mouth ulcers for years

Hi all, writing in behalf of a friend's cat. Her cat has mouth ulcers for years now and the vet is baffled by his condition. He used to be a fat cat, but since he has ulcers, he wouldn't eat & he needs to get his steroid shots (depomedrol) every two weeks (he has been on steroids for years and is slowly killing him). His fur is ruffled (for me not a good sign) and is really thin. The vet couldn't think of any condition. He doesn't have calicivirus (not sneezing, no URI). Any thoughts? I wish could help the little guy, he's just so sweet. Thanks!

Has the cat been tested for FeLV? That is another disease where mouth ulcers are common. Has the vet ever performed a biopsy on the ulcer or did a complete dental work up? Could it be gingivitus or stomatitus?

Diagnosing mouth ulcers is pretty frustrating - I've had a couple cats over the years that have had them. Wish your friend luck for me please!

Hi Amy, thanks! I'm not sure if the cat has been tested for FeLV but would definitely suggest it to her. Most of the cat's teeth has been pulled out and it hasn't helped any bit. Not sure if biopsy has been done since diagnostic test & vet specialist are limited here in the Philippines. Anyway, the vet thinks it's something auto-immune, and that's what I pulled from the internet, stomatitus. She's going to fax some articles which I've found on the internet & hopefully it'd somehow change his treatment course. Thanks so much!

For 2 of the cats of mine that had chronic stomatitus, they were on an alternating regime of anti-biotics and steroids. There are some antibiotics better than others for oral problems - I vaguely remember antirobe aquadrops working very well. We'd give them a round of antibiotics, and once the mouth started to heal a bit, we'd take them off that and give them a shot of steroids. I hated giving them medicine all the time, and worried about decreasing their lifespan with the steroids, but it did make them feel better, and I opted for a quality of life over quantity of life.

I had a beautiful Siamese, Alice, that had mouth ulcers, and she would drool this foul smelling drip all over the place.(You could always tell where she had been) Then she started getting eye ulcers, having to have 3 surgeries without much success. It wasnt FeVL, but she did have to put down because of this...she was suffering so because of them