Cat with possible nerve pain in mouth/FOPS possible

[AndreaE]

Dr. Jeff and Dr. Christina,
My 20 year old cat who has kidney disease, and bouts of pancreatitis suddenly started having mouth pain when she was eating and drinking. Upon examination our vet, Dr. Jon Grant of Scaredy Cat Hospital found a lesion on the right side of her mouth which he thought looked like a possible Sarcoma. The biopsy came back negative for that and she has continued to paw at her mouth, tilt her head and struggle to eat even the softest of foods. It's a full week since the biopsy and the vet said the area with the ulceration and where he biopsied is healing nicely, but she is still clearly experiencing pain. She is hungry and looking for food, but when she takes a few licks of even the softest food, like jarred baby food watered down with bone broth, she tilts her head and clearly has discomfort dealing with the food on the right side of her mouth. The vet now thinks perhaps she is experiencing feline orofacial pain syndrome. They have offered me pain killers Buprenex (sublingual) and Gabapentin. I have been giving her homeopathic remedies Arnica and Hypericum 2x a day. The Hypericum seems to be helping more than the Arnica did. She isn't frantically pawing at her mouth or shaking her head, but she does still have a hard time eating. Even drinking water has been difficult and she is mostly drinking off of her paw which she dips in the pet fountain ad then licks the water from there. She is a bit more skittish than her usual self and runs away when I come near her. This is mostly because I have been coming at her with remedies, and syringe feeding her egg yolk mixed with probiotic goat milk! When you leave her lone she eventually does come to you and purrs. Please let me know if you have any suggestions on how to deal with this problem. Sabrina is a small cat to begin with, but she has gotten down to 5 pounds (usually 7). I do have a 15 minute call with Dr. Jeff on 4/29. Andrea

 

[Dr. Christina]

While the call with Dr. Jeff may help you with some options, I would suggest the quickest way to help your cat be pain free would be to schedule a homeopathic appointment with Dr. Jeff, Dr. Judith Herman, Dr. Pat Bradley, Dr. Anne Schwartz (contact info is at www.theAVH.org) or Dr. Charles Loops (www.CharlesLoopsDVM.com).

Acupuncture can also be great for pain relief, so see if there are any near you - www.TCVM.net, www.AHVMA.org

For nutrition:
1. Try a puree of cream, raw chicken, chicken broth
2. Answers fermented broths in addition to the goats milk/egg you are doing.
3. Wysong PDG (pre di gest), a powder you mix to the best consistency that has a lot of different proteins, probiotics, vitamins and more.

Maybe try a day, or half a day of not force feeding and just loving her.

Speak with an animal intuitive to see if she knows what she would like to eat or what she feels is happening.

Do a consult with Gail Pope (www.BrightHaven.org) who adopted cats 16 and older (had over 90 at once, with dogs, horses, pigs and more) for some more ways to treat and yet not stress her out.

Before treating or feeding, rub rescue remedy on your hands, pet her, then love her a bit, then gently do what you must.

Dr. Christina

 

[Dr. Jeff]

I'm so sorry to hear about Bonnie's mouth discomfort Andrea. : Thanks so much for starting this thread!

Great ideas Dr. Christina! Anything else you'd advise @Dr. Jean?

Are you flexible for a quick call later today Andrea?

Also, for everyone else, here are mine and Andrea's emails with other questions and comments:

At 6pm yesterday Andrea also wrote:

The arnica and hypercium seem to be helping as she has stopped frantically pawing at her mouth. I believe the hypercium has made the bigger difference. Sabrina's breath has been bad for at least 6 months now, maybe longer. I've lost track of time during the pandemic. Her ears are very sensitive to any touch. She shakes her head every time I pet her ears. She does need a teeth cleaning, so she has a plaque build up on some teeth, but we've been reluctant to clean her teeth as she's got so many issues.
I hope that helps to clarify things.

And I said:

Maybe your vet wants to see if they have a test for FOP:

Feline Orofacial Pain (FOP)

As your vet probably mentioned, FOP is a way less likely diagnosis in a non-Burmese cat.

Neuropathic pain is often fundamentally energetic and may be cured energetically.

 

[AndreaE]

I'm so sorry to hear about Bonnie's mouth discomfort Andrea. : Thanks so much for starting this thread!

Great ideas Dr. Christina! Anything else you'd advise @Dr. Jean?

Are you flexible for a quick call later today Andrea?

Also, for everyone else, here are mine and Andrea's emails with other questions and comments:

At 6pm yesterday Andrea also wrote:




And I said:

Thanks for all the good advice. I agree FOPS does not really seem to fit. I am available for a call later today, but when there's a 3 hour time difference, I'm not sure what that means. I am NOT available in Eastern time from1-2. Other than that I'm open. Of course, just because I reached out, Sabrina has decided to make a fool of me. She woke up this morning and just started eating Teddy's food like there was never a problem. Perhaps the ulcer has finally healed to her comfort level. Nevertheless, I'm not sure what that ulcer is and why it happened. I'm also not sure whether the Hypericum is what has made this difference since yesterday was the day I dosed her with it twice. Now what? Continue or stop?

 

[Dr. Jeff]

Wow, fantastic that she is better associated with use of the Hypericum!

With this degree of improvement, just go ahead and continue the Hypericum twice today, and then please update us tomorrow.

 

[Dr. Jeff]

Good morning Andrea-

How is Sabrina today?

 

[Dr. Jean Hofve]

Hi Andrea, sorry I'm a little late to the party!

You've gotten great suggestions and guidance from my colleagues, and it sounds like she is improving quickly, but I would add a couple things...

If she stops improving or backslides, to totally rule out pain, a few days' trial of buprenex might be in order.

I like plain meat baby food as a way to entice kitties to eat... even a little spoonful on top of regular food can help a lot.

Certainly flower essences would be helpful; even just Rescue Remedy (which contains Impatiens, the remedy for pain). Or Stress Stopper, our "Turbo Rescue Remedy" formula.

The nice thing about flower essences is that you don't have to mess with her at all to give it. Just put a few drops in a spray bottle and spritz the areas she hangs out in (not while she's there of course, lol!). I think of it as putting "good juju" in the air! If you want to get more specific, "Graceful Aging" from Jackson Galaxy Solutions is a really nice one. I often take it myself on those "feeling decrepit" kind of days!

Please keep us posted!