Does the vet think it will last a long time? I've heard of it in people..mostly as a side effect of chemo but some viruses can also cause it and those would last only as long as the virus lasted. It just means there is inflammation of the tissues in the mouth. It's more a symptom of something not a thing in itself. I haven't googled it to see what it is about in cats..this is just off the top of my head!
Joann

Vet said it's a virus.Stress will make it flare up and also tarter on the teeth.He's young so shouldn't have much tarter.He did get stressed the other day.Was gone for a day and a half.When he came home he was muddy (And I Iive in El Paso,don't know where he found mud!)He seemed different when he came home,sorta scared,Don't know what he went through.I'm just hoping he can live a normal life.

That's too bad! If he goes outside, he might have used up one of his 9 lives somehow. Animals cannot tell us what has happened to them. Did the doctor put kitty on medication? I hope he can return to his usual happy, active self.

Yes he's on 2 different meds.He does go outside but usually stays in our yard or visits the neighbor. (she loves him) I have a doggy door or he wouldn't go out! Right now he is in the bedroom on rest.Doc said keep him in awhile.I'd ;ove to know where he was and where he found MUD! This is the desert!

I just read up a bit on stomatitis, and it sounds troublesome. Daily brushing is discussed. If you have to do that, I hope kitty likes it! Keep us posted. Maybe he'll feel better in a day or two.

Yes they told me I'll have to brush! NOT looking forward to that! He doesn't like taking his meds from a syringe.What's he going to do with a toothbrush? Oh my!

I feel your pain! You'll just have to explain to him that it's for his own good. He's a reasonable cat, right? Good luck! :-)

Oddly, I took the dog for dental cleaning today, and when they presented me with his dental report with a number of boxes checked, I noticed "stomatitis" (wasn't checked luckily). Odd how that condition which I've never heard of has popped up twice today.

Hope he gets better real soon!!

I'm sorry to hear this CR. I did a little reading and found this holistic approach:
Let's deal with the food first. Most people feed their cats dried food, such as pellets or kibble. In doing so, they believe that they are not only providing their cat with a nutritious diet, but that crunching up on the pellets is good for their teeth and gums. After all, the packet tells you this is the case. If that were true, why has stomatitis developed?

The fact is cats need bones to crunch up on. Little bones. Kibble doesn't even come close. By introducing small bones into your cat's daily life, you can cure stomatitis, without any other treatment. The bones MUST be raw. Cooked bones can splinter and wreak havoc on your cat's intestines.

Sounds easy enough to try. Good luck. Hope Kitty is better soon.

Here is a link that might be useful: Feline Stomatitis remedies

I'd give much more weight to what your vet recommends than to random advice from the obviously unqualified person cited in the preceding post. I hope your kitty feels better soon.

I have had many cats for many years, and I have never heard of this. This happened because he was gone for a day? Is the vet speculating? Good luck. I have never brushed my cats' teeth and wouldn't dare try to.

Yes. We have had two cats with this. Stomatitis has nothing to do with the type of food they eat, although Lydia's suggestion of food to keep the tartar from building up might help. Although soft food might be easier with inflamed gums and throat.

Our cat's stomatitis was caused by a virus that all cats are exposed to, but some with weakened immune systems cannot shed and they become chronic carriers. Because of the pain in their mouths they tend to stop eating, so it's imperative that you feed them whatever they are willing to accept. There is some theory that this might be related to a food allergy, but no studies have verified this. You might try experimenting with different foods, but again, don't try to force them into eating something they won't accept.

It's caused by either a Feline Herpes (not contagious to humans) or a Calicivirus virus. When we adopted Boots the ulcers had gone all the way down his throat.

You need to do a couple of things. First, Lysine, lysine, lysine! Lysine interferes with the Herpes virus' ability to replicate, so maintenance doses will keep the virual load down, and this helps to alleviate the symptoms. We get the 500 mgm capsules from Solaray. The maintenance dosage is 250 mgms twice a day. For severe flare ups you can go to 500 mgms twice a day. I open the capsule, put 1/2 or the whole thing into a little bit of canned food gravy, pull it up into a syringe without a needle and just squirt it into their mouth.

