Eosinophilic Granuloma

[blueyedgirl5946]

My cat has for the second time been diagnosed with eosinophilic granuloma. The vet cleaned his teeth and found it again under his tongue. It was biopsied and we are waiting for a confirmation on the diagnosis. If it is this he will be treated with steroids. My vet says this is an allergy driven thing. I do not remember him telling me that before. He wa treated with steroids before and that is what my vet recommends this time upon receipt of the confirmation of the diagnois. Does anyone else here have any knowledge about what works. I am wondering if his food could have anything to do with it. He eats and drinks from stainless steel bowls.

 

[white shadow]

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Hi blueyedgirl5946 - it's been aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaages since I've seen you around!

Interesting location for this, first time I'm hearing of an oral presentation.

One tidbit that I remember and will drop for you is that it's often caused by a transient allergen, something 'passing by' on a one-time basis. Because of that, I was advised to not waste my time looking for a cause unless, of course there was recurrence. (for you to make that decision though, I suppose it would all depend on the length of time between your outbreaks/incidents)

How long since the first one? And, the location?

The very best in-depth coverage I had found was this one: Eosinophilic Granuloma Complex in Cats.

That required slow, digesting reading.....I found it interesting that it sometimes resembles certain cancers (and can morph into them). Best treatment is a strong 'slap' with a long-acting steroid. If my memory's accurate, it was depo-medrol.

Nice to see ya again!
.

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

Thank you most kindly for the welcome back. Yes, it has been a long time, but have never forgotten how much I loved his site and the friends I made here.
I appreciate your input. I will get back here with the answer about how long it has been. I still have the papers from that in my file downstairs. It was both times under his tongue. The vet found it both times when his teeth were being cleaned. This time, it is larger. Thak you for the length. I will certainly read it. Snoop eats a limited ingredient diet. His dry food is Natural Balance Green Pea and Duck Reserve LID food. His wet food is Merritck LID turkey and also chicken..When we first adopted him from Petsmart, they had to keep him an extra week after we signed the adoption papers. Then they sent him home with the store brand chicken based dry food. He was fine until we fed him that food and then it caused a big mess. The food was causing him extreme explosive diarrhea. That is why I chaned his food. I am beginning to wonder if the chicken cat food could cause this type of allergy thing.

 

[Furballsmom]

I don't think we've met since I came along later, but I remember seeing your avatar at one point and thinking it was so fun

Would you be interested in trying Mouser? They have a couple varieties without chicken or turkey.
Muridae Pet - Mouser Pet Food

 

[white shadow]

....The food was causing him extreme explosive diarrhea. That is why I changed his food.

Approximately when did you make that (last) change? When was the first EGC outbreak?

I mean, the interval between the introduction of an allergen and the evidence of a reaction is usually short, not months/more.

Cats immune systems are really, like REALLY 'weird' too, though....as in, don't bother to even try!! Sometimes it's an endless journey, like 'down the ol' rabbit hole'.

Anyways, be careful..........from the direction you thread is heading, you may already be on that trip!
.

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

We got Snoop January 2016. HIs first outbreak of this was April 2018. By this time he was eating Merrick LID limited ingredient diet chicken and turkey cat food. I want to say here I am not looking for advice on what to feed my cat. Please do not post links as I can find that for myself. I want to hear about somebody else's experience with this.

Questions:
Is there is anyone else reading this thread who has a cat that has had condition.
What course of treatment was suggested for the cat?
Were you told it was allergy related and if so, what steps, if any did you take to find out what he was allergic to?

If If you have knowledge specific to this condition please reply.

 

[Furballsmom]

More than likely others who read this thread will find the information I provided to be useful.

 

[stephanietx]

I had a kitty who was prone to ulcers under her tongue, but was never diagnosed with eosinophilic granuloma. We gave her steroids and pain meds. The vet told us that stress was a contributing factor.

 

[Tobermory]

Years ago, Teddy Bear used to get frequent episodes of eosinophilic granuloma. The vet always treated it with steroids. Through trial and error, I discovered that she was allergic to the teaspoon of milk I was giving her every day. Once I stopped that, much to Teddy’s displeasure, she never got it again. If the vet doesn’t have any ideas, I’m afraid it will be trial and error. It’s very frustrating.

