Conference misery::feline_v1

    Could be Rodent Ulcer.  Check the keywords for more info.
    Also, several of the upper respiratory illnesses cause ulcerations
    in the mouth.  I haven't ever had this happen to one of my cats,
    but would be interested to learn whatever you find out about it.
    
    Jo

The latest issue of CAT FANCY has a discussion of Rodent Ulcers and
treatment for them in the section discussing different health problems
that readers' cats experience.  I was interested to learn that they
can occur near the mouth or on the hind quarters where patches of fur
will fall out.  Some feliners have mentioned these kinds of problems
with their cats in the past.  It's a good issue to read.

    Make damn sure that your vet knows what he's talking about.
    About a year ago my 'ex-vet'said our cat had a Rodent Ulcer and
    he treated it for weeks,and it only got worse.We then took her to
    another Vet who said it was cancer. We lost her about 6 weeks 
    later.
           I'm not saying that the first vet could have saved her
    but he kept on giving us false hope.So if need be get a 2nd opinion.
    
                                             GOOD LUCK 
                                             GOOD HEALTH

    One of my cats, Stitch has Rodent Ulcer, but so far it's only appeared
    on his left leg.  We started treating him with steroids but my vet
    switched him to Tribbesen (sp) #30 - 1 pill a day for 10 days. 
    This medication puts it ino a remission for months at a time and
    is believed to be much easier for the animal in the long run.  They
    don't know why Trib works on Roden Ulcer, but it does.
    
    I know that the vet always checks out Stitch's mouth to be sure
    that the ulceration hasn't gone there.  Even with the Trib it takes
    a few day for the irritation to go down and sometimes a bump will
    remain which is the collegen under the skin.
    
    Ask your vet about the Trib.
    
    
    Giudi in S.F.

    Thanks for the pointers.  I had asked about plastic dishes during
    the visit, but the vet said it wasn't that kind of problem.  I will
    switch to china just to be on the safe side.  I am encouraged by the 
    fact that it has gone down a slight amount which I hope rules out
    cancer.  Holly does have many strange allergies and sensitivities,
    so the auto-immune thing sounded logical.  She also is a carrier
    of respir. disease.  I'll ask about the Tribbesen when I talk to the vet.
    

      
    
    Good idea to switch her to china or pottery dishes, don't forget
    her water dish too!  (Blush, that was the one I forgot when we switched
    their food dishes.)
    
    Feline hopeful for a good recovery,
    
    Sue & Panther & Spot
    

    I did switch the dishes a few days ago.  There has not been much
    progress in healing, so the vet wants to try another ten days
    of prednisone (sigh).  I get the pill _way_ back in her throat
    and hold her mouth gently closed and stroke her throat until
    I feel her swallow.  She sits there as calm as anything and then
    gets up and spits the pill out. sigh.  I have learned to hold
    her until she _really_ swallows.
    

    My very first breeding cat "P.T." short for Pillow Talk had rodent
    ulcers.  Prednisone helped a little, but the best treatment for her was
    to be pregnant.  When she wasn't pregnant, we would keep her on Ovaban. 
    
    P.T. never got the ulcers any place but her mouth.  Unfortunately, the
    ulsers would never really clear up, we'ld get them better for a short
    period, and then they would come back again.  It was very frustrating.  
    
    P.T. eventually lost her fight with the Rodent Ulcers at about 5 years
    old (she had them from about 5 months when we got her...she had them
    when I picked her up!).  Eventually the Ulcers ate away all of her
    upper lips and alot of her nose and we had no choice but to put her
    down.
    
    She was a wonderful cat...the cat that produced my first show kitty,
    and got me interested in breeding.  Whenever I think of her, I still
    get tears in my eyes.
    
    cin
    

    re: .8
    
    That is really scary.  Does anyone know how
    often ulcers like these are incurable?
    

    Re: Pill taking
    
    Try covering the pill with butter or marge - works every time with
    Percy and Pookie!
    
    Lisa (and the ginger crowd)
    

    Well, thank goodness the ulcer is getting smaller.  At the rate it's
    disappearing, it will probably be 4 weeks total on prednisone before
    it disappears.  I left a copy of the note about trebwhatsis with the
    vet's secretary,  but I haven't
    had a chance to talk to the vet about it since then.
    

    Holly got a clean bill of health at the vet's yesterday;  the ulcer is all
    healed.  I asked him about the cat who had to be euthanized because the
    rodent ulcer finally didn't respond to treatment, and he said that
    although they are sometimes slow to respond, that sounded incorrect
    to him, and he thought what might have happened was that the cat had
    squamous (sp?) cell carcinoma that was improperly diagnosed as a
    recurrence of rodent ulcer.  If so, that makes two cats in this note
    who had mouth area cancers that were improperly diagnosed as rodent
    ulcer: beware.
    

    P.T. (Pillow Talk) was diagnosed as having the cancerous rodent ulcer. 
    We knew when we started treatment that it was possible that it would 
    never go away.  I don't think that there was anything more we could
    have done for P.T. but what we did.  She had a happy life, although it
    wasn't as long as it could have been, she didn't suffer. 
    
    When we got to a point that we didn't think she was comfortable anymore
    and she was having trouble breathing we had to put her down.  I know in
    my heart that this was the only decision that could have been made.  I
    still regret that I didn't go with her...my husband brought her...it
    was just too hard on me.  He did stay with her.  It took me several
    days to be able to go into the cattery after that....and I still have
    pictures of her on my desk.  
    
    I have tears in my eyes thinking about her....she brought me into the
    wonderful world of Cat Shows, and produced the first cat I had that
    made a final.  
    
    I have to thank Jim and Bonnie Starks for bringing P.T. and I
    together...the three of us worked at DEC in MKO at the time.  Even
    before Notes, we managed to find each other.  
    
    She was one special kitty.
    
    cin
    

    Question???  Does rodent's ulcer have anything to do with rodents?
    
    Thanks for any replies.
    
    Flo

    Re: .14
    
    No.
    
    re: .13
    
    I'm sure there was nothing more you could have done.  I had the 
    mistaken impression from your previous note that maybe the vet didn't
    know it was cancerous, and so he might have not started some treatment
    that could have helped.

    =.14
    
    I asked my vet the same ? when I found out Stitch had it - and his
    answer was NO.  The name Rodent's Ulcer really does sound quite
    disgusting on its own without having anything to do with Rodents
    in the first place. -- oh well
    
    
    Giudi