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The little thing's sore on hind leg is back. Depo?



 
 
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  #1  
Old March 9th 06, 04:14 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav,rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
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Default The little thing's sore on hind leg is back. Depo?

Now it seems like it's the left hind leg rather than the right one that she
licks. There may be a small sore on the right hind leg too, but I'll have
to check again.

She's had two shot of depo medrol in the past year after a combo of
Tresaderm and Prednisolone didn't seem to work.

Some of you say you have cats on depo medrol for a long time. Is that
better than occasional treatments of Prednisolone.

The vet thinks she has what he calls a "licky granuloma".
In a month or two, I may take her to a small animal hospital 25 minutes
away for a blood workup and perhaps a skin biopsy to see if further tests
can pinpoint the problem.

We can't seem to feed her any cat food other than Purina Pro Plan Chicken
and Rice hard food. She loved Fancy Feast, but thinking she might be
allergic to it, we took her off. She will eat some Iams if it's mixed with
some baby food.
  #2  
Old March 9th 06, 06:00 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav,rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
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Default The little thing's sore on hind leg is back. Depo?


"Wilbur Post" wrote in message
...
Now it seems like it's the left hind leg rather than the right one that

she
licks. There may be a small sore on the right hind leg too, but I'll have
to check again.

She's had two shot of depo medrol in the past year after a combo of
Tresaderm and Prednisolone didn't seem to work.

Some of you say you have cats on depo medrol for a long time. Is that
better than occasional treatments of Prednisolone.


Wilbur--YES, Depo works well for us. My cat has the same thing your
cat does--linear granuloma-- plus asthma, so the Depo Medrol is a Godsend.
Be forwarned that you have to keep it to a minimum, because it increases
a kitty's susceptibility to diabetes. I believe Rhonda had a cat that got
diabetes after a single Depo shot. However, I have been giving Gracie
Depo shots for over three years, and she has no side effects. (I can't tell
you if it works better than any other treatment because it is all we have
used.
I can tell you that she most she gets is four shots a year, and there are
some
years she has had only two. The vet says, more often than every two months
really increases the diabetes risk.



The vet thinks she has what he calls a "licky granuloma".


I am pretty sure she said "linear granuloma." This is the rare form
of Eosinophilic Granuloma, and is named this because the bumps
generally form in a line up the back on the legs. It sure does make
them lick--Gracie's legs are sometimes hairless in the back from this.
(To be safe I wait until I see a bump or hear that she had congestion
from her asthma to get her a shot.)

In a month or two, I may take her to a small animal hospital 25 minutes
away for a blood workup and perhaps a skin biopsy to see if further tests
can pinpoint the problem.


Given my experience, I would try the Depo shots first. Talk to your vet and
see what she says about the risks. And please come back and share it here,
who knows, she may know more than my vet.


We can't seem to feed her any cat food other than Purina Pro Plan Chicken
and Rice hard food. She loved Fancy Feast, but thinking she might be
allergic to it, we took her off. She will eat some Iams if it's mixed

with
some baby food.


They are all different. Gracie did the best on a low-grade flavor of
Fancy Feast called Chopped Grill Feast and Purina One dry. She only
needed two shots a year that year. I switched because I thought maybe
better quality food would be helpful, but may switch back. Good luck!


  #3  
Old March 10th 06, 03:27 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav,rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
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Default The little thing's sore on hind leg is back. Depo?

On Thu 09 Mar 2006 10:14:32a, Wilbur Post wrote in
rec.pets.cats.health+behav
):

Some of you say you have cats on depo medrol for a long time.
Is that better than occasional treatments of Prednisolone.


My Shamrock has had Depo shots nearly his entire life. The
dermatologist I took him to said they're mostly safe if given no
more than every 4 months. That cats metabolize steroids better than
humans and even dogs. That said, a cat that is at risk of diabetes
(genetics) can get it from steroids. Shamrock (4 years old) just
had a full blood panel, and so far his blood glucose is still in
the normal range. I've read that oral steroids are safer because
they are short lived compared to Depo that takes much longer to be
metabolized. However, in our experience, oral steroids take much
longer to show any effect, where injectable Depo shows improvement
within a couple of days.

My Shamrock gets allergy shots because his inhalent allergies were
tested for, and a serum created to specifically address them.
After nearly a year on the serum, it hasn't completely "cured" him.
The need for Depo has decreased in frequency, but all in all, I'd
say the allergy shots is a failure. It was an expensive "try" but
I'd do it again. Now his dermatologist is recommending a drug by
Novartis called Atopica. Atopica's label use is for dogs. Rarely
do people opt for this for dogs because the dogs that are mostly
genetically affected by allergies that cause skin erruptions are
big dogs, and Atopica dose is based on weight. It makes it too
expensive. Our dermatologist said that for Shamrock the first month
will be $80, then decreasing the dose until it reaches 1/2 of the
initial dose. $40 a month for life is worth it to me to keep him
comfortable. Nothing else has worked.

--
Cheryl
  #4  
Old March 10th 06, 03:44 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav,rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
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Default The little thing's sore on hind leg is back. Depo?


cybercat wrote:

Wilbur--YES, Depo works well for us. My cat has the same thing your
cat does--linear granuloma-- plus asthma, so the Depo Medrol is a Godsend.
Be forwarned that you have to keep it to a minimum, because it increases
a kitty's susceptibility to diabetes. I believe Rhonda had a cat that got
diabetes after a single Depo shot. However, I have been giving Gracie
Depo shots for over three years, and she has no side effects. (I can't tell
you if it works better than any other treatment because it is all we have
used.
I can tell you that she most she gets is four shots a year, and there are
some
years she has had only two. The vet says, more often than every two months
really increases the diabetes risk.



