Vet says this is “probably” what it is and gave a cortisone shot. Anybody got experience with this? Cat is 17 plus years old…some type of lesion inside his mouth, I thought he had a tooth problem. Vet looked at it but I did not see it. Cat is eating well but makes a weird sound when chewing.
Liz had a few of these. We managed with prednisolone. They were itchy for her but otherwise weren’t really much of an issue that I can recall. They got a little scabby when they got bigger.
She also had squamous cell carcinoma in her mouth, which is fairly common in kitties. “Some type of lesion inside his mouth” pretty much describes those, and the age is right. Is the vet SURE you’re not dealing with one?
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Thanks Simkie. The vet was not very definite in what he was saying, i.e. let’s try a cortisone shot so I am not feeling real confident…
Unfortunately in a 17 year old cat a lesion or mass inside the mouth is cancer until proven otherwise. Squamous cell carcinoma is the most common oral tumor in cats.
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Thank you barngirl. This cat showed up shortly after I bought my farmette. Hiding in an arborvitae, covered with burdocks. He’s a Maine coon…so it actually looked like there was a raccoon in the tree at first.
I am just hoping I can keep him comfortable, he eats enthusiastically.
Is there anything that can be done for such a tumor…? I can’t take extreme measures unfortunately…
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Prednisolone will help slow it down, HP. Can you pill him?
Other than that, I was told there’s not much that can be done. But the good news is kitties are rarely bothered by them. We kept Liz on the pred every day and put her down at home right before we moved to CT–didn’t feel like it was fair to ask a 18 yo cat with cancer to make the move across the country. She probably would have done well for another few/six months before the tumor really got to be a problem though.
To confirm, it might be worthwhile to send him in for a full dental with radiographs. That’s how we found out about Liz–it was barely visible when looking in her mouth (to the vet, during the dental…we never would have seen it), but the rads were telling. Confirmed via biopsy.
Yes thanks Simkie I can do that.
I hope it is not cancer. One of my 18 yr old cats I’d had since she and her siblings were kittens got cancer in her mouth, and had to be pts because of lack of ability to control the pain.
It is great that you took in the kitty and took care of it. Hope it is the problem your vet thinks it is rather than cancer.
Maine coon cats are cool. My aunt had one she inherited when he refused to stay where his owner moved, and returned to his old neighborhood 3x…
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Eosinophilia granuloma ( EGC) is usually allergic in origin… I would suspect you would have seen a lesion at some point in her lifetime if truly an ECG lesion. I too would be worried about a malignant lesion.
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Could be chronic stomatitis. My 16 year old boy has had two oral surgeries to remove lesions, along with most of his teeth, and he still gets gum lesions flaring up now and again (these are usually accompanied by inflamed scabs and sores on his nose). When he gets obviously uncomfortable he goes to the vet for a combined steroid/antibiotic shot and then he’s good for another 3 months or so.
My vet says we could take the rest of his teeth, and that would probably resolve the issue for good, but he’s old and his kidney function isn’t the best, so I’m loathe to put him under general anesthesia again. She also tells me that a steroid shot every 3 months is not a bad way to manage this, so that’s what I’m going with.
My 6 year old tabby girl is showing signs of gum inflammation already, and we’re going to go ahead and pull those teeth now so as to hopefully head off any major issues down the road. Vet tells me that she often sees stomatitis in cats from the same household - we hypothesize that it’s got something to do with the local fauna (microbiome).
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Reviving this thread with questions…
We have a cat with allergies to chicken, we think. All the cats eat a chicken free diet as a result. He has a low level allergy that makes his face a bit swollen all the time, but it’s been a bit worse lately. He’s never been diagnosed with EG, but I wonder because his bottom lip swells up and he’s had sores in the past. I haven’t looked in his mouth (he isn’t the most cooperative of creatures). His old vet (before we moved) was either giving him dexamethazone shots every three months, or I gave him a daily dex pill when he seemed worse. New home, but we still have the pills. His breathing was alarming and his face even more swollen than usual the last few days. He sounded really bad this morning, so after agonizing about it and watching him carefully, I finally gave him a pill this afternoon. Is dex safe to treat as needed like this? I’ve read up on prednisone and that has a much more complicated way to give it. Both are steroids, but dex is treated so casually. Is this okay? I love our old vet, but he was retired and mostly a large animal vet, so I wanted to do a sanity check because it’s the weekend and Rocky won’t get seen until sometime this week.
Here’s Rocky. His mouth never looks fully closed because of the constant swelling. His breathing is audible, but this is pretty normal for him. It’s worse today. The Dex probably won’t kick in for another 15 mins.
After 30 mins it seems a little better.
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Wow, how scary. Dex as a rescue med here certainly seems to have worked, but I’d call Monday & get him seen ASAP for a workup–likely to include an exam and dental radiographs under anesthesia–so you know what you’re actually dealing with, and you can form a treatment plan.
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One of my previous cats had one on her tongue. We treated it with steroids, it would shrink down, then come back, then repeat. It lasted until her death at age 16. She was first diagnosed as a young cat age 6-8 with lip lesions, but those went away with steroids. The tongue lump was diagnosed around age 11. I’m reasonably certain it wasn’t cancer as it never spread. It did give her bad breath and she lost some teeth as she aged (and due to dental disease).
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You may be better with prednisolone then dexamethasone. Dexamethasone is stronger but more likely to cause kidney disease down the road (and has other side effects). If given daily, my vet has always used prednisolone tablets.
If the swelling is from an allergy then you may need to try some hypoallergenic foods. It’s important to determine what is causing the swelling so you can effectively treat it.
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Thanks. Rocky is 10 this year. Our old vet said he had allergies, but I “internet guessed” he has EG. If it’s true, I don’t know how it’s been missed all these years. He’s been to three different regular vets for yearly exams and shots. I guess they just accepted the allergy diagnosis. Maybe that’s all it is, but it sure looks more serious and his breathing changes are worrisome. Our new vet here hasn’t seen him, yet. We’ll see what they say. Hopefully, they can work him in this week.
We did food trials years ago and determined chicken, especially by-products, we’re no go foods. All the cats have been on chicken free diets since then. Also, one flea will make him itch like crazy and lose hair. It hasn’t been a problem since that one episode (indoor cats and dogs are treated regularly).
Until he’s seen by a vet, I’m going to keep giving him daily dex. The breathing is too scary.
If I didn’t have dex, it wouldn’t have gone well. Not a lot of options.
