Hope: Stomatitis And Breathing Issues For 7 Years!

[Mashkasheli]

When Hope adopted me about 7 years ago now, she arrived ill, and has been sick ever since. Hope has about 150 lives.. not 9 lives as they usually say cats have. She suffers from sores in her mouth and has been on steroid injections for 7 years! About a year ago the injections stopped working and she now has prednisone in her food but I try and give it to her only when I see she is in pain because it has such awful side effects. Hope also suffers from awful breathing issues. Her nose is constantly blocked and drips all the time. Poor angel. She has a good week and then a bad couple of weeks. Right now its winter and we had an awful 2 weeks and last night she suddenly had a good night. She is a lovely, happy cat and hardly sees the vet although he knows about her issues and we talk on the phone weekly. I recently lost my Sheleg so the vet was visiting my home twice a week for the past year. Was wondering if any of you have experienced anything like this? A stray cat that adopted you (because she absolutely adopted me) that has spent her entire life ill but still carries on regardless, has a huge appetite and still enjoys life and is a special girl (albeit smelly because of her extreme mouth issues) :-)
Hope when she was not feeling great this weekend (but a huge improvement already this week) having a bit of a yawn :-) :

 

[lavishsqualor]

Hope is a lovely cat and I thank you for taking care of her. I'm curious to know . . . Her vet is aware that she has stomatitis? Her vet has diagnosed her with this?

 

[Mashkasheli]

Hope is a lovely cat and I thank you for taking care of her. I'm curious to know . . . Her vet is aware that she has stomatitis? Her vet has diagnosed her with this?

Thanks, it is not always easy with her, but she is a doll! Yes, the vet has diagnosed her-curious as to why you are asking? Sheleg, my best friend who I lost a month ago yesterday also had it, he developed it 3 years ago and he actually died from it. Cats can live for many years with it but Sheleg, as per my vet, had an extremely low threshold for pain, the steroid injections had absolutely no affect on him, and we didn't manage to give him the medication through food or by mouth. He actually bit me in April and I was in hospital for a month and had surgery on my hand, and nearly lost my hand. I was obviously not angry with Sheleg-he was in pain, and we could just not help him. We tried everything and in the end he was suffering so much that my heart was just breaking. He was such a special cat. Again, curious to why you ask-I would appreciate any input! :-)

 

[lavishsqualor]

To be completely honest, I asked because I know that stomatitis is an incredibly painful condition for cats and I wanted to be sure that Hope was getting adequate pain control. Generally that includes buprenorphine. Cats are programmed by nature to hide any pain; however, the pain from stomatitis is very real and would be utterly excruciating for a human to bear. Is your vet prescribing adequate pain control for her? Are full mouth extractions not feasible?

 

[Mashkasheli]

Yes, it is an extremely painful illness, and an extremely cruel illness and it breaks my heart. But we have Hope's condition under control. After 7 years with her I have learnt to see the symptoms when she needs pain control and when she needs the steroids, she starts to drool, she has difficulty yawning, and she has difficulty eating her dry food (she mainly eats wet food) but I have dry food out for a stray that comes in to my home at odd hours, so leave a bowl for the stray in a separate area and 2 bowls for Hope, and my other cat Tricky for during the day when I am at work. Sheleg suffered terribly with pain and that's why the vet visited twice a week at home and we really battled with him. It was heart breaking and I was angry at the world that he had to have this awful illness. Hope is a brave soul and as I said when she arrived at my doorstep 7 years ago she arrived with it, as well as her bad breathing issues and her blocked nose which has been blocked for most of her life. She is a brave, amazing cat and I love her dearly and I make every effort to make her life as comfortable as I can. And when the time comes that she suffers and there is nothing more we can do I will have to say goodbye like I did for Sheleg. I never thought I could live without Sheleg and I am not doing a very good job with out him, but such is life!

 

[kommunity kats]

Please Consider adding Organic Virgin Coconut oil to Hope's meals, as it is a natural anti-inflammatory,
& is known to help with pain. . . . & it kills dental plaque, which is a strong factor in this health problem . . .

"Feline stomatitis . . . is actually a painful chronic oral disease in cats . . . thought to be autoimmune in nature.

