She’s a 9 year old rescue. We got her at 6 months and at 1 year, she stopped eating hard kibble and started hissing. We took her to the vet who told us she appeared to have Feline Oral Stomatitis.
Oral Stomatitis is when the cat’s immune system attacks their teeth. Humans can get it as well as cats. It’s not contagious, it’s considered by some to be an autoimmunity problem.
They said to switch to soft foods and that steroid injections monthly were the first treatment but it could get bad enough to require surgery. We took her home to research steroids since we were concerned about health and started feeding her wet food. When she progressed to baby food pureed meat, we took her back in for her first steroid injection and she went back to being able to eat dry kibble. After that, every month we took her back at the first hiss and continued for a year.
When she was 2, they started discussing surgery with us and we ended up having to take out a personal loan for the surgery. After the surgery, we found out she had TMJ and severe periodontal disease.
She is now nine, doesn’t have any problems eating (but loves to eat and still eats like she is on steroids) but she’s happy and healthy. She even still acts like a kitten half the time.
She loves- sleeping on the bed or couch, being pet (but not really picked up) and cuddling on our laps.
She dislikes being carried around or the kitten getting too close unless she’s playing.
DIY MOMMY 