If you take anything from this, it's that you need to get a culture of your cat's mouth if you have any doubts about a stomatitis diagnosis. Especially if your cat is fiv+ and immunosuppresants are recommended.
Our cat started to tilt her head while she ate and pawed her mouth a bit, so we took her to the vet because she had a history of resorptive lesions and stomatitis along the gumline. We could see some inflammation and white spots on the roof of her mouth (gums were fine). She'd had two prior surgeries to remove all but the front teeth and one molar for pretty straightforward stomatitis/resorptive lesions in years prior. Vet recommended removing the remaining molar, did nothing. Fast forward a few months, she is really struggling to eat, so they recommended Cyclosporine, even though she was FIV+. She gets Virbagen Omega injections, and prior to that T-Cyte, so has stayed quite healthy her whole life, so the vet felt comfortable trying an immunosuppressant. Did nothing after 60 days. Few weeks later she couldn't even eat, was growling at her food and running away, so vet recommended a full mouth extraction.
Did nothing. Vet said next step is prednisone. I asked if that was basically palliative care at that point and he said yes. I had a huge problem with this because she was not sick, very much had a will to live, she just couldn't eat.
I had one hail mary left, and it was because her normal, local, vet doesn't supply her Virbagen (comes from Europe), so she also sees a vet a few hours away who helps us with that part of her care. I contacted them and asked if we could try upping her Virbagen frequency, if it would help her immune system, and their response was to ask what the cultures of her mouth came back as. I explained the situation, sent her recent records, and also told them that no one had suggested a culture, and they were dumbfounded.
We ended up taking the trip all the way there so they could do a full mouth and throat exam and cultures. While our cat was under they also did x rays and found a huge root that was left and extracted it. Two weeks later, we got the cultures back, and it turns out for the entire year we've been dealing with this it was not stomatitis at all, but three different types of staph infection. One being very resistant to antibiotics, most likely because of the 60 days she was on Cyclosporine.
We couldn't believe it.
She had seen 5 different vets at the local practice, and they were all in agreement on these extraction and immunosuppressant treatments throughout the process. Every time we'd go, I'd bring up the fact that when I look in her mouth at this inflammation with white spots it never matches what you see when you google stomatitis, and they'd say that it can appear in many different forms. My gut kept telling me otherwise, but I had to trust the doctors. Thank god for our second opinion before starting prednisone. The staph would have taken over and probably killed her.
She will be starting antibiotics, and our fingers are crossed that this is the end of this story. Our poor little girl went through 3 rounds of extractions, months of drugs, and just so much pain. For two months, she's been on buprenorphine and gabapentin so that she can get some food down without screaming. Do your research, listen to your gut, and don't be afraid to get a second opinion.
Also, I have pictures of the inside of her mouth if anyone needs a reference for what staph looks like vs stomatitis. Will upload if you want to see. Keep your fingers crossed for what is hopefully a quick recovery!
Our cat started to tilt her head while she ate and pawed her mouth a bit, so we took her to the vet because she had a history of resorptive lesions and stomatitis along the gumline. We could see some inflammation and white spots on the roof of her mouth (gums were fine). She'd had two prior surgeries to remove all but the front teeth and one molar for pretty straightforward stomatitis/resorptive lesions in years prior. Vet recommended removing the remaining molar, did nothing. Fast forward a few months, she is really struggling to eat, so they recommended Cyclosporine, even though she was FIV+. She gets Virbagen Omega injections, and prior to that T-Cyte, so has stayed quite healthy her whole life, so the vet felt comfortable trying an immunosuppressant. Did nothing after 60 days. Few weeks later she couldn't even eat, was growling at her food and running away, so vet recommended a full mouth extraction.
Did nothing. Vet said next step is prednisone. I asked if that was basically palliative care at that point and he said yes. I had a huge problem with this because she was not sick, very much had a will to live, she just couldn't eat.
I had one hail mary left, and it was because her normal, local, vet doesn't supply her Virbagen (comes from Europe), so she also sees a vet a few hours away who helps us with that part of her care. I contacted them and asked if we could try upping her Virbagen frequency, if it would help her immune system, and their response was to ask what the cultures of her mouth came back as. I explained the situation, sent her recent records, and also told them that no one had suggested a culture, and they were dumbfounded.
We ended up taking the trip all the way there so they could do a full mouth and throat exam and cultures. While our cat was under they also did x rays and found a huge root that was left and extracted it. Two weeks later, we got the cultures back, and it turns out for the entire year we've been dealing with this it was not stomatitis at all, but three different types of staph infection. One being very resistant to antibiotics, most likely because of the 60 days she was on Cyclosporine.
We couldn't believe it.
She had seen 5 different vets at the local practice, and they were all in agreement on these extraction and immunosuppressant treatments throughout the process. Every time we'd go, I'd bring up the fact that when I look in her mouth at this inflammation with white spots it never matches what you see when you google stomatitis, and they'd say that it can appear in many different forms. My gut kept telling me otherwise, but I had to trust the doctors. Thank god for our second opinion before starting prednisone. The staph would have taken over and probably killed her.
She will be starting antibiotics, and our fingers are crossed that this is the end of this story. Our poor little girl went through 3 rounds of extractions, months of drugs, and just so much pain. For two months, she's been on buprenorphine and gabapentin so that she can get some food down without screaming. Do your research, listen to your gut, and don't be afraid to get a second opinion.
Also, I have pictures of the inside of her mouth if anyone needs a reference for what staph looks like vs stomatitis. Will upload if you want to see. Keep your fingers crossed for what is hopefully a quick recovery!
