Cat with possible stomatitis

[vnkilu]

NOTE: i am aware of the mistakes i made along the line, i have not done my part as a good owner and provided my cat with the best life i could give her, i've overlooked the warning signs and i feel awful that i let her endure the pain she's been having for so long. i'm terribly sorry to lucky but i am more aware now and i will do my best to provide her with the best i have learnt from all this and i hope she recovers well.

background information about my cat:
hello, i am a owner of one cat, her name is lucky and we've had her for about 8 years now, when we got her she was still small (she has always been small in size) so i assumed she was less than a year old? (so she's about nine years) i'm not sure about her breed because we adopted her as a family and the people we adopted from didn't give any specification of what is her breed but i've attached what she looks like! if anyone has a clue about what her breed is, id like to know also if there are certain concerns towards certain breeds. she has also been pregnant thrice (1st time was before we adopted her, she had a daughter and we adopted her in as well, 2nd was because we let them roam outside (we had a a cat door and front yard w 2 trees so they mostly spent their time out) and she got pregnant from my neighbour's cat, afterwards we tried to get her spayed but she was still breastfeeding her kittens from the previous pregnancy, so we waited, and boom!! she got pregnant the third time, and we kept her inside for most of the time and brought her to go get spayed after she was finished breastfeeding her third litter of kittens) she is a mellow but very friendly cat and she is never hostile to strangers, loud sounds and a lot of people stress her out but she does not really hide but she gets more wobbly (we suspect its Cerebellar Hypoplasia but my parents brought her to the vet to get it checked out and they didn't find anything wrong with her and my parents said she was walking fine at the vet, it comes and goes a lot but i notice that its more often when theres a loud group of people visiting home so we try to bring her to a separate room)
i am the closest to her and we spend a lot of time together and she's been having her tongue out for about a year now (i wasn't aware that this was a problem and i feel terribly guilty that she has been suffering w her mouth problems for so long), at first it came and go but she started drooling and we assumed she was just getting old, her coat and breath were getting really smelly and she has always hated showers and got very stressed out from them and pooped everywhere afterwards (we were really gentle w her and didn't put the shower head directly onto her, we used a pail. so showers were out of the question but we used a foaming shampoo that does not need to be washed out, to help groom her but we noticed she always got stinky really fast, my parents noted that they saw her spitting or coughing out blood but i never saw it firsthand so i cant say much about that but i do see some trails of blood around the house. my stepdad (who is home the most, often says that she has diarrhoea from eating soft foods so kibble makes up most of her diet but we give her a bit of plain fish like salmon at least once or twice a week but we're more scared of her having an upset stomach.

stomatitis:
i was spending time with my cat at night and i saw that her mouth was foaming up very slightly (it could be just a lot of saliva) and she was looking very off and sick so i let her spend some time alone and i planned to ask my mum if we could bring her to the vet the next day, the next day, around dinner time when i was back home, i saw that my cat was looking worse than before, she had one eye closed, her mouth was very messy (saliva and blood, i assume) and she was looking very weak, she was still trying to walk to me and give me cheek rubs but she was struggling a lot and the wobble was very apparent as well, my stepdad also said she didn't eat well that day, i asked my mum if we could bring her to the vet and get her checked up tonight, and she agreed but we could not because most of the vets were closed and we didn't go to the 24h ones as they are really very expensive. i searched up the symptoms of lucky, and i realised how a lot of them link to stomatitis or a mouth infection

1. her tongue being stuck out
2. drooling
3. matted coat/unkempt appearance
4. smelly due to her inability to groom herself properly
5. weight loss
6. unable to handle food so she has an upset stomach

we planned to bring her to the vet the next day after i was done w school, but i wanted to help relieve some of the discomfort she was feeling that night, so we cleaned up the discharge around her face and spent some time w her in a quiet place making sure she wasn't too stressed, next morning, she was looking a lot better and her eye was open again.
we brought her to the vet and the vet took a look at her and said she was having a lot of discharge around her nose and mouth and she had a lot of ulcers inside her mouth which were bleeding and that she was very dehydrated, then she said that she would run a blood test to see if she has any kidney problems and if she had any disease contracted from outside cats. i attached the receipt we got from the vet sorry for the blurry camera quality, ill type it out but u can have a look for urself as well!!

