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Old November 19th, 2008, 01:39 PM
Cleo WA Cleo WA is offline
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Feline Stomatitis

My 3 1/2 spayed female cat has been diagnosed with feline stomatitis. One vet said this is a gum/immune disorder and prescribed 5mg of prednisone every other day and 1/2 cc metronidazole syrup twice a day. She also said that we are looking at removing the cat's teeth from the canines back (she has already removed the four back molars, two top, two bottom). Also this tooth extraction may not help at all. I took my cat to another vet for a second opinion. Vet #2 said this is a jaw bone disorder and to continue on the 5 mg of prednisone and also prescribed antibiotics of 0.5 mL antirobe aquadops once a day. He also said that there is no cure and he does not recommend pulling any of the cat's teeth. Continue the 5 mg prednisone eod as long as possible (i.e., until the stomatitis gets really bad, her liver fails, etc. and we have to put her down).
Both vets agree that this is a little known and understood problem.
What are your thoughts on feline stomatitis? I thank you very much.
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Old November 19th, 2008, 02:17 PM
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sugarcatmom sugarcatmom is offline
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Hi Cleo Wa, welcome to pets.ca!

I don't have any personal experience with stomatitis, but I do know that it can be a very frustrating condition to deal with. I've never heard of it referred to as a jaw bone disorder. It tends to be looked upon as an immune system disorder. As drastic as it sounds, from what I know from others who have been through this with their cats, sometimes pulling most of the teeth is the only option. Here are some previous posts on the topic:

http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread....ght=stomatitis
http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread....ght=stomatitis

And another link:
http://veterinarynews.dvm360.com/dvm...tegoryId=32631
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Old November 19th, 2008, 03:49 PM
Cleo WA Cleo WA is offline
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Thank you!

Thank you, Sugarcatmom!
You have given us much more information than I thought we would ever receive - and so quickly too! I appreciate you taking the time to answer and to send the many links. I will have much reading to do and information to discuss with our vets.
The jaw-bone info given by our second opinion vet was from a recently published article written by D.H. DeForge, VMD in Veterinary Practice News, Nov. 2008.
Again as I sit at the computer my kitty is on my lap, purring so loudly you may hear her!! She has not lost any weight; her coat is very silky and clean. And she prefers crunchy food to soft canned food which surprises us greatly. She does not have bad breath anymore, and where she licks my hands there is no residual odor either. Good! She is very alert, plays constantly, "hunts and stalks" birds and mice but rarely catches either. I think she just likes the game of chase!
I think that one of the necessary things we must do is to routinely clean the plaque from her teeth. I will speak to the vets about this. We certainly do not want to pull her teeth, but if that is what must be done then it is what must be done. We do worry about what continued use of prednisone will do to her system.
Again THANK YOU! I am so glad to have found this site for information and sharing.
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Old November 19th, 2008, 05:25 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cleo WA View Post
She is very alert, plays constantly, "hunts and stalks" birds and mice but rarely catches either.
It sounds like she's doing great! Certainly not ready for a major teeth-pulling. The cats that benefit from this procedure are usually in a severe amount of pain, off their food, and it's the last resort before euthanasia.

Prednisone does have it's risks, but so does letting the stomatitis get out of hand. It's always a good idea to weigh the risks when using ANY medication and pick the lesser of 2 evils. If the pred is working for her, you can deal with problems as they come up, if they ever do.

I"m off to go read that article by Dr. DeForge. I have to admit that I'm rather fascinated by stomatitis. I hope your kitty continues to do well, and please keep us updated on her progress.
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Old November 19th, 2008, 10:37 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cleo WA View Post
The jaw-bone info given by our second opinion vet was from a recently published article written by D.H. DeForge, VMD in Veterinary Practice News, Nov. 2008.
Well that was very interesting reading. Not sure what to think, especially since the osseous surgery that Dr. DeForge is advocating is pretty severe. My thoughts are that whether it's the bone or the teeth that are the problem, it's still basically an immune disorder.

