Transdermal Cyclosporine? for eosinophilic granuloma (rodent ulcer)

[Skittykitty247]

I have a question for anyone who has ever used cyclosporine. My cat, Skittles, has had a rodent ulcer/granuloma complex on her lower lip for about six months now. It is a raised bump that started out pretty small and has grown quite large recently. I still have no idea what she had an allergic reaction to. She had the standard depo steroid treatments for a couple months, and it was shrinking but definitely not going away. She had to stop them when she developed pancreatitis and what the vet assumed was a bad UTI from being immunosuppressed from the steroids. She stopped eating completely for a whole week, and it was a nightmare of antibiotics, nausea meds, and subQ fluids, etc. Thank goodness she finally turned the corner and started improving. She is now back to her usual self, eating normally. However, her lip ulcer has gotten huge since we were unable to treat it during her pancreatitis, and it seems to be really bothering her. She paws at it and often makes it bleed. The vet has kept her on antibiotics for a whole month now to prevent infection. We recently started cyclosporine in place of steroids to hopefully shrink the lip ulcer. My vet talked me into the compounded transdermal cream, which she said would be so much easier than the pills. I started Skittles on it a week ago, with no improvement yet, but I know it can take 4-6 weeks to work. I also have her on Zertec, omega 3 fish oil, an anti-itch wound healing ointment, and have changed her diet to limited ingredient grain-free. Sorry for the long story, but just wondering if anyone else has tried the transdermal (in the ear) cyclosporine? I’m a little worried now, because I’ve been reading that it’s not as effective as the oral pill form? Also, does anyone have any suggestions for non-steroid treatments that have worked for their cat with rodent ulcers?

 

[fionasmom]

Such a sweet little face! Several years ago I was told by my cat vet that transdermal cyclosporine is quite a lot less effective than the oral administration. If I am reading this correctly, your vet encouraged you to take this route because it is easier and cats can be hard to pill. Was there any other reason related to the hard time your cat had with the previous meds? Transdermal is weaker but safer sort of thinking?

Can you pill your cat one way or another?

 

[Skittykitty247]

Yes I believe she thought it would be easier for me. I currently crush her antibiotics and syringe them into her using the juice from her wet food. That has been working well for me. I’ve tried pilling her and it was a disaster. I have to wrestle her down and sit on her! And I just can’t get it back in her mouth far enough because she fights me. If I see no difference after a couple weeks, I’ll call and try to switch to the oral cyclosporine. I just wish the vet would have told me the cream might be less effective. I didn’t really research it ahead of time. I just feel really bad that she’s had this ulcer for so long now, and this is the biggest it’s ever been. She plays, eats, etc like always, and the only time it seems to bother her is right after eating. That’s when she paws at it and it looks like the second picture. Does anyone know of anything else that I could be doing to at least make it shrink?

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi! Poor baby Skittles! With the oral meds (liquids or crushable pills), you can try to mix it with one of the following:
1.) 'juice' from canned tuna and chicken in water, and then give her a piece of the meat as a treat afterward
2.) baby food meats (Gerber Stage 2 or Beechnut)
3.) lickable treats, such as Applaws, Wholehearted, Tiki Cat Stix, Inaba Churu, Vitakraft - just to name a few
4.) Tiki Cat Mousse (which is complete meal, not a treat)
They have all been my 'go to' options when treating Feeby. So far, they have all worked!