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Canker sore like lesion at my cat's lips

My 1 year old cat develops canker sore like lesion at the lips.  I have taken him to the vet 3 times.  The vet said he has allergy.  He had received 3 cortisone shots with no improvement.  Has anybody had similar problem with his/her cat?  Any suggestions how should I treat this condition.  By the way, my cat has no symptoms.  He seems to be playful and has good appetite.  Any help would be appreciated.  
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Avatar universal
I have two cats, and only the one seems to have this ulcer problem on her mouth (outside lip area).  She has not had an outbreak since I switched to grain free good (Wild Buffalo), but today I noticed the lesion/ulceration is back on her lip.  Normally she breaks out on the paw area (same paw), but her paw seems to be kinda okay so far.  Trips to the vet resulted in giving her steroids, but she was having outbreaks like every three months until I switched her food up after her last outbreak in December of 2001.  I am grateful she hasn't had an outbreak since then, but the lesion seems to be back today.  I also apply virgin coconut oil to the affected area, and that seems to help.  I just hate to see her having this again since she has done so well since switching her food up to grain free.  The vet also wanted to do a $400 allergy test which I agreed to, but then she said she also needed to do a biopsy to rule out cancer, blah blah blah until I was up to like $1200.  Then she wanted to put her on prescription cat food which would have cost me more to feed her than myself.  Like I said, I tried the grain free food, and it has seemed to work up until this point (almost 8 months now).  Not sure what else to do.  I have ceramic bowls for both of my cats and haven't switched anything up.  They go outside to get brushed about once a week, and we let them play in the grass for about 15 minutes.  Do you think that might have irritated her?  Also, we are leaving for vacation, and she can see that we are packing, so could she possibly be stressed?
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Avatar universal
Izzycat, notice that everyone else has something helpful and constructive to add. Take their example. Your approach makes you look like a jerk.
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874521 tn?1424116797
hi, you are absolutely right about feeding canned food, cats don't ever drink enough to compensate for the dry dehydrated diet....and thus end up with many urinary tract problems as well as other issues.
I will send you a link to cat nutrition, the Vet there really pushes raw diets, but also gives good sound advice on feeding canned, and on the right hand side of her column also names the best brands on the market.

catinfo.org

...9-lives isn't a good brand at all, neither is whiskas another grocery store brand.
If you need to be buying the grocery store brands fancy feast CLASSIC is somewhat better.

2 things....these lip ulcers can also be caused by plastic dishes...change to ceramic or metal.

and if you are feeding chicken, stop...chicken is one of the worst offenders for allergies...try beef, or fish. at least for awhile and see if that helps. and if you can possibly afford it buy a canned food without GRAINS..these are also huge culprits with allergies...what symptoms does your cat have other than the ulcer?

here is a good article on allergies.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?aid=2134

I am also including an article on EGC with photos of the lip rodent ulcer. regardless of what the article recommends for treatment, these nearly always respond to a change in diet..do the reading than get back to us if you have anymore questions ok....♥

http://www.vet.uga.edu/vpp/clerk/Starnes/index.php

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Avatar universal
I thought it might be the new food I'm feeding my cat.  Probably so.  I had read that wet food was better for him after all because it has more water (you just feed them more of it) and that's their primary water source out in the wild.  Also that the canned cat food is cooked in the canning process, so it should be safe to eat.  Anyway, I started my 14 mo old cat on wet food about a week and a half ago (different flavors, all 9-Lives), and he now has a single canker sore on his lip (I thought it was where an earwig had fought back when he tried to bite it), plus swelling under his chin (that may be from how he's been scratching there a lot; I'm treating him for fleas).  He does have allergies of some sort; he has ever since I took him in as a farrell kitty at 6 months.  I've figured he was allergic to me - but it was either live with me or my apartment managers were going to have him put down.  I've never heard until now of allergies to flees.  Anyway, I'm not sure if it's one flavor doing this to him, or the brand itself, or if I should forgo the wet food altogether and make him drink more water to make up for that.  I don't like what I've been reading about dry food being the cause of mineral build up in a cat's bladder.
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Avatar universal
I just took my cat the the vet for a rabies shot.  He also happened to have a lesion on his lip as you describe.  The vet told me that they are very common on the lower lip as the canine tooth irritates the area. My vet actually popped the small abcess it contained and told me just to wash the area with warm soapy water every day.  He has since (1mos has passed) developed one on the opposite side.
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1 Comments
Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry to hear about your Kittys death? Do you know what he died from? Was his death related to the lessons he had?
1203956 tn?1266322258
  Well let's think about this.  First I'm sorry this is happening to you and your kitties.  Definately your first step should be to take both kitties at the same time to a vet so they can see how both of your cats have the same issue.  They might be able to give you a few guesses on what to test for based on how your kitties look.......If one vet doesn't help, try a different one.   Be sure to mention that you seem to notice an improvement when you use the flea medication.  That might help point them in the right direction to get a diagnosis too.  I know it can get expensive but the best anyone can do without a vet's advice is just random guesses.  Here are some of my random guesses:

  Anything IS possible but it almost sounds like your kitties are having a problem with some sort of disease or virus that they are able to pass between them.  So I am thinking being they both have it and it looks and acts the same in the same exact place..........it would probably not be cancer.  A vet might be able to tell you if it looks suspicious (for cancer)based on appearance.  

  Probably not allergies either unless it's a big concidence that two unrelated cats have exactly the same reaction to something.......... which is still possible but not likely.  Just to be safe you can switch their food dishes, I would say to stainless steel for both food and water.  You can try switching food if you haven't already but that can take a while for their systems to show an improvement, so you might want to ask a vet for advice on what to switch to and how long before you might see a change if the food is the cause.  

  
  Also if your cats go outside I would definately try to keep them in and see if anything changes.  In a time like this, you need to know exactly what they are coming in contact with.  The only way to have control over that is to keep them inside 24/7.  Maybe there is something in your neighborhood that your first kitty got into and then he showed your second kitty and now they both have the same problem etc.

   There is a simple blood test for feline aids (FIV) that can be done pretty cheaply and the results are pretty immediate so I would definately do that to rule it out being you are concerned about that.  


   I hope they start to feel better soon and that someone can help you figure out this puzzle.

P.S.  There is a special credit program open to people who can't afford to pay huge vet bills all at once.  It's called Care Credit.  Not everyone who applies is accepted and you have to check with your vet to see if they accept it, but it might be worth a try.  If you qualify you get a set amount of months to pay off your bill with zero interest.  Good luck!!!!
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