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peter grady

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Our cat Daisy has been ill for the past three months but we cannot find what is wrong. She has been tested for FELV & FIV but both were negative.

Initially she had like black scabbing develope under her chin and it increased to around her lips and the base of her ears and sides of her face. At this time we did find that she had sticky fleas that she caught off the chooks but we cleared them up with frontline. Her paws are always stained a brown colour from cleaning her face. The black scabbig is now predominately around the base of her whiskers.

About two months ago her right nostril started running clear and after a month infection developed and it became yellow and now it affects both nostrils. One course of antibiotics cleared the infection for a while but it is bad again and she is having trouble sleeping and has to use a pillow. we are trying a different antibiotic.

The vet initially diagnosed an imune deficiency and perscribed cortisone but she has not been on it for a while. The vet inspected her nasal passages as far as he could under sedation but found nothing.

She is eating & drinking well and is still active but her coast lustre is going and she developed a limp in her right back leg a month ago. She is 7 year old long haired tabby and our vet has run out of options other than to operate to view the part of the sinus canal he cant get to.
If anyone has some advice on what might be wrong please let us know.
Thanks Peter
 

spotz

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What kind of food dishes are you using?

If it is anything but stainless steel, or quality ceramic/glass, this is probably a major culprit in the black nastiness...a.k.a. Feline Acne.

More info regarding her diet, and past health problems would be helpful.

From what you are describing though, the culprit is probably the food dishes.

Spotz
 
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peter grady

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Hi Spotz

All our food bowls are plastic. Her diet includes beef mince, kangaroo mince , tuna, salmon and milk. Up untill recent times I have never noticed her drink water but in the past three months I see her drinking a lot.

Peter
 

hissy

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Peter why would you feed her tuna, salmon and milk? All of those foods are bad for cats in large amounts? Why not the normal fare of dry cat food, canned food, and if you do feed milk feed cats milk? And beef mince and kangaroo rats? Part of her problem could be the food as well as the food bowls. I have never heard of acne getting to the point that you describe, and she sounds like she needs a feline specialist to see her pretty darn quick-

Of course it depends on where in this world you are located. But normal food fare for her sounds like a safer way to go. Not to mention the parasites she can get from the rats she eats.

GOod luck-
 

spotz

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As hissy said...her diet is quite off the norm.

I would second the motion for a call to a feline specialist.

That said however, I would also HEAVILY urge you to switch from plastic to stainless or ceramic bowls. It may not be the whole problem, but it will sure eliminate one probable contributor.

Spotz
 

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peter grady

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Thanks for the responses. We are in rural Australia, about 4hrs north of Sydney and live on a cattle farm near the ocean. we run a plant nursery about 1k from home and daisy travels each day to and from the nursery with us. If she wants to go home or to the nursery she quite happily walks herself.

kangaroos are a native marsupial animal of this country and are not rodents, they have been used to feed carnivorous pets for many generations in this country and Kangaroo meat is also farmed for human consumption.

We have had many cats in our family over my life time and all lived long lives except for the few that were killed by motor vehicles but that was when we lived in Sydney.
The diet we are feeding daisy is the same as what we have always fed our cats although i did fail to mention she does get fed dry cat food.Daisy has always been a good mouser and curiously up until she became ill she never ate the mice but now she does!

EGC looks like a good candidate for her symptoms. She had sticky fleas (parasitic fleas) on her face and perhaps this started the immune response. We will revisit the vet and perhaps see about a long term cortisone injection and move her permanemtly tothe nursery as she seems less ill there. I will also try a new food bowl.
Thanks Peter
 

rang_27

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Has she been tested for Diabetes? We've got a cat at out shelter who had scabbing on his body & began drinking more. He has a limp that is probably from a previous injury, but it has gotten worse. We've been told the uncontrolled Diabetes can do something (I don't know much about Diabetes) that will cause a limp in cats. Just a thought.
 