The vet thinks she has what he calls a "licky granuloma".


I am pretty sure she said "linear granuloma."


Lick granuloma is a different thing. It's caused from licking a spot
repeatedly - not the same as "linear granuloma" which is bacially a
manifestation of eosinophilic granuloma on the body. You see lick
granulomas in animals that have separation anxiety, are senile, or
those who lick out of boredom.
-L.

  #5  
Old March 10th 06, 03:56 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav,rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
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Default The little thing's sore on hind leg is back. Depo?


"-L." wrote

The vet thinks she has what he calls a "licky granuloma".


I am pretty sure she said "linear granuloma."


Lick granuloma is a different thing. It's caused from licking a spot
repeatedly - not the same as "linear granuloma" which is bacially a
manifestation of eosinophilic granuloma on the body. You see lick
granulomas in animals that have separation anxiety, are senile, or
those who lick out of boredom.


Thanks, Lyn. I had no idea.

To the OP: never mind.

Seriously, if this is what Lyn describes above, it seems there might be
more of a psychological component to it. Do you think your kitty might
be bored?


  #6  
Old March 10th 06, 07:19 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav,rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
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Default The little thing's sore on hind leg is back. Depo?


cybercat wrote:
"-L." wrote

The vet thinks she has what he calls a "licky granuloma".

I am pretty sure she said "linear granuloma."


Lick granuloma is a different thing. It's caused from licking a spot
repeatedly - not the same as "linear granuloma" which is bacially a
manifestation of eosinophilic granuloma on the body. You see lick
granulomas in animals that have separation anxiety, are senile, or
those who lick out of boredom.


Thanks, Lyn. I had no idea.

To the OP: never mind.

Seriously, if this is what Lyn describes above, it seems there might be
more of a psychological component to it. Do you think your kitty might
be bored?


....or stressed? I forgot to add that animals that are stressed will
lick. We went through this with our border collie mix, Tosh, when we
moved to San Jose. She would lick her foot at night for hours on end.
She was a worrier by breed and nature (RIP, sweet girl!)

Treatment is similar to EGC, like what you described, Depo-Medrol or
Pred - but vets usually try to find out the stressor and alleviate it
either by environmental or behavioral modification or meds. They will
often put an E-collar on the animal if the granuloma is bad enough, to
keep them from licking.

-L.

  #7  
Old March 10th 06, 04:54 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav,rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
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Default The little thing's sore on hind leg is back. Depo?


"-L." wrote

...or stressed? I forgot to add that animals that are stressed will
lick. We went through this with our border collie mix, Tosh, when we
moved to San Jose.


Yes, indeed. When Boo started coming into her territory and crowding
her, my Gracie de-furred most of her right flank before I figured out
what was going on and began visiting with Boo downstairs to keep
her from coming up into Gracie's turf. After that, Gracie's fur grew
back and she has not licked it bare since.


  #8  
Old March 10th 06, 06:11 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav,rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
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Default The little thing's sore on hind leg is back. Depo?

"cybercat" wrote in :


"Wilbur Post" wrote in message
know more than my vet.


We can't seem to feed her any cat food other than Purina Pro Plan
Chicken and Rice hard food. She loved Fancy Feast, but thinking she
might be allergic to it, we took her off. She will eat some Iams if
it's mixed

with
some baby food.


They are all different. Gracie did the best on a low-grade flavor of
Fancy Feast called Chopped Grill Feast and Purina One dry. She only
needed two shots a year that year. I switched because I thought maybe
better quality food would be helpful, but may switch back. Good luck!




Thanks for replying. The vet put her on Gentaved and 5 mg/day of
Prednisolone as I wanted to stay away from the shot for two weeks and see
it this works. She does have a sore on both hind legs, however. We've
given her 2 shots of Depo in the last year, and because it involves
taking her away from her home (which aggravates her immensely), I'm
hoping that these medications will do the job. I'll give it two weeks
and see if there's any improvement. If not, back to the depo medrol.
Hopefully, she'll only need it 2-3x a year. Though there may be a
greater risk for diabetes, the alternative is infection if the sores
don't heal and the cats keep licking them.

As far as the food, since she's not eating any canned food and will eat
nothing more than baby food (and Purina Pro Plan hard food), I'm going
back to Fancy Feast, as it seems that wasn't causing the problem.

I'm going to see if taking her off of Purina Pro Plan hard food helps and
going to Iams or some other formulation.

Do these things ever heal on their own so that no shots are no longer
necessary?
  #9  
Old March 10th 06, 06:13 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav,rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
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Default The little thing's sore on hind leg is back. Depo?

"cybercat" wrote in :

Seriously, if this is what Lyn describes above, it seems there might be
more of a psychological component to it. Do you think your kitty might
be bored?


She could be. She's the only pet, even though she's given affection almost
all day. Perhaps I should get her more interactive toys? Any ideas?
  #10  
Old March 10th 06, 06:18 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav,rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
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Default The little thing's sore on hind leg is back. Depo?


Wilbur Post wrote:
"cybercat" wrote in :

Seriously, if this is what Lyn describes above, it seems there might be
more of a psychological component to it. Do you think your kitty might
be bored?


She could be. She's the only pet, even though she's given affection almost
all day. Perhaps I should get her more interactive toys? Any ideas?


There's a toy that is a plastic ring with a ball inside - I forget what
it is called. It has holes that the cat can try to get the ball out
of. Drives kitties insane and keeps them occupied. Also, the
CatDancer is THE best cat toy, IMO, but you really need to be there to
play with her. You can trap one end in a drawer and let it dangle
which the cat will play with as well, but the human interaction is the
best way to use it.

-L.

 




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