Eosinophilic Granuloma

[pepsiandmax]

I think my cat might have eosinophilic granuloma. This weekend his lip (the lower lip, in the front, inbetween his canines) started to swell. It started with him looking like he did that "I smell something" (lion mouth) that cats do, but now there is a definetive lump there. Not sure if it hurts him, he is eating and playing like normal, I have tried to look at it and well he does not like it. Not sure if its because its pain or just him not wanting me to touch and open his mouth (he is a cat, and does not like being handled any sich way).

I called the vet today of course an have an appointment for tomorrow, but does anyone have any experiance with this? What would treatment involve? I hope for an injection, he is horrible at taking oral meds, always sniffing it out, awoiding it.

Its just so sudden, he is 2 years old, never had any problem with allergy. He is an indoor cat. We did just move into a new apartment, and I have kept the window open a lot because of warm weather, I have noticed pollen in the air myself, could that be it? Or can it simply be the plastic bowl? Its just so sudden... but thats how allergies develope I guess.

Tried to take a picture, but as I said he does not really like to be handled.

 

[jcat]

The usual treatment is a shot of Depo Medrol.
Our last cat had a rodent ulcer (EGC) a couple of times. What helped in addition to the Depo was a fish oil supplement, every day when he had an ulcer, once a week for maintenance when he was symptom-free. You could ask your vet about that.

 

[pipperoo]

I had this happen a couple of times with my young cat. Vet feels it is allergies (it can be a reaction to a flea bite). I notice that at this time of year she gets a bit sneezy so I'm not surprised that it could be an allergic reaction. She was kind of a "sensitive" kitten with stubborn gingivitis and herpes but seems to be growing out of all of her sensitivities as the vet predicted she would. I still watch her like a hawk though and am a total worry wart about everything!!

 

[mackiemac]

Seconding the possibility of EGC (eosinophilic granuloma complex... I ain't typin' all that out again!). The complex can present in several forms. One form is the 'rodent ulcer' that jcat mentioned. Another form, which our oldest cat Skye (15) has is the one triggered by fleas and mosquitoes. Her nose gets all itchy and inflamed, and she starts tearing at it until it's a red, raw, bloody mess.

While Depo is a frequently used (and often effective) treatment for this to calm things down, it is a powerful drug that isn't without side effects. Skye has had quite a few Depo shots without incident in her life, but when she was 13-- she had a very bad reaction. She got very lethargic and would not eat without a great deal of intervention from us. She lost a lot of weight, went to hiding, and went almost to a zombie state. Our old vet seemed unconcerned, because her blood work showed no obvious sign of organic involvement, diabetes, etc. But she was in terrible shape, and we thought we were going to lose her. Then, over the following months-- yes, months-- she recovered for the most part. But based on that, she won't get any more of it unless it's life or death. She now gets oral prednisolone (like dose packs), which have a much shorter lifetime in the body, and we can withdraw it if necessary. (At the moment, she had a short course of Onsior, an NSAID for her arthritis so we have to wait and only use topical cream on her itchy nose!)

Depo stays and works in the body for several weeks, which is a good thing for the benefits it provides in so many cases... but unfortunately, any negative effects can last just as long. In fact, the prefix 'Depo-' when used as a drug name, means 'slow or long-lasting', so the long 'dwell time' in the case of such medicines is a desired effect, but not if those effects are bad. And, being an injection, well, you can't call back a bullet.

I'm not telling you to avoid Depo, only to be aware that like any drug, it can have adverse reactions and they can be severe and long-lasting. It is a very useful drug and gives a lot of relief when it works well, but it does have the potential for side effects.

~Mackie