Recurring mouth ulcers--need advice

[lizinflorida]

I adopted Maurice from the local cat rescue who had him for approx. 1 year (after trapping him nearby from a feral colony). 

Maurice was very skinny and had very dry rough hair and I thought that he just needed some better food to get him fit.  I noticed he was drooling a bloody pus from his mouth a few days later (he wouldn't come near us since he was still mostly feral).  I took him to my vet who diagnosed him with stomatitis.  Maurice got a Depo and an antibiotic shot and seem to recover almost immediately.  He began letting us pet him and was beginning to act very friendly when he began hiding and drooling again.  My vet suggested the extraction of the back teeth and that is what we did.  About 2 months later, Maurice began hiding and drooling again.  Now it is a regular routine, every two month or so, we go get a Depo shot and he is fine within a day.

Now my vet is trying oral laser treatments to see if we can either eliminate the stomatitis or control it longer between shots.  So far it is working, but we are not through with the series of treatments and then I will have to wait a couple of months to see if the infection returns.  I hope this helps as it is very disheartening to have to take him back to the vets office so much for the shots.  However, I will still get the shots every couple of months if this doesn't work as this shot makes him feel so much better so quickly.  He loves to be petted and get belly rubs all the time when he feels good.

Has anyone else tried oral laser treatments?

 

[txcatmom]

Has anyone else tried oral laser treatments?

Hi there.  We have a stomatitis kitty (I won't repeat the story since it is upthread.)  Our vet does offer the laser treatments but I have been hesitant to try them.  I've done a ton of reading online and never read any great success stories with the laser treatment.  But that's not to say they couldn't help your kitty....especially if your vet suggested it.  Please let us know how it goes. 

The improvement is dramatic after a Depo shot, isn't it?  It is good that you are experimenting with ways to lengthen the time between shots.  My Lucy is trying the Dallas treatment (mentioned upthread) right now but we will go back to Depo shots if that doesn't help.  Sure the Depo can have negative side effects, but in my opinion it is better to have a shorter pain free life than a long painful one.

Good luck with Maurice. 

Again, let us know how the laser treatment works.  I'd love to know. 

 

[minka]

After reading some of the info on here and other sites about raw diets, it looks like that is the way to go for all-around health.  I'm not sure I could do it financially right now (I have seven cats, a dog, two fosters, and no job--yikes) but I will check into the grain-free canned food.  

Just wanted to comment on this to say that a raw homemade diet can actually be the same price or cheaper than what you are already paying for dry. So don't count it out because of money.
:nod:

 

[lizinflorida]

I will let everyone know how the Laser Treatments go. 

I have had Maurice on the Depo shots for over 2 years with no side effects (except good results), but I just want to try to find a way to make the shots last longer or eliminate them.  I have only had 2 of a series of 6 Laser treatments, so I will let everyone know how they work in the long run.

I have another cat that had the same mouth condition (adopted from the same rescue and looks to be related or at least from the same feral colony as Maurice) named Freddy.  I also had to have his back teeth removed, but that was almost two years ago, and his condition has not returned, thank goodness.  So, it looks like extraction worked for him.  It seems that they both have an auto-immune condition that exacerbates the mouth problem.

 

[kielemoani]

Hi there. Do any of your stomatitis cats have flea allergies? I found this article very informative: http://www.2ndchance.info/egc.htm
My rescue, Atticus, is roughly 9 years old, and has suffered from a chronic "cough" which has been misdiagnosed as asthma and allergies. His gingivitis made most vets want to perform expensive dentals, until a vet at the low cost clinic noticed that Atticus has mouth ulcers. This vet did not want to do extractions and just wanted to push for continuous depo treatments to treat the flare ups. Like others have mentioned, the pain goes away for about 45 days, and he needs to get another shot after 60 days. The coughing seems to stem from swollen lymph nodes (his glands are often swollen like large peas in his throat). And he does have a severe flea allergy, but I haven't seen any fleas in at least a year.
I should mention that the shelter he came from had many cats with dental / "gingivitis" issues but were fed all wet food. One of them had a full extraction done and his mouth was still very sore, so I am avoiding that option for as long as possible.
Like the rest of you, I can't bear to see him in pain, but I don't want to run the risks of long term side effects. So I am going to switch him to a grain free diet (thanks to your suggestions) and look into flea prevention, just in case.