"In cats with the disease,
the immune system overreacts to dental plaque,
which triggers an often overwhelming inflammatory response
in the tissues of the mouth, throat & even underlying bone. . . ."

That^ article is written by a Conventional-Holistic vet, & . . .
I recommend reading it, to see if she recommends anything you have yet to try. . .

"Feline Stomatitis - Inflammation In The Mouth"
https://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2012/02/06/dr-becker-discusses-feline-stomatitis.aspx


". . . The lauric acid in coconut oil attacks harmful bacteria in the mouth that can cause bad breath, tooth decay and gum disease. . . . Coconut oil attacks the harmful bacteria that cause tooth decay. Studies have shown that it can be as effective as some mouth rinses. . . ."

"Why Coconut Oil is Good for Your Teeth"
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/coconut-oil-and-teeth
http://"Feline Stomatitis - Inflamm...06/dr-becker-discusses-feline-stomatitis.aspx

 

[Mashkasheli]

Please Consider adding Organic Virgin Coconut oil to Hope's meals, as it is a natural anti-inflammatory,
& is known to help with pain. . . . & it kills dental plaque, which is a strong factor in this health problem . . .

"Feline stomatitis . . . is actually a painful chronic oral disease in cats . . . thought to be autoimmune in nature.

"In cats with the disease,
the immune system overreacts to dental plaque,
which triggers an often overwhelming inflammatory response
in the tissues of the mouth, throat & even underlying bone. . . ."

That^ article is written by a Conventional-Holistic vet, & . . .
I recommend reading it, to see if she recommends anything you have yet to try. . .

"Feline Stomatitis - Inflammation In The Mouth"
https://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2012/02/06/dr-becker-discusses-feline-stomatitis.aspx


". . . The lauric acid in coconut oil attacks harmful bacteria in the mouth that can cause bad breath, tooth decay and gum disease. . . . Coconut oil attacks the harmful bacteria that cause tooth decay. Studies have shown that it can be as effective as some mouth rinses. . . ."

"Why Coconut Oil is Good for Your Teeth"
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/coconut-oil-and-teeth

Thank you, will do!
Appreciate it!!!

lavishsqualor sorry regarding your question about teeth extraction for Hope, because of Hope's breathing issues it not very safe for her to undergo anesthesia. She has had her teeth cleaned and has had to be under a few times and the vet has consulted with a professor at that time and they felt that extracting her teeth would not make a difference. Sheleg on the other hand had a lot of teeth in the badly infected areas pulled and it didn't help him. When my vet consulted also with the professor they both agreed that by removing the remaining teeth and also would not help unfortunately. Such a raving cruel disease.

 

[kommunity kats]

You didn't answer LavishSqualor's question: "Are full mouth extractions not feasible?"
That would get rid of the source of the problem, if done properly . . . & is a commonly done treatment for Stomatitis.

I TRIED UNSUCCESSFULLY TO FIND DELETION BUTTON AFTER POSTING & SEEING YOUR ANSWER.

 

[Mashkasheli]

You didn't answer LavishSqualor's question: "Are full mouth extractions not feasible?"
That would get rid of the source of the problem, if done properly . . . & is a commonly done treatment for Stomatitis.

I did above :-)

 

[kommunity kats]

My family uses Coconut oil for ourselves & our pets (cats).
Besides using it for food, we've used it for infection,
& its anti-inflammatory action . . . successfully!

"How to Feed your Dog or Cat Coconut Oil"
www.coconutoil.com/how-to-feed-your-dog-or-cat-coconut-oil/

"Benefits of virgin coconut oil for pets"
www.horsewhispers.com.au/benefits-of-virgin-coconut-oil-with-pets-2/

Dr. Jean Dodds' Pet Health Resource Blog
- The “Good” Saturated Fat
www.drjeandoddspethealthresource.tumblr.com/post/47127324583/coconut-for-pets

 

[Mashkasheli]

"How to Feed your Dog or Cat Coconut Oil"
www.coconutoil.com/how-to-feed-your-dog-or-cat-coconut-oil/

"Benefits of virgin coconut oil for pets"
www.horsewhispers.com.au/benefits-of-virgin-coconut-oil-with-pets-2/

Thank you!