I have a 14-year-old cat who has been diagnosed with stomatitis. She's currently on prednisolone for it, which seems to help. But I know that steroids aren't a good long-term option. She has had 2 Depo-Medrol shots, too, which I've heard are supposed to be more effective than oral prednisolone, but the first one lasted less than 3 weeks and the second one less than 2 weeks, so I'm back to giving her tablets, 5mg a day.
Having her teeth removed isn't an option because of the price, also her age and general condition (she also seems to have some IBD which the pred helps with too), and there are no dental specialist vets in the area. My vets says that his previous clinic cat got stomatitis, so he had his teeth removed by another vet, but they didn't get all the roots, so he had to have it re-done, and it still didn't cure it. . .anyway, my vet feels a little negative about the removal option, is what I'm saying.
Also---this is a big one---she is very aggressive, nearly unhandleable. She's always been like this. I have to put on leather gloves to pill her, and when we gave her the Depo-Medrol shots she screamed and peed on herself and tried to kill everyone, even wrapped in a towel. She had to be sedated for the initial diagnosis. So, with any treatment options, stress for her and danger to me and vets needs to be considered! I would rather not look for a second/third opinion, just because they probably will not be able to examine her, and my current vet is willing to give me meds without seeing her.
After reading up on it, I'd like to ask my vet for some buprenorphine. Does anyone use it for stomatitis? I understand it's pretty expensive; any tips for getting it cheaper? I think she might be nicer with some opiates in her system too .
And, any ideas on why the Depo-Medrol isn't working for very long? Is that a dosage issue? It would be nice to not have to pill her every day but she doesn't fight the pills too much so either one is fine. The pills are probably better just to spare the vet from having to deal with her anyway.
Any ideas, tips, tricks, etc.? She cannot be force-fed so keeping her eating is important. She's picky and won't eat baby food or pureed meat. She's currently eating Fancy Feast chicken flavors, classic and chunky, with the occasional can of turkey Gravy Lovers. I haven't noticed any link between what she eats and her condition.
Having her teeth removed isn't an option because of the price, also her age and general condition (she also seems to have some IBD which the pred helps with too), and there are no dental specialist vets in the area. My vets says that his previous clinic cat got stomatitis, so he had his teeth removed by another vet, but they didn't get all the roots, so he had to have it re-done, and it still didn't cure it. . .anyway, my vet feels a little negative about the removal option, is what I'm saying.
Also---this is a big one---she is very aggressive, nearly unhandleable. She's always been like this. I have to put on leather gloves to pill her, and when we gave her the Depo-Medrol shots she screamed and peed on herself and tried to kill everyone, even wrapped in a towel. She had to be sedated for the initial diagnosis. So, with any treatment options, stress for her and danger to me and vets needs to be considered! I would rather not look for a second/third opinion, just because they probably will not be able to examine her, and my current vet is willing to give me meds without seeing her.
After reading up on it, I'd like to ask my vet for some buprenorphine. Does anyone use it for stomatitis? I understand it's pretty expensive; any tips for getting it cheaper? I think she might be nicer with some opiates in her system too .
And, any ideas on why the Depo-Medrol isn't working for very long? Is that a dosage issue? It would be nice to not have to pill her every day but she doesn't fight the pills too much so either one is fine. The pills are probably better just to spare the vet from having to deal with her anyway.
Any ideas, tips, tricks, etc.? She cannot be force-fed so keeping her eating is important. She's picky and won't eat baby food or pureed meat. She's currently eating Fancy Feast chicken flavors, classic and chunky, with the occasional can of turkey Gravy Lovers. I haven't noticed any link between what she eats and her condition.