• consult - standard 15 min $42 SGD
• procyte $85.60 SGD
• catalyst chem 17 $130 SGD
• snap feline fpl $67.40 SGD
• feline flv / felv test $58.75
• calvamox/clavdox injection $15.13 SGD
• buprenorphine injection $20.32 SGD
• curam $45.93 SGD
• buprenorphine oral $56.55 SGD
• subcutaneous fluid $30.07 SGD

the vet prescribed her an antibiotic (curam) which we are supposed to mix w water and syringe feed her 1.1ml twice a day for two weeks (she gave us two bottles and told us to throw the first bottle out after one week) and also painkillers to put onto lucky's mouth, 0.5ml/0.3ml (buprenorphine oral) twice a day for 3 days
she gave lucky an injection of antibiotics and another one to help her w her hydration but she didnt tell us about the opioid injection
i am also not sure if any of these were overcharged (i dont think so but id like to know if we were)
the test for the kidney and outdoor cat disease came back negative and lucky's red blood cell count was good but her white blood cells were slightly higher (i assume because she is having an infection in her mouth?)
we came home and let her rest because im pretty sure she was very stressed from the vet visit, (the vet said she was frozen, we weren't able to see her because of covid-19 and they just took our animals in and did the consultation through call as we sat outside the vet) the next day we started her antibiotics and painkillers (the curam and buprenorphine)
now it is day 4 of when we started giving her medicine and shes taking her antibiotics better (less resistance) and we finished her painkillers already, shes looking a lot better, i see less drool and her tongue isnt too out and shes taking more food in i feed her 1/4 of a can of soft food twice a day, i bought a better quality one and its not jellied, its a bit more oily, i was worried that it might cause diarrhoea but it seems alright and i was thinking it would help her eat because its oily and not as tough for her to eat, she does this thing when she eats the soft food where she uses her paw and tries to move the food?? but she doesnt touch her mouth, i think she does it out of discomfort so i smashed up the food even more and she seems to do it less after i do that
i think her recovery is going well, and i am going to give her a proper shower shortly after her antibiotics end because i think all her matted fur (its on her tail and paws) should be cleaned off, (if you guys have any tips on how to let my cat have a more stress free shower id like to hear it!!) its a bit tough to see her ulcers right now (she wont let me open her mouth for long to see it but im able to put the syringe inside because it doesnt take as long) i think i will check it once we finish the first 7 days of her antibiotics
i will also start brushing her teeth when her ulcers are better just to make sure there is no problems there
i posted this because, even though ive googled and brought lucky to the vet, id like to hear from other cat owners who might have something to add from their own experiences, id like to giveher the best i can! if u read all of this, thank u, and i will be eagerly awaiting ur replies

 

[MissClouseau]

she gets more wobbly (we suspect its Cerebellar Hypoplasia but my parents brought her to the vet to get it checked out and they didn't find anything wrong with her and my parents said she was walking fine at the vet, it comes and goes a lot but i notice that its more often when theres a loud group of people visiting home so we try to bring her to a separate room)

If anything like this happens again, try to record a video of it to show to the vet. You can also share the video here and ask about it of course.

her coat and breath were getting really smelly and she has always hated showers and got very stressed out from them and pooped everywhere afterwards

Why do you give her a shower? Stress is not good for their health and when they already have a condition which stomatisis/gingivitis is one, stress alone might give a flare-up. If there is a particular reason to give a shower and you can share that, we might have suggestions that could be less stressful.

my stepdad (who is home the most, often says that she has diarrhoea from eating soft foods so kibble makes up most of her diet but we give her a bit of plain fish like salmon at least once or twice a week but we're more scared of her having an upset stomach.

Wet food does not give diarrhea. Wet or food, if any food causes a digestive problem, it must be about the food. Food intolerance is common for example but if the cat is intolerant to one or more ingredients in that particular food, you can try another and see if that works well for the kitty.

she does this thing when she eats the soft food where she uses her paw and tries to move the food?? but she doesnt touch her mouth, i think she does it out of discomfort so i smashed up the food even more and she seems to do it less after i do that

Pate texture food is the easiest to eat for cats with mouth problems. You can add a bit of water to the food to make it more lickable too. Some cats prefer large bowls or flat plates as they don't like their whiskers touch the plate. She might also be having trouble with the plate being low.

i will also start brushing her teeth when her ulcers are better just to make sure there is no problems there

Brushing teeth helps greatly normally however, if she needs tooth extraction and/or her gums are sensitive, brushing might be a bit risky. As in, it might make an already sore area get more painful. Not to say don't try but keep an eye on the kitty and check if it does more harm than good. There are also other dental things you can try like no-brush tooth gels, water additives, dental treats...

