Jayce's face is still bad

[mamakat]

His face is still full of sores and one if kind of pus-yish. (sorry that word seems odd... full of pus?)Anyway its wet and very red. Its about the size of a large pea and by his whiskers now.
The vet was unable to really diagnose it well. He gave us some Clavamox and so far Jayce had 9 of the pills. I thought we were on #10 but I found one on the kitchen floor tonight so apparently he spit one out! Ooops. I didnt catch that in time. Maybe it is too soon to see improvement on his face? When the vet looked at his mouth he also noticed a very small spot on his lower lip that indicates he probably has something in his mouth too.
Im a bit worried, and confused. He drools too, he has since I got him so maybe that is part of the problem? Anyone have any clue what it might be? The vet thought maybe fungal or bacterial but that was all he said.
So Im probably going to bring him in again in a few days if it doesnt get better, but I thought Id check here again. Any thoughts on whether its been long enough on the antibiotics? He is on day 5 of his 10 day treatment.
Thanks,

 

[hissy]

Kat- I would go for a second opinion to a specialist if you can. It is hard to say what it is, especially if your vet doesn't even have a clue. Poor kitty...

 

[sandie]

Sounds like a second opinion would be good. I am unsure why they didn't prescribe a topical??

 

[jcat]

A second opinion might not be a bad idea. Are there any feline dermatologists/practitioners in your area? Also - what about eosinophilic granuloma complex? Take a look at this site: http://www.fabcats.org/is45.html - does that look like what your kitty has? Our cat had a mild case in his mouth in July, and it took two shots of cortisone 2 weeks apart for it to finally disappear. Warning - the pictures are gross, as they are of extreme cases. I belong to an EGC group (Yahoo, German-language site, but I'm sure there are ones in English), and many of the members have cats with "wet sores" on their faces or groins. If the sores are caused by a virus or allergy, antibiotics won't do the trick. Did your vet test him for herpes? Calicivirus (the sores are treated with antibiotics, but often don't "disappear" for good) can cause ulceration in the mouth, and pussy eyes, but as far as I know, it doesn't cause ulcerations on the face. If he is only halfway through the treatment, and the cause is bacterial, you may just have to be a bit more patient. I'm crossing my fingers that this clears up quickly!

 

[mamakat]

Jcat- Thank you for the link. Wow, it was pretty gruesome to see that

Unfortunately, none of them really looked like what he has, or if it is, its a milder version of what I saw. I should borrow a digital camera to take a pict and show you guys.

I did take him to the vet tonight for a second opinion. We saw my usual vet, whom I favor so far. He had a couple ideas, although they were all names I could not remember or pronounce for the life of me. One thing he most suspected had a very fancy name, but apparently used to be referred to as a "rodent" something or other. If that rings a bell with anyone

Its some sort of infection that can be lifelong, unfortunately. Although he said while Jayce has a few of the common symptoms of it, he also has a bizarre addition that makes no sense to him and doesnt match the Rodent thing.

Whew! Thank goodness Im not a vet

I just jumbled that whole thing Im sure.
So bottom line right now is that we gave him a steroid shot. He seems fine other than this mouth thing. The sores are also on his lips and the corners of his mouth. If it looks like the shot has helped at all in the next week, he is to get another steroid shot in about a week or 10 days. If this treatment seems to help, he might need to get these shots periodically... or do oral steroids on occasion.

If its not receptive to this treatment, we might look in to it being fungal. He said we could do a biopsy of it, but he would have to be put out for a while and its a very expensive process. I want to try this first, because if I dont have to spend the funds I would prefer that. So heres hoping the shots work. Even if he has to have them on a regular basis, it would be pretty cheap and easy, and not hard on Jayce. Apparently steroids dont negatively affect cats as much as they do dogs or people.

I'll let you know if I find anything else out, if anyone is interested

 

[woodsygirl]

Oh, those pic's on jcat's site were awful looking! I hope the sores on your cat are not that bad. That's an awful thing to find on your poor sweet kitty. Let us know how he's doing...

 

[meowmie]

i have been a pet groomer since i was 6 yrs. old and any time we seen any type off wounds like that we always suggested that they use peroxcide after you give your baby the antabiotics the vet prescribed...it not only dries it out it is also harmless for them even if they lick it and to top it off it is painless..

 

[cat-tech]

Kat, it sounds very much like eosinophylic granuloma, your vet means rodent ulcer, aka indolent ulcer.

If this responds to steroidal approach, it very well could be an indolent ulcer, but you might have to prepare yourself for future outbreaks of it. It tends to wax and wane and usually responds to low-doses of prednisone/prednisolone. Antibiotics can be used to treat infected areas, but the prednisone targets it better. Keep in mind anytime prednisone is used, bloodwork should be done to monitor platelets. (CBC)

If your vet has not ruled this out, ask him about food allergies. Severe food allergies can cause similar signs to indolent ulcers, these can get so severe that aggressive treatment must be applied. The first course of action in treating indolent ulcers is a dietary change anyway, in the event that an ingredient is causing the eruptions. Once a dietary modification is in place, you may find that the ulcers will be less severe, and fewer between instances.

If kitty does not respond to the steroidal approach, ask your vet for a full feline serology to rule out cryptococcosis, a fungal disease that can also mimic open sores and lesions.......................Traci

 

[mamakat]

Thats it. Thats what he called it. Hes pretty sure its what Jayce has, although he has some odd spotty sores that dont really match the ulcer stuff. So hes still a little unsure because of that.
My poor kitty

Ugh, what a mess. Poor baby

And thanks for your response and extra help. I will definitely mention it to my vet as we go through this!!

 

[mamakat]

Its me again

It looks like this steroid stuff is working a little. It hasnt totally cleared up his face, but somewhat and better yet it hasnt spread anymore. The trend seems to be that when a spot clears up it just moves somewhere else. His biggest ulcer spot on his chin has cleared up, which is great I think. So does this mean this is likely the diagnosis? Im ok with treating him this way again. That seems relatively easy overall. We go back on Thursday to get another shot.

Anything else I should mention to the vet when we go? Or since this seems to be treating it should we just discuss future treatment when it happens again?
He said last time that we might be able to do oral steroids to prevent me from having to bring him in very often. After my last fiasco of 20 pills for antibiotics, I finally feel capable of pilling him

Thanks