Jill Bowen

Jill Bowen has practiced veterinary medicine in England and Texas and has taught at Texas A&M. She lives with her veterinarian husband and two cats in Blacksburg. If you have a question, please write to her in care of The Roanoke Times, P.O. Box 540, Christiansburg, VA 24068, or send an e-mail to mjbowen@radford.edu

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• Column archive

 I have a 6-year-old cat that gets ulcers on his top lip. The vet treats him with a cortisone injections, but now he has diabetes and needs insulin injections. Is there anything else I can use instead of cortisone?

Recurrent ulcers on the lower edge of the upper lip of cats are called rodent ulcers. The cause of these ulcers is not known, but an allergic response may be part of it. Steroids, either by injection or orally, usually work well, but occasionally their use can precipitate diabetes.
A variety of other treatments can be tried. As an allergy may be involved, antihistamine drugs in combination with a hypoallergenic diet and an avoidance of plastic food and water bowls has been effective in some cases. There are some rather expensive treatments available from your veterinarian that include the use of either nasal or oral interferons. These can prevent the growth of virus or cancer cells. Cyclosporine, an anti-cancer drug, has also been used, as well as laser surgery. Consult with your veterinarian and ask if any of these options would be applicable for your cat.

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You keep talking about the problem of hairballs in cats. Do all cats have hairballs? We have a middle-aged cat that has never to my knowledge vomited up a hairball.

You are very lucky! Most cat owners would envy you.

Hairballs can occur in all cats, although not all cats vomit them up. Many cats pass their hairballs through the intestinal tract without a problem. It all depends on the amount of grooming the cat does, the type of fur it has and the efficiency of its gastrointestinal tract. The newer high-fiber dry cat foods have also helped in the passage of hairballs.

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I have two oldish cats (5 and 8 years old) that have very inflamed gums and a nasty odor from the mouth. They have had two courses of antibiotics that did not work. The vet now wants to try steroids. Any ideas as to why they have this problem?

Treatment for stomatitis can be very frustrating. Commonly, treatment consists of frequent professional teeth cleaning, including in some cases tooth and root extraction, at the veterinary clinic. Antibiotics and steroids in combination often give relief, though not a cure.

Sometimes the cause of persistent stomatitis may be caused by  a lack of immune response to the feline immunodeficiency virus or even the feline leukemia virus. Laboratory tests can confirm the presence of these viruses.

Stomatitis occurs because these immuno-suppressed cats are unable to suppress or control the assorted bacteria that are normally present in the mouth producing the gum inflation and obnoxious odor associated with the inflammation.

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Please tell your readers about the dangers of Gorilla Glue. My puppy chewed up a tube and was deathly ill and had to have a very expensive operation. He recovered, but only just.

I am so sorry to hear of your experience with your puppy and glad he is on the road to recovery. Gorilla Glue is a water-activated expanding adhesive. If it is ingested, it can be fatal. Once swallowed, the glue expands and hardens in the stomach. The lump of glue acts like a foreign body and is associated with ulceration of the stomach lining, loss of appetite, lethargy, depression and vomiting. The only treatment is the surgical removal of the glue ball.