You have a super lovely cat there. It would both help you and her if you and the other care takers can read more about taking care of a cat :-) I hope she feels better soon.

 

[vnkilu]

Hello! thank u for replying to my thread i appreciate this a lot

If anything like this happens again, try to record a video of it to show to the vet. You can also share the video here and ask about it of course.

i will! thank u for the suggestion, i will show it to the vet during the followup visit but and post it here when i have the chance

Why do you give her a shower? Stress is not good for their health and when they already have a condition which stomatisis/gingivitis is one, stress alone might give a flare-up. If there is a particular reason to give a shower and you can share that, we might have suggestions that could be less stressful.

i gave her a shower because her coat was looking very matted and she smelled very foul, the dry shampoo was not doing the job with the smell and i tried using wet wipes or just only wetting that part of her body and trying to wash it but it didnt work as well, i might give it another shot though because i think i just need more patience to get all the dirt off, i just read a thread over here of people explaining that they usually never shower their cats so im aware of that now thank u for bringing this to my attention, i dont give her showers but its just those times that i tried to, i was also a bit misinformed at the start because i thought i was a bad cat owner for not giving my cat a monthly shower because its quite common here for singaporean cat owners to do so, my mum also wanted to bring my cat to the groomers but her coat is already quite thin and short and i think it'd do more harm than good because she would get very stressed

Wet food does not give diarrhea. Wet or food, if any food causes a digestive problem, it must be about the food. Food intolerance is common for example but if the cat is intolerant to one or more ingredients in that particular food, you can try another and see if that works well for the kitty.

thank u for this! i wasnt aware im learning a lot from this and im sad to say that i learnt this quite late but i will try and find out what my cat is intolerant to

Pate texture food is the easiest to eat for cats with mouth problems. You can add a bit of water to the food to make it more lickable too. Some cats prefer large bowls or flat plates as they don't like their whiskers touch the plate. She might also be having trouble with the plate being low.

i will go and buy some pate textured food, for now since i have the time, i also help to hold the bowl close to her head and take it away when she is showing the discomfort, should i stop doing this? im not sure if this makes her dependent on me but ive also had her for 8 years and shes eaten fine for those 8 years

Brushing teeth helps greatly normally however, if she needs tooth extraction and/or her gums are sensitive, brushing might be a bit risky. As in, it might make an already sore area get more painful. Not to say don't try but keep an eye on the kitty and check if it does more harm than good. There are also other dental things you can try like no-brush tooth gels, water additives, dental treats...

thank u! i will visit the pet shop soon to look for those things, i asked my vet the same about brushing her teeth and she said not to for at least 2 weeks so i will keep a look out for my cat

You have a super lovely cat there. It would both help you and her if you and the other care takers can read more about taking care of a cat :-) I hope she feels better soon.

thank u she is very sweet and she loves pats and attention, i will work on myself as a pet owner and i hope if any other care takers read this we can take away more information about cats and their well being, this forum is very educational thank u!

 

[MissClouseau]

i gave her a shower because her coat was looking very matted and she smelled very foul, the dry shampoo was not doing the job with the smell and i tried using wet wipes or just only wetting that part of her body and trying to wash it but it didnt work as well

If she doesn't clean herself well, you can brush her daily maybe like twice a day. Is it her butt that smells? You may try wet wipes for that area. If the other body parts smell too, that must be due to her dental issues and bad breath.

i will go and buy some pate textured food, for now since i have the time, i also help to hold the bowl close to her head and take it away when she is showing the discomfort, should i stop doing this? im not sure if this makes her dependent on me but ive also had her for 8 years and shes eaten fine for those 8 years

Now that she is recovering, you can even try handfeeding her until she feels better. You can also try to place the bowl to a higher place so she won't need to lean if it's the leaning that is the problem.

For food, I can recommend Pro Plan delicate can

Gourmet Gold pate, Fancy Feast pate - they are also some favorites among cats :-)