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Cat with autoimmune disease... what else should I be asking?
We have 2 cats. the older one is the picture of health.
Our second cat first got sick when he was about 1.5 years old (we adopted him from a rescue). At that point he got uveitis in his eye and was getting a weird discharge from his eye and was getting a hot spot like patch on the back of his neck that all the hair would fall out and then could take months to heal. Not to mention his teeth already had tarter and were more like a 10 year old cat.
We took him to a vet opthmologist, did a bunch of eye tests, tested for FIV, a bunch of parasites, etc and everything came back normal. At that point, between this doctor and our normal vet, they said the most likely cause was autoimmune disease.
His teeth are always bad... we get them cleaned every 8 months to prevent build up. We give him lysine every day in his food to prevent flare ups. When he goes on steriods, he gets better... but you can't keep him on them forever.
Well-- for the past almost 2 years, he has had a sore on his nose. It has changed location slights and sometimes almost heals, but then never does. Our vet said it was likely from the autoimmune disease. We had it biopsied and it was not cancer... but it also never heals.
He does not seem to be in any pain, is still eating fine, gets along with other cat, no issues... but he seems less active than he was last year. He sleeps a lot more and I am just worried about him. I took him to the vet again and told him what I was seeing and they said that none of his bloodwork looks off and if I wanted we could do anotehr round of steriods.
It breaks my heart that he has this sore that won't heal, that the vet seems unsure of anything that will help and while he is now almost 7... it still seems weird that he is so much less active then he was and I am so worried it is something more.
What else should I be asking and any suggestions?
TIA!
Re: Cat with autoimmune disease... what else should I be asking?
Did they ever diagnose the auto immune disease? or are they just assuming herpeS? What food do you all feed? I feel like a high quality grain free food generally helps with overall health, but if he has any kind of food sensitivities may help even more. You might also consider seeing a holistic vet who could suggest supplements, etc beyond the lysine.
My 7 year old boy is also slowing down and losing muscle mass. It's hard, but I know its a lot harder when you have to worry about potential health issues as well.
We feed EVO for cats... so the food is high quality and have for years.
They said he had an autoimmune disease... but not sure which one and they said the treatment would not matter. The sore on this nose, eye discharge, continued uvetis (it comes and goes), and then now the overall slowing down... is what concerns me.
especially since our 13 year old cat is spry and still acts like a kitten... our 1st cat ever lived to be 23... so i have never had one that was prone to illiness. It is so hard!
A holistic vet could also give you advice on whether to go raw, I know some vets don't recommend with all auto immune disorders. EVO is very good but isn't necessarily as reliable since the company sold to P&G. You might try taste of the wild or instinct, Instinct in particular is one of the best dry cat foods on the market.
I'm a little confused by your response. Exactly what testing did they do and what were the results? What auto immune disorders were being throw around? What treatment is he on? IMO there is a huge difference between something like FeLv and herpes, herpes is highly treatable FeLv not so much. Vet Tech is also really good on auto immune disorders and owns FIV kitties, so if you tell us a little more she may be able to offer advice.
he does not have Feline Leukima or FIV or cat aids (tested negative for all). When they biopsed his nose they tested it for cancer, parasites and a million different tthings. His bloodwork shows elevated white blood counts and inflamation, but nothing else looked off.
He symptoms (other than his nose which has been constant) come and go. The specialist vet that my regular vet sent me to said we could pay another 3K and put him through even more tests trying to specify exacly what autoimmune disorder it was, but that in his opinion, it was not important since the treatment from his opinion would not change. he said what he thinks our cat expereinces is similar to a human with fibromyalgia or lupus. It can be fine or severe, it comes and goes. The only treatment we have had success with is steriods and keeping him long term on them damages other organs (from what I was told).
I will call and ask about dermatologist and google for a holistic vet. Those are good ideas.