Lloyd Has Stomatitis and Iris Melanosis :(

[nerdrock]

I brought Lloyd to work with me today, he was due for a booster and his rabies vaccination. With everything going on in the last year, we were really late getting everything done with him - he just has his first vaccinations last month and was neutered the week after, about 3 weeks ago. He's about a year old now.

Anyways, during the exam when his mouth was examined she saw quite a bit of tartar for his age and the red line along his gums indicating stomatitis. There were other things that pointed to stomatitis, but I can't remember what they were right now (I'll try to remember to check his record tomorrow).

I also had her look at a brown spot on his iris, she said it was iris melanosis and offered to refer us to an opthalmologist, but we're just going to keep an eye on it for now. The second it changes we'll get the referral.

I'm a bit bummed out about it, he's pretty healthy otherwise though which is good. She gave him a catnip toy to play with while he was in his run and to bring home - he loves that thing.

I forgot to have her check his claws too, the back ones have weird looking quick to me. Through the nail they're pink, but on the bottom some of them are brown/dark and seem a bit flaky, but the entire nail is white/clear. Just didn't seem normal to me. We're going back for a recheck next month so I'll have her check them out them and we'll do some blood work at that time (wishing now that I chose to do it when he was neutered or when we did his FIV/FeLV test).

 

[white shadow]

Hi nerdrock!

I'm not so sure that the red gum line is an indicator of stomatitis but, that said, the very best source of online info is sure to be had here http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/Feline-Stomatitis/?v=1&t=search&ch=web&pub=groups&sec=group&slk=2 That's where I'd be getting my information and advice.

On the melanosis front, you said

we're just going to keep an eye on it for now. The second it changes we'll get the referral

Now, apart from the pun (which, I think, passed you by completely

Sep 13 L a.JPG

• white shadow
• Feb 23, 2013

Here's his right eye - also being monitored

Sep 23 R.JPG

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• Feb 23, 2013

Hope this is helpful.

 

[nerdrock]

Sorry for the late reply, we're in the middle of moving so we've been quite busy!

There was more to Lloyd's stomatitis, it's not just the red line (inflammation). He also has a considerable amount of gingivitis and tartar considering his age, he's a drooler (has been since he teethed) and has a bit of stinky breath. It's pretty early but she was comfortable making the diagnosis because of the oral exam. All of my pets are used to have their mouths, paws, ears and eyes examined, it's something I really work with them on so that we can catch things early and without sedation. We're going to switch him to dental food for now and he'll go back in April with the rest of the critters for a recheck.

As for his eye, we're keeping an eye on it for now. We have close up pictures of it from the time we rescued him up to now. We're both photographers, so it'll be easy to tell if it changes. So far it hasn't.

As bad as this may sound, Lloyd's problems are on the back burner for now. We are watching them and he will go in if he needs to, but he doesn't right now. We're more focused on one of our dogs right now (not just because she's a dog!). We're going to do full body xrays and possibly an MRI, we're trying to find out if she actually does have back pain like all of our other vets have told us or if it's actually a neurological problem (she has epilepsy). The main indicator when she's having painful episodes is that one of her hind legs will stick out a bit further and she'll walk differently. Because she's a dachshund and has some calcification, everyone has said back problem but it could also be an indicator of a brain tumor or other neurological disease. Like Lloyd, there's a lot more to it, but it's simpler to just describe the main symptoms.

We also have our new to us dog to get neutered and our show dog will be neutered in the fall after this season.