 

[silent meowlook]

Most often the cause of EGC is not found. There is still debate as to what causes it and there are thoughts of it being hereditary.

You are feeding a limited ingredient duck food, but also feeding a chicken and turkey based food. If you are concerned that the EGC is diet caused, you need a novel protein diet, one he has never had before. Like Venison. Then you feed it canned and only it for a few months and see if there is another outbreak or if all is okay. In order to get him over the he outbreak he has now, steroids are your only option, as far as I know.

The location is concerning. I am glad they biopsied. Is this the location of the last outbreak? Any lesion under the tongue, is always a concern for squamus cell carcinoma. I personally have not seen EGC under the tongue. I have seen it involve the skin and as a rodent ulcer, even as weird paw lesions, but not under the tongue.

Please keep us posted as to what the biopsy results are.

I have also seen it triggered by fleas, or at least they thought triggered by fleas. So make sure he doesn’t have those.

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

Thank you for the input thus far. We did receive the results of the biopsy. It is indeed eosinophilic granuloma for the second time found under his tongue during tooth cleaning. We took Snoop today for a steroid shot. The vet will see him again in exactly two weeks from today. We adopted him in 2016 from the local pet store. as explained in a previous post he was experiencing.a problem and I changed him to limited ingredient diet of green pea and duck wet and dry. Then he was changed to wet limited ingredient chicken and turkey when he stopped eating the wet duck lid food. I thought he was okay eating the chicken and turkey wet because it was not causing him diarrhea issues. But I have decided to get him off both the wet chicken and turkey food and change back to the duck and also salmon based LID foods. Natural Balance is the the brand now of both the wet and dry I am trying to feed him. I am thinking this help him with this granuloma issued. If anyone else has information that might help me, or experience about what worked for any cat you know, please feel free to share your knowledge.

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

He was seen several times by the vet before he could tell the issue was still not better. So Snooop has been treated with pills instead of a shot. The last time we went for follow up, the vet was able to see that it was getting better. Snoop sees doctor again on the 18th. Hopefully it will be better and we can wean hiam off the steroid for awhile.

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

Snoop was checked again tihs week by the vet. The granuloma is not much different than when he checked three weeks ago. He told me he wants to check to see if any other medicines might work, or thinking about increasing the dose of this steroid. He told me cats tolerate steroids much better than dogs do, meaning he would probaly be alright to increase the dose. So I am on wait now for the vet to call me back. This is the second time he has had this in his mouth. Before it was a place more like on a stalk - like thing. It was removed. This time it is more patchy. He is currently eating a limited ingredient diet wet and dry foods from Naural Balance. Dry is green pea and duck, wet is green pea and duck and green pea and salmon. It is interesting that Snoop has been doagmpsed with chronic runny eye and sneezing awhile back. In a recent thread of another member's. I read their cat has been diangosed with this and also has been treated with runny eye. I have read aabout hypo allergeni food might help. When the vet calls me, I am going to ask about that. Also I have read about fleas being an issue that might trigger. Snoop does spend limited time in a fenced in section of our yard, so I am going to be vigilant and watch more carefully for fleas.

 

[silent meowlook]

Hi. Make sure you are using stainless steel water and good bowls. I would not allow him to be outside, use an air purifier inside and switch to canned only novel protein diet if he was mine. I would also use steroids to get it under control now and hope that with the above, you eliminate the trigger. I would also use monthly flea protection like Revolution, the original, not the plus.

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

The vet called me and has decided to up Snoop's dose of the prednisolone to 10 mg day. He will check Snoop again next week on Friday. He also wants to up him on flea control at least for the summer months since he does spend some time in the yard. He wants me to stop feeding the green pea and duck lid cat food since that is what he was eating when he had this same problem back in 2018. For the time being Snoop will eat only the LID Natural Balance green pea and salmon to see if that makes a difference. I am feeding him in stainless steel bowls. Snoop is a cat who has limited time outside, but it is in an enclosure where other animals cannot get to. He is safe. He is never left there if we are not here and he is not left there at night.