 

The only other thing I can think of is getting an animal communicator to talk to him and try to get him to stop licking them. I know it is pretty far out there and I am not sure if I believe in them but it seems a lot of people have good luck using them. 

Yes we've tried multiple courses of steroids, antibiotics, and combinations. Also tried Atopica (immunosupressant), topical treatments, EFAs, other supplements, holistic/homeopathic remedies for stress/immune/obsessive behavior, etc... I've been using a hypoallergenic food for several years also. He responded some to steroids at first but doesn't seem to anymore. The surgery did remove the whole area of affected tissue as my vet did not think it would heal properly if they didn't have healthy skin to stitch together. Unfortunately Spot had an allergic reaction to the sutures themselves and the healing process ended up being very lengthy as they had to remove the stitches and let it close on its own. Before the surgery the area was basically one big sore, currently there are multiple smaller ones instead. The surgery did help by removing extra skin folds which had made things worse.

Unfortunately the cats from Spot's litter seem to be very prone to allergies and eosinophilic granulomas so it seems like there is probably a genetic predisposition to immune issues in this case. However most of them do respond to steroids. Spot's brother Mr Grey who has had the most severe issues with eosinophilic granulomas in the past has been responding to the Atopica, unlike Spot. I also hate to keep giving steroids because I know they can cause problems in the long run. I might try going to the holistic vet to see if they have any other suggestions we haven't tried, although I can't really afford it.

I am wondering what is in the hypoallergenic food? If it is a vet formulation they often have a lot of grains which can sometimes be the allergen that is causing the problem. It is also advised with cats with food allergies to switch foods every 3-4 months because they can develop new allergies. 

Here is a great article by a holistic vet on allergies in pets which can cause skin issues (http://healthypets.mercola.com/site...012/05/07/protein-diets-for-pets-allergy.aspx)

And here is her youtube video on the topic:

The food they're on is grain free, rabbit and peas. They've only been on grain free foods. I've been trying to switch/try different foods but they're so picky, they don't like any of the foods I've tried (and with the guidelines our vet gave us there aren't a lot of choices either). Unfortunately most of my cats won't eat canned food so that limits things a lot. Spot does like Nature's Variety rabbit canned food but he mostly only licks the juice off it and then leaves the rest.

My cat was also a kibble addict who would only lick the gravy or juice from food. He has probable IBD or IBS and I knew I needed to finally get him off kibble for his health. It took a long time but I was finally able to transition him to wet by topping the wet food with dry kibble and treats. His GI issues are now completely in check and he has never eaten so well or been so happy and healthy. You can check out (http://catinfo.org/docs/TipsForTransitioning1-14-11.pdf) for some more tips. 

Some people with gravy lickers are able to get them to eat wet food by using a blender and adding water to make the wet food into a gravy like consistency. 

Well we went back to the vet, they gave Spot steroids and antibiotics although I told them the steroids didn't help previously.

It's problematic to try switching them to canned food since I have two cats who refuse to eat any canned food, they act like it's not even food and the other two aren't big on it either. Spot will mainly just lick the gravy and only likes Instinct Rabbit and Mr Grey likes a few types but won't eat any others I've tried. None of them will eat treats or cooked meat either.