It's a little bitter and some cats get upset tummies, so you need to be sure they have eaten first.

Secondly, because of the ulcerations it's imperative they have their teeth checked and cleaned frequently because the bleeding gums can open up a pathway for infection.

The vet might prescribe an antibiotic if the gums are bad.

Next, because these viruses are usually a symptom of an immune problem these cats cannot tolerate steroids. If the vet MUST use a steroid to halt the inflammation you need to watch for secondary symptoms of the virus which can be either eye infections or an upper respiratory problem.

We have had to use steroids twice - once on Boots and once on Sammy to get the problem under control. Boots developed a secondary URI and Sammy developed a Herpes eye ulcer. Both were controlled with other medications but it took a while because viruses don't respond to antibiotics. A better choice for inflammation is a non steroidal anti-inflammatory called Metacam.

Lastly, let me tell you that Boots lived to be 17 and Sammy is now 20 - both indoor only cats. This problem can be managed but I will tell you that the Lysine is the absolute best thing you can do for it. And stay away from steroids unless there is no other option because the steroids suppress the immune system and can possibly lead to secondary symptoms occurring.

This post was edited by tally on Thu, Dec 5, 13 at 10:53

One more thing....you can get little finger brushes to brush their teeth with. It's a little finger cot that has ribbed edges to it. You just slide your finger inside their mouth and along their gums.

We tried this with both cats with limited success.

The vet did say it was from a virus.Also said it could be aggravated by stress and tarter on teeth.He doesn't have much tarter.he's only 3.But he's going for a teeth cleaning in about 10 days.He is eating well today.I give him soft food and he eats it all. Yesterday and for a couple days before he ate nothing.I think we're on the uphill swing.I was so worried about him.He is not out of the woods yet,but seems to be doing much better.Is the Lysine a human kind? Or is there 1 for animals?He still seems a little listless but that could be the pain meds.He has 1 more to take. I have him in the bedroom alone so the dogs don't bother him.He seems to like the big bed all to himself! LOL! Hopefully we got this round licked and can prevent any further outbreaks.This is a nasty illness,lots of pain involved.Is it uncommon? In 60 yrs,I've never heard of it and apparently lots of others haven't either.
Oh,and they are going to send a teeth cleaning kit home with him when he gets his teeth cleaned.

It's not that uncommon. Yes, we use human lysine -get it at any drug store. It's used for human Herpes virus as well because it has the same effect on interfering with the human virus replication.

Your vet is right about the stress. Sammy will sometimes get a sniffle, cold almost like clockwork 5-10 days after a vet visit. And 3 times over the past 18 years he developed the eye ulcers. I usually up his dose to 500 mgms twice a day a few days before we have to take him in.

CR, I don't know how I could have forgotten this, but they actually make a lysine chew treat for cats called Optiflex. 1 chew = 500 mgms, so a half a chew twice a day would be a maintenance dose. Ask your vet about the lysine or google lysine and Feline Herpes virus.

Sammy used to love the chews, but they are chewy and at age 20 he finds a little difficult to manage them now which is why I switched back to the regular lysine cocktail squirted into his mouth. But for a 3 year old cat this might just be the easiest thing for you to manage.

The link below is the kind we bought for Sammy from Amazon. They say one chew a day, but Sammy also has IBD so his stomach just wouldn't tolerate a full dose over a long period of time, so I split it in half and gave it two him twice a day.

I'm glad to hear your kitty is doing better. What meds did the vet give?

