Am 18.08.2006 schrieb femcat:

That's right. The first 5 years there was nothing wrong with the depot
shots for Tientje. Then we found out, that his skin became thin like
vellum and his wounds (he bit his paws until they were open and
bleeding) didn't heal anymore. That was, when we had Tientje checked
for diabetes.

This is not neccessary with Tientje. He is such a good boy. I take the
pill, open his mouth, pop the pill in, close his mouth - et voila:-)

In case someone is interested in Tientjes story and some ugly pics:
http://www.gwsystems.com/inge/e_gtientje1.htm

Purrs to you
Inge and the catgang

Am 19.08.2006 schrieb Cheryl:

You can be lucky to have such a responsible vet.

There are several options of applying the cortisone to the cat orally.
Now that you know that Prednisone isn't working for Shamrock properly,
you could talk to your vet about another product or raising the dosis.

Please keep in mind that having him under Cortisone permanently, will
not stop the granuloma from outbreak. For Tientje the main trigger for
an outbreak is stress. So you should think about finding Shamrocks
'trigger'.

We have a very good forum about eosinophilic granuloma here in
Germany. Our surveys brought out that there are different kinds of
reasons, why it comes to an outbreak.

1. it's a hormonal thing. In this case you can solve the problem
permanently by giving 5mg Megestrolacetat (the 'pill' for the cat)
once in 14 days.

2. it's an allergy. Quite common is an allergy to food-mites. In this
case you can reduce the trigger by freezing the dry food in
meal-portions and take it out of the freezer 1 hour before feeding.

3. it's an autoimmune thing. In this case the cat is allergic to
itsself and stress is the trigger most of the time.

And please keep in mind, that eosinophilic granuloma is NOT cureable.
It's a chronic thing. The only thing you can do is treating the
symptoms when there is an outbreak.

When there are open wounds our vet takes a sample of the ichor and
makes cultures to find out, which bacterium is active in the wound.
Then he takes a blood sample for an antibiogram, where is tested,
which antibiotic is working best for the bacterium found. Then he
chooses the right antibiotic (not a broadband) for treatment. In
addition his wounds are treated with an ointment containing some
cortisone.

In my answer to femcat I posted a link to Tientjes story and some
pics.

Purrs to you and Shamrock
Inge and the catgang

Cheryl <jlhshadow@NOSPAMhotmail.com> wrote in news:Xns9823EA4788A4Cshads@
130.133.1.4:

It breaks my heart to hear that Shamrock has such a tough time with this.
You would think the rescue group would make a deal with a vet (or that a
vet himself) would consider this a special case and give you a break on
treatment.

Vets must know that cats with skin conditions are hard to treat and it
can be costly for the owner.  It would be nice if they would just give
free samples to try.  Is there not a topical you could use that would
reduce the swelling and the desire to itch?

When you took him to the allergist, did he determine any food allergies
(and what did he say was the definitive treatment for a cat with alot of
allergies)?

Cheryl - have you tried joining any of the Yahoo cat fanciers newsgroups
or corresponding with any vets listed on the Animal Medical Center site
in NYC:

http://www.amcny.org/asp/homepage/default.asp

Some of the vets there have no problem answering their e-mails.  Even
though you might not be able to travel there, there might be treatments
they would be willing to share.

This is the site of a vet in NYC who (I think) only handles cats. There
was an article about him recently in one of the morning tabloids:

"The soft-spoken, 46-year-old veterinarian is a certified diplomate in
feline medicine — a rare credential for a New York City pet doctor."

http://www.manhattancats.com/

He has a alot of feline health info on his site and I pulled this one
from the skin problems area because it so describes the problem we have:

"Allergies to airborne substances (called “atopy”) such as pollens or
dust can lead to itching and subsequent excessive grooming and hair loss.  
Miliary dermatitis is another common manifestation of atopy.  Achieving a
diagnosis can be tricky.  Clinical signs that are seasonal are suggestive
of atopy, although signs can be seen all year round as well.  Blood tests
can be performed to see if the cat is allergic to plants indigenous to a
particular geographic region as well as to common household dusts and
mites, although some dermatologists still feel the blood tests to be
unreliable.  Intradermal skin testing, in which tiny amounts of
allergenic substances are injected into the skin and the skin reaction
noted, is a more meaningful diagnostic test.  This should be performed by
an experienced veterinary dermatologist, however, as the skin response to
the injections can be subtle and more difficult to interpret in cats.  
Specific treatment of an allergy is possible if the allergen(s) can be
identified and avoided or removed from the environment.  Often, this is
not practical, especially in patients allergic to airborne pollens.  
Hyposensitization – serial injections of progressively larger amounts of
the offending allergen – is probably the most appropriate long-term
control method for cats with a prolonged allergy season.  Other therapies
that can be considered are anti-histamines, omega-3 fatty acids, and
corticosteroids.  Although steroids have the potential to have side
effects, the doses necessary to control allergic dermatitis are unlikely
to cause problems, especially in cats, as cats are more resistant to the
undesirable side effects of steroids as compared to dogs."

This is all very interesting to me.  My cat Ernie gets an occasional swollen
lip which my vet has told me is probably allergy-related.  She suggested
feeding him the limited ingredient food which hasn't been easy.  He likes
the food, that's not the problem.  My other cat doesn't like the limited
ingredient food as much so I usually feed him something different.  And it's
tough keeping Ernie out of this food.

I'm really interested in this theory about wheat gluten and corn or other
grains.  I can find canned food without grains (Wellness is now grain free).
Are there any commercially sold dry foods that don't contain wheat gluten or
corn?

Sue

My feeling has always been that the granuloma complexes are auto-immune
related diseases.  As such, they're very complex and not easily solved.

-L.