Which brings me to a couple options you might want to consider. There is something called Transfer Factor that can help balance an out-of-whack immune system. More info on that here: http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/tf.htm

Then there is Lactoferrin. Here was a study done on it's use in cases of feline stomatitis:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8...?dopt=Abstract

As for maintaining oral health, there is a product called Biotene Antiseptic Oral Gel which can be effective at dealing with inflamed gums and mouth infections.
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Old November 20th, 2008, 06:20 PM
Cleo WA Cleo WA is offline
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Hello again. I've been online most of the afternoon looking up the many links for feline stomatitis. I feel very fortunate to have found pets.ca because of the wealth of information about this disease and its treatment and to know that our cat, Cleo, is not alone. There are more medicines out there than what my vets have talked to me about. I can assure you that we will be discussing different ideas for Cleo's treatment; rather than a "quick pull of her teeth". Just as in being your own advocate when you see your physician, you the owner of your pet must be their advocate to see that the treatment that they are receiving is the correct one for that time in their illness/health. Thank you again to sugarcatmom! You were the one to help my research become much more successful. Also Cleo looks like your kitty's picture. Because Cleo's eyes are rimmed in "mascara", my husband thought the name Cleopatra was "purr-fect"!
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Old November 21st, 2008, 03:14 AM
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I've also never dealt with stomatitis but have more links for you:

http://www.felineoutreach.org/links.html#Stomatitis

I have however dealt a little with Feline Resorption Lesions more info here WSAVA 2001 Feline Odontoclastic Resorptive Lesions. As it is a fairly common dental problem in older cats I'm wondering if this is why the original molars were pulled.
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Old November 26th, 2008, 07:01 PM
Cleo WA Cleo WA is offline
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Thank you for the links for feline dental info

Thank you for helping us with Cleo's stomatitis. For the moment she is doing quite well. She is finishing her antibiotics and Prednisone and next week or the following week we will be taking her in for another exam on her teeth, and probably a cleaning. When I "peak" into her mouth, her gums look so much better. Just wish they would stay that way!

I have recommended this website to several of my friends. They have found it quite useful too.

Again THANK YOU!!
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Old November 26th, 2008, 11:20 PM
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Glad to hear Cleo is doing better
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Old November 27th, 2008, 07:40 AM
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I attended a lecture by a vet who practices traditional chinese med and western meds and stomatitis in cats was one of the topics. She stated that aside from genetics, it is believed that diet may be the reason for it. Commercial diets that acidify their food to eliminate crystals may be causing enamel wear on the teeth.

Best thing: raw diet with bones, but she did caution that cat's digestive system is very sensitive and MUST be fed a properly prepared diet. She recommended NO kibble, especially those high in grains/corn.
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Old February 5th, 2009, 02:21 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sugarcatmom View Post
Well that was very interesting reading. Not sure what to think, especially since the osseous surgery that Dr. DeForge is advocating is pretty severe.
SEVERE seems to be the operative word here.
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Last edited by meow; February 5th, 2009 at 03:55 PM.
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  #12  
Old January 28th, 2013, 04:59 PM
Moogie Moogie is offline
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Thumbs up Stomatitis experience

Harrison was brought to me from a woman who had many cats and was outrunning an abusive husband. Harrison is HIV positive and has stomatitis. After trying everything, we did the extreme on removing the teeth. Over time the stomatitis calmed down. The key was moving to a raw diet. I use TCFeline plus w/liver, add two egg yolks (never the raw whites for cats), raw turkey that i don't grind, Costco, Sam's club, whatever works great. Mix up a big batch. Freeze and defrost as needed. Cats are obligatory carnivores as stated around the kibble issue. Mr. Harrison is now eating without pain and once in a while a depo shot is required. He loves his food. My aversion to raw was overcome based on I don't grind everything and by the way, ground food with bones in it would be too harmful to a stomatitis mouth, mix and serve within minutes. Now, not all the cats are the same and will respond the same.Every condition is unique. But I do think it more than coincidental that he has improved so much on the raw. The very very back of his mouth gum lines show some inflamation, but not anything like it was. Now removing the teeth immediately does not stop the inflamation, but now his gums look so good, he doesn't drool except a tiny bit and he is calm and happy. I thought we would have to put him to sleep but with the help of some good vets and changing my aversion to raw, we are trending healthy. Hope this helps. And the TCFeline raw premix changed everything. From Harrison and Susan

Last edited by Moogie; January 28th, 2013 at 05:00 PM. Reason: typo
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