Mary wrote:

Cheeky has asthma--presented with it the day I brought her home from
the shelter. Very scary attacks which we control with shots. I wait
as long as I can i.e. until she coughs or sniffles, to take her in
because I know that steroid use can cause diabetes and a host of other
problems. She is currently having 3-4 shots per year.She is a 7-pound
grey-brown mackerel tabby, age about three, sweetest creature in the
world. :0)

Took her in for her her "depo" shot (what they call it, it is
cortisone, I think?) yesterday. I asked the doctor to check her out
because I had noticed some tiny bumps on her nose and the back of one
of her legs, along the tendon. He said it is linear granuloma, and
explained that it is a syndrome, not life threatening, controlled by
cortisone (in other words, exactly what we are doing now.) (He also
said the linear kind is rare--that he sees maybe 40 cases of the
"rodent ulcer" syndrome a year, and of those, maybe one linear
granuloma case. I guess we're just lucky--and I actually mean that
because I am so relieve this is not something life threatening.)

Then I went to Google and read all the posts I could from this and all
the other cat groups and I see that LG can really bother them, cause
them to scratch themselves raw and be very uncomfortable.

Here is what I would like to know: has anyone out there fed a cat with
asthma/Linear granuloma a diet that had really seemed to help keep the
masses/lesions to a minimum? I would like to do what I can to make
sure Cheeks doesn't suffer. Also, are there allergy tests for cats? It
seems to me that if I could keep her from the things she is allergic
to she might not get the bumps or asthma as much?

Any help is much appreciated.

Mary, there is indeed an allergy test for cats - it's expensive in the
short run, but in the long run it could save you a lot of headaches and
$$$ if LG is indeed exacerbated by other allergies. I would ask your vet
about and hopefully he/she can make a referral to a certified vet
dermatologist. On a personal note, I have a dog with a skin
condition/allergies/food sensitivities and one can make the other worse.
It's a constant battle, but after taking him to a dermatologist I have a
better handle on it. For cats there's not as many commercial choices -
you either pretty much need to go prescription or have a specialist help
you formulate a homemade cooked or raw diet, and it looks like Lauren
has that well covered. Did your vet mention if there are any special
shampoos that could help? Oral steroids vs. shots that may help lessen
side effects and/or different formulations? I would definitely consider
a visit to the specialist, I learned a lot more from the one I saw than
the 4 vets I took Bub to previously about his condition. HTH!

K