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#1
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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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