2.5 Year Old Cat with Stomatitis and Pododermatitis

[shanarb]

Hello all,

We adopted a cat from the PSPCA about a year and a half ago.  In the last 6-9 mos, he's been showing outward signs of immune compromised issues.  First, he was diagnosed with stomatitis (the awful, painful tooth rejecting gums problem) and then just in the last 4 mos, he developed pododermatitis (aka pillow foot).  

His teeth issues have been holding steady.  He doesn't seem to be in nearly the amount of pain that he was initially.  It's his feet that have really been bad now.  He's currently on .50mL of doxy.  At first, his pads cleared up from the puffiness and his claws quit oozing pus.  But even on the daily doxy (we're into the 2nd month), his pads are getting bad again.  Tonight, I found dried pus around one of the pads.  

I've read on a few websites that these two conditions have been found together and that we should get Oren tested for FIV, which we can certainly do.

I feel horrible for my little dude.  I realize that sometimes finding answers takes awhile, but I just want something to work and make him feel better.

Anyone have experience to share?  Did any of the meds work for you?  Any suggestions of the next route we should try?  Some folks say to try raw food, which we've fed in the past, but we were both working then.  My husband is in the process of finding a job, so we've been doing our best to do right by our little dude, but work within our budget too.

Just assuming he has FIV, how do you take care of your FIV cat?  Do any of you have FIV/pillow foot/stomatitis cats?

Thanks so much,

ShanaRB

 

[shanarb]

Oh!  I also wanted to add that he's started puking most times that we give him the doxy.  I read to make sure he has eaten before we give it to him, but it still seems to upset his system.  Has anyone figured out how to keep this medicine down?

 

[ischa]

Hi there,

The most common course of pododermatitis in a cat is Plasma Cell Pododermatitis. Your correct that there is a link between FIV and this condition, though not all cats with this condition are positive for FIV, so you should check for FIV first. You should also make a definite diagnosis by taking biopsies.

Arond 50% of the cats with plasma cell pododermatitis respond to doxycycline. You nead to treat for many moths with this after suppression, which should be achieved within 2 months. If this is not effective high doses of prednisolone or ciclosporine could be tried.

Hope this helps!

Ischa

Veterinarian from Holland

 

[denice]

I think the first thing you need to do is get him checked for FIV/FeLV.  Whether he is positive or negative could affect treatment.  If he is negative then he is having an auto-immune reaction, which is 'compromised' but not in the way you would think.  His immune system is in overdrive and attacking healthy tissue.  Doxy is the usual treatment because it is an antibiotic with anti-inflammatory properties.  If he is negative for FIV and FeLV then I would ask about trying a round of steroids.  The steroids ratchet down the immune response so I would want to know if he has FIV or FeLV.

 

[shanarb]

Thank you, Denise,

We have an app't on Monday to test for FIV and to have the doc look at this new flare-up.

We've done steroids twice, both times he was clear of flares for about a month.  Our doc didn't care for giving Oren steroids and wanted to keep them to a minimum.  On Monday though, we are going for a second opinion and to see what this new doc suggests. Crossing fingers all around!

 

[shanarb]

We had blood work done on our cat and discovered he was negative for FIV/FeLV.  It surprised the vet to discover quite high AST and ALT liver enzymes and she diagnosed him with Cholangitis.  We've started meds to protect his liver, started introducing a new food that is hypoallergenic (and so expensive, holy crap!!) and she's going to check him in 2 weeks to see if the liver calms down on its own.  None of the other numbers were elevated, so she doesn't think its a liver disease per say, just inflamed. We're crossing our fingers.  She thinks it is quite likely that his feet flared because his liver flared and she also thinks he might be a rare cat who has a very rare case of autoimmune funkiness.  We're hoping a modified diet and some food adjustments will help greatly.

To be continued...

Thank you for your suggestions!  (If anyone has anymore, happy to listen!)

-Shana