Good luck with Rocky. The cat I originally wrote about in 2017 was also named Rocky. Rocky Raccoon because that is what I thought he was when I first saw him in the tree. He made it 3 years after the first post.
20 years old is great for a cat! Congratulations! I hope Rocky does as well. It could be something else. We’ll see what the vet says.
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It could be cancer. They can get cancer in the sinuses. Any nose bleeds?
No nose bleeds, but I wonder about a tumor that makes his breathing difficult. Would steroids work to reduce swelling in a tumor?
In case helpful - I have an EG cat and diagnosing it required a biopsy, as I recall. He also has allergies (we had a panel done) so is on a strict novel-protein/hypoallergenic diet. He had periodic flareups which manifested as swellings between the toe pads and, in severe cases, that ‘bubble’ of swelling in the mouth that your guy has - scary!
He lives on a very low dose of prednisolone (1/2 tablet every other day). Once EG diagnosis was confirmed, he was also started on Atopica (a large and expensive pill!), first daily, then tapering over many months/years down to twice per week. (We’ve actually recently taken him entirely off it since he’s been doing really well.)
In cases of severe flareups, at advice of our vets, we start him on two tablets of prednisolone per day and gradually taper him over a few weeks back to his minimum effective dose. I was concerned about the long-term steroid use, but we get regular bloodwork, and his levels are all normal despite 4+ years of steroids.
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We took Rocky to the vet this morning and he was diagnosed with asthma. He’s under control right now and she doesn’t think a lung X-ray would show anything, but his history suggests a severe attack over the weekend. No lesions in his mouth (she got a good look). His mouth looks funny because he opens it to breathe when he’s short of breath. Poor buddy. We have prednisone to give him. He gets two pills a day for a week, then one pill for a week, then every other day and weaned off until he relapsed. The vet said it was good we got him breathing okay with the dexamethazone. Lucky we had it on hand over the weekend. Prednisone is better for asthma in the long run.
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