Ping Cheryl, Phil and others - regarding Granuloma, skin and fleas

Cheryl (Phil and others) -

You've answered some of my questions before regarding skin lesions on the
hind leg. Now my mom's cat also has scabs at the base of her ears and one
on her face, in addition to small ones on the hind legs. She also chewed a
bunch of hair off on her bottom right leg near the nails. The vet says
he's sure it's not fleas
because she's mostly white and we would see the flea dirt on her body.
However, I've read one of your posts from a few years ago, plus this
discertation on "The Itchy Cat"

http://www.vet.utk.edu/continuing_ed...CE/sargent.pdf

as well as Dr. Mike Richards stuff on feline skin, and they both recommend
Frontline Plus to rule out flea allergies, since cats are good at licking
off the fleas I don't really fashion giving her a pesticide in addition to
her Gentaved and Prednisolone (2.5 to 5 mg/day until it clears up). I
started her again on this regimen 5 days ago, and the scabs seem to be
drying up.

Did you go the Frontline route and did it help? The only time I ever saw
any sign of an insect was last year when I found a dead bug on the middle
of her tail.

Usually, after two weeks of treatment with Gentaved and Prednisolone pills,
her wounds clear up (and that's why the vet thinks it's not mites or
fleas). The problem is that they usually return. I know it's easier to
give the shots of Depo Medrol (she's had two in the last two years), but
both the vet and myself like the idea of controlling the situation with the
Prednisolone, as the Depo stays in the system for weeks, while the
Prednisolone is out in a matter of days. I have the pill ingestion down to
a science already. I crush the pill and roll it up in small pieces of low
sodium turkey breast. This way the cat can't smell the pill. It's gotten
to the point where she almost stays completely still while I administer the
topical (with some whimpering, of course), and then waits for her treat
(the Prednisolone and turkey Breast)!

"femcat" wrote in message
news
Cheryl (Phil and others) -

You've answered some of my questions before regarding skin lesions on the
hind leg. Now my mom's cat also has scabs at the base of her ears and one
on her face, in addition to small ones on the hind legs. She also chewed
a
bunch of hair off on her bottom right leg near the nails. The vet says
he's sure it's not fleas
because she's mostly white and we would see the flea dirt on her body.
However, I've read one of your posts from a few years ago, plus this
discertation on "The Itchy Cat"

http://www.vet.utk.edu/continuing_ed...CE/sargent.pdf

as well as Dr. Mike Richards stuff on feline skin, and they both recommend
Frontline Plus to rule out flea allergies, since cats are good at licking
off the fleas I don't really fashion giving her a pesticide in addition
to
her Gentaved and Prednisolone (2.5 to 5 mg/day until it clears up). I
started her again on this regimen 5 days ago, and the scabs seem to be
drying up.

Did you go the Frontline route and did it help? The only time I ever saw
any sign of an insect was last year when I found a dead bug on the middle
of her tail.

Usually, after two weeks of treatment with Gentaved and Prednisolone
pills,
her wounds clear up (and that's why the vet thinks it's not mites or
fleas). The problem is that they usually return. I know it's easier to
give the shots of Depo Medrol (she's had two in the last two years), but
both the vet and myself like the idea of controlling the situation with
the
Prednisolone, as the Depo stays in the system for weeks, while the
Prednisolone is out in a matter of days. I have the pill ingestion down
to
a science already. I crush the pill and roll it up in small pieces of low
sodium turkey breast. This way the cat can't smell the pill. It's gotten
to the point where she almost stays completely still while I administer
the
topical (with some whimpering, of course), and then waits for her treat
(the Prednisolone and turkey Breast)!


Depo Medrol works very well. My cat last had a lesion in November,
and I am just now having to take her in for another shot. Given that
infrequently, the risk of side effects is minimal. She has asthma and
EGC. She also scratches a lot--in between Depo shots I give her
2 mgs of Chlortrimeton (half a 4 mg tablet) every 12 hours.

As for the Depo staying in the system, when you see your cat happy
and bumpless and lesionless and wheezeless for 6 months, what could
bother you about that? Have you thought about food allergies? Have you
tried to cut known allergens out of her diet, such as corn products and
wheat gluten? What about dust and pollen? Do you burn perfumed
candles or wear perfumes? Is your cat exposed to cleaning products
that could bother her? Addressing all of these issues is how I got
my cat down to 1-3 depo shots a year.

Good luck. Hopefully Phil and Cheryl and other will chime in. Phil
is the one who advised me on this matter.