Here is a link that might be useful: Lysine Chews for Feline Herpes Virus

This post was edited by tally on Fri, Dec 6, 13 at 0:05

Gave him Onsior(Robenacoxib) for pain and Clindadrops Oral Susp.... Antibiotic. I have to give the drops in a syringe twice a day and the other is a pill once a day. How long does this last? He is eating good but still just doesn't look right.He doesn't have the twinkle in his eyes.He's always been such a ;ovey,livey cat. At the vet he rolled over for them to give him bellyrubs,he loves bellyrubs. She laughed,said you hardly ever see a cat that actually loves bellyrubs.LOL!When he rolled over she said,what's he doing? I told her he wants you to rub his belly,so she did.He was raised with the dogs,mu husband calls him a cog (cat/dog).Here's a pic of him with his BF's...

OK, your vet sounds like he knows what he is doing, but it's going to take a while, so be patient.

Robenacoxib is a NSAID, so he is trying to treat the inflammation with a non-steroidal medication - that is the right thing to do. The Clindamycin is an antibiotic for secondary bacterial infections which are opportunistic in cats with bleeding sores. Boots took this for several years as a precaution against secondary bacterial infection. Also known as Antirobe.

Your kitty is feeling better because of the NSAID, but it is temporary. You want to avoid the inflammation rearing back up when the meds wear off. You need to start the lysine ASAP as this will take a few weeks to get the virus down and in check.

With these cats you have to be patient because you are dealing with a virus which takes longer to suppress.
When we first adopted Boots with this problem it took 6 months before we saw any improvement. But Boots had been untreated for several years before his owner dumped him. It took us longer to get him under control because by then the viral load in him was quite high. It took several weeks for the lysine to have any effect.

Your kitty looks really comfortable. I can tell by his body posture that you have caught this early, so it shouldn't take long once you start the lysine. But it's not going to be a week, like if you were treating a bacterial infection with antibiotics. Viruses take their own course -- like a human with a cold. It can take several weeks to kick it.

Try the feline Optixcare as soon as you can. This will take some time, so don't get discouraged. He looks really good, so I think you are off to a good start.

Stay the course with him, and don't get discouraged. You are a good mom, and you can help him get through this. Fighting viruses takes time and patience but you can do it - and this little guy looks like he's going to do just fine. Just don't expect immediate results - stay the course with him. He looks adorable.

I had a cat that liked belly rubs! Scratch his belly and he just rolled over! You are doing just fine. Things are going to be OK. Just hang in there.

AND GET THE LYSINE!!!

This post was edited by tally on Fri, Dec 6, 13 at 1:23

I'm sorry if I mislead you Tally...this pic was taken months ago.I just wanted to show him to you. I think we did catch it early though,unless they have it a good while before showing symptoms.Did Boots still eat even with this virus? My cat would never have lasted years with it.He was eating nothing at all.That's why we took him to the vet.He's a BIG eater and I knew something was wrong if he didn't eat,He acted completely normal until about 3 days before I took him to the vet.

Hi CR! I thought the little guy looked comfortable!!!

Boots was not eating well when we found him at the shelter. He was a big Maine Coon, but only weighed 7 pounds, which is anorexic for a cat of his breed:(

When I agreed to foster him, I really thought I was bringing him home to die comfortably. His mouth and throat looked like ground hamburger.

We took him straight to the vet from the shelter to get him evaluated. We put him on Interferon and lysine immediately. I think he eventually became immune to the Interferon, but he had Lysine and Antirobe for the remainder of his time with us - 10 years. He was 17 when he died from Lymphoma.

By the time we got his Herpes under control, he weighed 14 pounds and was a big, beautiful, loving cat. I will always be thankful that I stuck with the routine and was able to watch him flourish.

Our journey with Boots was an experience I will treasure forever.

I wish you the same luck with your baby. The little time it takes each day to provide them with the things that make them better - the reward is priceless.

He is eating REALLY good now. 2 small cans of food and 3 pouches a day! Seems like a lot for 1 cat. But I'm giving as much as he'll eat.I went and got the Lysine.This morning he was more back to his normal self,kept wanting me to pet him and purring like crazy.Jumped up and down from the bed.He hasn't been doing that much.was just laying around.I have more hope now that we will kick this thing in the butt. If he has the will,which he does,I will do what I can to help him.