Ellie -Mae still not well....

[carole]

just thought i would give you all an update, Ellie is doing much better now, she is very hungry on those steroids, but rather fussy all the same, but much improved eating today and her gums look pink rather than bright red, so i guess all the treatment is doing something, she will be on steroids permanently though i expect, which i am not too happy about,however if it is the only way we can keep her mouth from being sore, it is what we have to do, there is another drug but it is just way too expensive, and there is no guarantee it is any better, it is like over 4 dollars a day, where as the steroids are only 13.80 per 3mths.

Anyhow progress has been made, so let us all hope it she continues to get better.,fingers and all paws crossed.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Thanks for the update. I'm glad to hear that she's doing better already and I hope that the pred will continue to help her.

[Catty1]

I hope she continues to heal; it's great that she can enjoy her food more.

[carole]

I was talking to the lady at the cats protection league who had dealt with chronic gingivitis problems many times, the news was not good, i already knew the condition was really difficult to treat, but she said often the steroids and injections work for a while then begin to loose their effectiveness, and usually the cats have to be PTS,although they can live some years.

I was in complete shock hearing that, and i will be asking my vet, there is no way i want to loose my Ellie in a few years time, she is only 9 yrs old, and i cannot bear the thought of that , it is bad enough dealing with the knowledge my Old Ash has limited time with us.

Can anyone enlighten me, i feel very upset knowing this, i just thought we could go on treating her for years until she reached old age, and as long as she was on treatment she would be ok,and taking the whole lot of her teeth out is not an option i am going for, as she said they had done that , and it never worked.,if there were guarantees it would, i would do it.

She also said that a lot of ginger cats tend to get it, Ellie has ginger in her, but she is my calico in the my siggy.

She does have a lot of experience with cats, dealing with them for years in the shelter and helping them, so i do respect that and i have to think that what she is saying is correct, but i fear that it is.

[kokopup]

I have read many different studies on the problem and all say that extraction of all pre molars and molars is the only way to get complete relief. The anti-inflammatory therapy with cortisone and immunostimulants such as immunoregulin may give temporary relief but extraction is the only permanent solution.

http://www.peteducation.com/article....1+2121&aid=368 -
www.cfa.org/articles/health/gingivitis.html
www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?aid=998 -

[katladyd]

I've heard that extraction does, indeed, work most excellently for this problem. But...I'm not a vet and I would get several opinions from different vets on this. I do know that several years ago, my son had to be on pred for allergies and the doctors told me that it is not good to take it long-term. Now that was for a teenage boy, cats may be completely different. This is why you need several opinions.

[kokopup]

I do know that several years ago, my son had to be on pred for allergies and the doctors told me that it is not good to take it long-term. Now that was for a teenage boy, cats may be completely different. This is why you need several opinions.

The taking of any corticosteroid type of drug long term can create a multitude of problems. If used in the mouth it causes thinning of the tissue of the gums and palliate. After radiation treatment I developed an autoimmune disorder of the mouth that required the taking of corticosteroid drugs to keep my condition under control. I was limited to the time I could take the drugs because of the adverse effects. It would be the same for cats as well.