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femcat wrote:
Cheryl (Phil and others) -

You've answered some of my questions before regarding skin lesions on the
hind leg. Now my mom's cat also has scabs at the base of her ears and one
on her face, in addition to small ones on the hind legs. She also chewed a
bunch of hair off on her bottom right leg near the nails. The vet says
he's sure it's not fleas
because she's mostly white and we would see the flea dirt on her body.
However, I've read one of your posts from a few years ago, plus this
discertation on "The Itchy Cat"

http://www.vet.utk.edu/continuing_ed...CE/sargent.pdf

as well as Dr. Mike Richards stuff on feline skin, and they both recommend
Frontline Plus to rule out flea allergies, since cats are good at licking
off the fleas I don't really fashion giving her a pesticide in addition to
her Gentaved and Prednisolone (2.5 to 5 mg/day until it clears up). I
started her again on this regimen 5 days ago, and the scabs seem to be
drying up.

I would put her on Advantage before I gave her Frontline Plus.
Frontline (especially the "Plus" version) is associated with more
adverse reactions and isn't as effective against fleas as Advantage.
Advantage is extremely safe and there is no reason not to treat her
even if she is on the other meds.


Did you go the Frontline route and did it help? The only time I ever saw
any sign of an insect was last year when I found a dead bug on the middle
of her tail.

Usually, after two weeks of treatment with Gentaved and Prednisolone pills,
her wounds clear up (and that's why the vet thinks it's not mites or
fleas). The problem is that they usually return. I know it's easier to
give the shots of Depo Medrol (she's had two in the last two years), but
both the vet and myself like the idea of controlling the situation with the
Prednisolone, as the Depo stays in the system for weeks, while the
Prednisolone is out in a matter of days.

In a healthy cat, the risk of side effects and organ damage from both
meds (long term) are about the same. If the cat reacts favorably to
Depo injections, I'd choose those as you are not constantly pilling the
cat, causing her stress. Some animals respond better to Pred than
Depo, though, so you may have a cat that fits that profile.

I have the pill ingestion down to
a science already. I crush the pill and roll it up in small pieces of low
sodium turkey breast. This way the cat can't smell the pill. It's gotten
to the point where she almost stays completely still while I administer the
topical (with some whimpering, of course), and then waits for her treat
(the Prednisolone and turkey Breast)!

Sounds like she pills easily - for now.

-L.

"-L." wrote in
ps.com:




In a healthy cat, the risk of side effects and organ damage from both
meds (long term) are about the same. If the cat reacts favorably to
Depo injections, I'd choose those as you are not constantly pilling
the cat, causing her stress. Some animals respond better to Pred than
Depo, though, so you may have a cat that fits that profile.



Thanks for taking the time to respond. She was a little despondent for
several days after the Depo injections. Her appetite diminished and she
hid under the bed. After a few days she came to herself again.
With 2.5mg of Prenisolone per day, and one application of several drops of
Gentaved per day, there appears to be no side effects. Obviously, her
lesions cleared up faster with the Depo, but once again there's always the
chance that problems could occur, and the drug is in her system for weeks.

As far as stress goes, she handles the pill with the turkey breast like a
champ. The stress is for me when trying to catch her to apply the
Gentaved! Recently, she's been a good girl and sits still during the
application. Then she waits for her turkey/Prednisolone chaser.

I was reading that vets start some cats on 10 mg/day, then drop it down to
5 mg of Prednisolone. I'm hoping she can stabilize on 2.5 mg per day.
Then when the lesions are gone, I can stop the meds until they come back,
and in the interim hope I hit on the right food combo that will stop the
allergy (if it's a food allergy).

Am I right in assuming that most people here who have tried the anti-flea
treatments haven't seen any positive results regarding the granuloma
problem?

On Fri 09 Jun 2006 01:53:18a, femcat wrote in
rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
(news

Did you go the Frontline route and did it help? The only time I
ever saw any sign of an insect was last year when I found a dead
bug on the middle of her tail.

Yes, flea treatment was the first thing I tried with Shamrock, even
though no signs of fleas existed. Like others have said many times,
even a single flea can cause the symptoms you've seen, and cats are
good at picking them off of themselves. It didn't work, so we went
from there. I hope it's as easily fixed as flea treatment for your
mom's cat. If so, be sure to have her wormed, too.

Usually, after two weeks of treatment with Gentaved and
Prednisolone pills, her wounds clear up (and that's why the vet
thinks it's not mites or fleas). The problem is that they
usually return. I know it's easier to give the shots of Depo
Medrol (she's had two in the last two years), but both the vet
and myself like the idea of controlling the situation with the
Prednisolone, as the Depo stays in the system for weeks, while
the Prednisolone is out in a matter of days.

Oral cortisone never worked for Shamrock, though I wish it would
for the reasons you state. Two recent things that I've tried after
consulting a veterinary dermatologist have been unsuccessful -
allergy shots (though they seemed to help at least some - he was on
them for a year), and the last try was Atopica (Cyclosporine) but
it made him violently nauseous and unable to keep his food down.

Good luck to your mom's cat!

--
Cheryl