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peter grady

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Originally Posted by Rang_27

Has she been tested for Diabetes? We've got a cat at out shelter who had scabbing on his body & began drinking more. He has a limp that is probably from a previous injury, but it has gotten worse. We've been told the uncontrolled Diabetes can do something (I don't know much about Diabetes) that will cause a limp in cats. Just a thought.
Have considered diabetes but you need a urine sample and that isnt easy to get from a cat. The vet can use a syringe straight into the bladder and cats dont have a problem with that. daisy had an empty bladder at the vets so couldnt get a sample.
The trouble with diabetes is the ongoing use of insulin. In humans they do regular blood samples to work out the insulin needed. In cats it is a bit of guesswork because getting blood regularly is a problem.

Pete
 

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I was wondering if your location would be why the diet was a bit off the norm. I would also research the side effects of long term use of cortisone. Good luck, this cat is lucky to have someone who cares enough to find out more ways to make her comfortable-
 

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Peter this must be very uncomfortable for her and very worrying for you. I do hope it clears soon, she is lucky to have you. Please let us know how Daisy gets on.
 

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Peter, the reason I suggested that EGC might be the problem is that our cat suffered from a "rodent ulcer" on his lip last summer, which luckily cleared up after a cortisone injection. He now gets 500 mg. of omega fatty acids every week to prevent a recurrence. I did a lot of research on EGC, and your description sounded a lot like cases I read about. One often cited cause was an allergic reaction to flea bites. I joined a German-language Yahoo discussion group which has helped tremendously. If your vet diagnoses EGC, you might want to do a Web search for such a support group. When JC developed the ulcer, our vet had him tested for herpes (negative), which she said often resulted in similar symptoms. Good luck! I hope you get to the bottom of the problem soon.
 
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peter grady

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Originally Posted by jcat

Peter, the reason I suggested that EGC might be the problem is that our cat suffered from a "rodent ulcer" on his lip last summer, which luckily cleared up after a cortisone injection. He now gets 500 mg. of omega fatty acids every week to prevent a recurrence. I did a lot of research on EGC, and your description sounded a lot like cases I read about. One often cited cause was an allergic reaction to flea bites. I joined a German-language Yahoo discussion group which has helped tremendously. If your vet diagnoses EGC, you might want to do a Web search for such a support group. When JC developed the ulcer, our vet had him tested for herpes (negative), which she said often resulted in similar symptoms. Good luck! I hope you get to the bottom of the problem soon.
Hi Jcat, We are considering taking Daisy to a vet hospital in Sydney, it is a fair hike but she is used to being in the car every day for short distances. We are in a remote spot and services are slim, our vet is concerned for her but he is limited by his resources.

We still have Daisy on antibiotics and the infection in her nose seems to be clearing but her right nostril keeps running particularly at night. Our vet said a condidtion can occur in the nose where the membrane covering the bony structure in the nose can receed leaving an infection site that the body cant fix as the tissue has receeded. Unfortunately this part of the sinus cannot be easily seen and you need either a very small camera to see intothe canal or a major operation which involves sawing throught the cheek bone (ouch).

FHV feline herpes virus & FCV feline calicivirus are two other prospects as they produce flu like symptoms.

We will try more cortisone and the omega fatty acids although the fish in her diet should be supplying that, if she is no better we will take her to Sydney.
Thanks all for your advice and wishes, we will let you know what develops.
Regards Pete
 

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Pete, if they're checking her out for feline flu, you might want to mention that there have been cases in the U.S. of cats developing a type of flu normally only found in rabbits. I remember reading a short article on it about two years ago, and don't remember the details and can't find the article, but if it's not calici (nasty stuff) or herpes, perhaps a rabbit virus could be the cause. Good luck, and keep us updated.
 
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peter grady

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Thanks for that , we have rabbits on our property and she has caught the odd one ot two.

Pete
 

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Cortisone use alters glucose levels. If the cat is borderline diabetic, regular use of cortisone can be bad for her. Our old girl Shep is a step away from being diabetic, and we give cortisone shots each month, but only after they do a diabetic stick test on her to make sure her glucose levels are OK. Just more for you to ponder.
 

rang_27

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The cat in our shelter, gets insulin twice a day & recently we did a 12 hour test on him to monitor how his levels changed through out the day. We use the stick test on his ear to get his glucose levels. You can easily see all the veins in the ears & it's an easy place to test a cat. I just wanted to let you know what we were doing at the shelter in case it is diabetis. I hope she is OK & that it is something much simpler. I'm sorry your having these problems, I understand how difficult it can be.
 
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