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My cat has been taking megestrol acetate 20 mg for ulcers in the mouth & throat for about 2 months. His last visit to the vet showed signs of improvement & the dose was reduced to 10mg daily. I also mentioned that his hair was looking unkept & not as shiny. The vet said he's stopped grooming hisself probably because of the ulcers. He's been showing some bald patches recently & tonight I was checking him hair is falling off in patches, leaving raw bleeding skin. I'm very concerned & the vet has closed until Monday. If you can give me an idea of what's going on please help. He's tested negative for feline leukemia & feline aids. No other testing has been done. He's an indoor kitty and we have 4 others (two are brothers) in the house. We've been watching to see if the others are fighting or picking on him but that doesn't seem to be the case. We recently moved from Florida to Tennessee in August. Are these problems stress or allergy related or something more serious?
Dear friend,
That hormone is not going to cure ulcers.Your kitty needs clavamox or clindamycin antibiotic ASAP.
He should also be geting 150 mg of l-lycine in his water daily.
He may have stomatitis, herpes or calici virus.
Cats that have Stomatitis, which is a severe infammation of the mouth have a lot of pain and often stop eating. That is a different condition than normal gingavitis which is treatable by dental scaling. However, Stomatitis is NOT treatable so annual cleanings are a waste of time and money because the oral bacteria enters the stomach and makes the cat extremely ill. Antibiotics and steroids are often used.We usually recommend removal of all teeth for best results. Then the cat lives a normal healthy life eating soft food.He does not even miss the teeth.Here is info you can print and refer to.
http://www.thensome.com/felinehealthlinks.htm
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?articleid=368
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_plasma_cell_stomatitis.html
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pointe/9352/stomatitis.html
http://www.animalhealthchannel.com/calicivirus/index.shtml
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=1&cat=1348&articleid=210
http://www.thensome.com/herpes.htm
Fortunately cats do not get as many skin conditions as dogs so they are much easier to diagnose and treat. They can be allergic reactions, fungus or infection.
Here is the most common with photos:
Stud tail:and feline acnehttp://www.kittens-lair.net/cat-health/feline-acne.html
Ringworm:
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_ringworm.html
Miliary Dermatitis:
www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/mil-derm.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miliary_dermatitis
granuloma:
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_eosinophilic_granuloma.html
http://www.vet.uga.edu/vpp/clerk/Starnes/index.php
Scabies:
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_notoedric_mange.html
Hot spots:
http://www.thepetcenter.com/exa/hotspots.html
Ringworm can be recurrent and is treated with a topical fungicide or a vaccine shot.
miliary dermatitis can come from a food allergy or the bite of even ONE flea.This is treated with one cortesone shot or neosporen it is safe it he licks a bit.
Granuloma is also usually allergic in nature and can be treated cortesone or antibiotics or both.
There is also alopecia which is usually symetrical and can be self inflicted:
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=1&cat=1338&articleid=195
A staph infection is also a possibility and can recur at times when the immune system is weakened temporarily.
Please look at the photos and let me know which best relates to your cats issues and I will be happy to discuss this further with you.
You can apply neosporen to the lesions. and it should help until you can get the antibiotics for your boy.
I hope he feels better very soon.
Sincerest best wishes,
Terri
Experience: Expert in feline health and behavior. 20 years experience with cats.
Sorry for not getting back sooner. I've had classes & the holidays & taking care of the kitty, etc, etc. I appreciate your help & time spent researching. I did accept your answer today. Can you help me a little bit more? If I have to make an additional deposit I will, but I have to wait for a wire transfer to hit my bank. My cat's vet has said that he has hot spots. I've been treating them with alcohol and/or bactine as per his directions. I have also kept him bandaged daily. Yesterday (xmas day) I took the bandages off & the wounds have shrunk down to the size of a dime. I decided to leave them off & let them continue to dry out. Within less than 1/2 hour my cat had licked hisself raw again & the wound is now as big as my hand under the neck. I took him back to the vet today and he says he's not sure what he might have. The skin is loose & detached from the body, in the area around the neck. He said it's possible he may have an autoimmune disease but that he really has no idea. He gave him another shot of penicillin and depomedrol (not sure?) directly in the wound and said it would help the itching. He also sprayed it with something yellow that he said is an antibiotic and would penetrate into the skin and also act as a coating to dry the area. He said he had seen a cat one time that had an autoimmune disease & the body was rejecting it's own skin. That cat had to be put to sleep. I said I would keep trying to treat my cat until I see there is nothing else to do. Is it possible you have heard of something like this? I'm back at square one and feel quite sad for this kitty. If you could help me again I would really appreciate it. Please let me know. Thank you.