Eosinophilic Granuloma or Throat Cancer? :: Experience/Advice Requested

[moonlitwoods]

My ~15+ cat has been struggling with several issues for about two years. She's been to four different vets looking for answers. The last vet visit, a bright red spot was seen in her throat, near her epiglottis. Vet told me it was either Eosinophilic Granuloma or carcinoma.

Symptoms. These have come and gone during the last 18-24 months, all waved off by the various vets seen. They never resolved completely or continued to recur, so I was persistent in taking her back to a vet.

• hard swallowing (most common)
• terrible breath (true for a long time, even after her teeth were cleaned two years ago)
• voice change or loss of high-register meows (persistent last 10-11 months)
• occasional bouts of snuffling/sneezing
• drooling (happened once for a few days)
• recently developed a slight, random head shake, as if there's an itch somewhere (like her throat) she can't reach

Good Stuff:

• eats/drinks normally
• litter box activity normal
• plays, acts mostly normal for a cat her age
• Solensia (11 months) for arthritis well-tolerated
• bloodwork normal
• physical exams "normal"

I wondered if she had an allergy to something in her diet (Royal Canin Pea and Duck kibble) so I sent some of her hair into a lab for sensitivity testing. Several "moderate reactivity" items on the results are in her food, and one "high reactivity" item is also in her food. So that seems to support the possibility of an eosinophilic issue.

Tomorrow I'm going to make and appointment at her animal dental clinic to get a biopsy of the lesion in her throat. In the interim, I'm trying to prepare myself for the worst possibility. I've resisted the idea that it's cancer because it's dragged on so long (at least 18 months) and if it were cancer, it seems she'd have died already because it's so aggressive. So I've been clinging to the eosinophilic throat ulcer angle. But I'm scared. What if it's both? Was EG and now also has SCC?

Has anyone been in this situation? Received a similar preliminary diagnosis? Any other thoughts? Advice? Warnings?

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Of course you're scared , but the symptoms you list, together with the "good stuff" don't really sound like throat cancer to me, however, I'm not a Vet. But I have read several threads here on TCS about cats with oral cancer and one of the main issues was loss of appetite.

Have you changed her food yet. I'm hoping that will really help out. And sometimes with EG I believe an antibiotic is helpful, but of course, I wouldn't give them without a true diagnosis just because giving them willy nilly is not a good practice

Please let us know what the biopsy shows.

 

[silent meowlook]

Going to a dental specialist is a good idea. Eosinophillic Granuloma Complex is a very misunderstood disease. There are lots of speculations on it but as far as I know, nobody really knows what causes it. Allergy would be highly suspect. If you can, switch him to canned food. They make the PD in canned variety. Make sure you are using stainless steel or ceramic dishes and wash in soap and hot water, rinsing thoroughly between use. Why? Why not. It might help and ECG in the form of rodent ulcers has been linked to the bacteria that grows on dishes. It won’t hurt to try this.

I am sorry your cat is going through this. Did they put him on antibiotics? If there is a bad smell from his mouth, it might be a good idea.

 

[ShahnazAC]

My Prince had something similar like this. He had 2 flat, raised plaques on the roof of his mouth towards the back that would get bigger and smaller. They were red and angry but it never stopped him from eating/drinking or acting any differently. I never noticed any blood or blistering. He used to stick his tongue out a lot and drool a little, which the vet put down to the exotic shorthair breed, (I never thought this to be entirely the case).

We did a FNA and the vet said it the test indicated it could be mast cell cancer but he didn't think so and to do a biopsy. They removed one of the plaques for the biopsy and the result confirmed it wasn't cancer. The biopsy side plaque interestingly never came back nor was it ulcersted after the biopsy but the other larger side remained. Vet said it was easonophilic granuloma and was put on steroids. He had these symptoms since he was 10 months old to 4years 11 months old.

Prince eventually passed away 1 month shy of his 5th birthday for reasons the vets nor I will ever know. Six days before his passing he stopped eating abruptly and coughed up fresh blood only the once. I rushed him to his local vet who then referred him to one of the countries largest specialist animal hospital. The internal medicine team there were confident there was a link between the ulcers in his mouth and the coughing of blood. During this time they told me he had severe anemia and needed 2 rounds of blood transfusions to stabilise, (once cat blood followed by dog blood). They couldn't identify where he was losing blood despite doing several scans. Unfortunately, he never did stabilise and peacefully passed away in his sleep. The specialist suspect everything was connected but can't be 100% sure as they also think he might have had a underlying heart condition.

I don't mean to scare you at all but, as long as the testing isn't too invasive and your cat Is healthy otherwise, I would really explore to get answers. With the biopsy you will get more definitive answers and will find out if it's cancer or not.

All the best and do keep us posted.