Feline Stomatitis – A Mouthful of Disease

Alan Myers, DVM

The definition of stomatitis is “any numerous inflammatory diseases of the mouth”.

Yesterday, I had a client bring in a cat for examination that was exhibiting weight loss, lack of appetite, and excessive salivation. The owner was concerned about a possible tooth issue causing these symptoms. Upon oral examination, I noticed numerous small localized red round lesions on the hard palate and on the membranes around the teeth. The cat’s teeth appeared normal. No other notable findings were found on physical examination.

The broad diagnosis in a case like this is Stomatitis – but what is the underlying cause? Several different diseases come to mind – such as viral infections, bacterial infections, fungal infections, numerous autoimmune diseases, neoplasia, and metabolic diseases. Also, one would have to consider chemical insults, burns, drug induced, or other physical injuries. There are even causes of Feline Stomatitis that are idiopathic – meaning that the cause is unknown!!

The only way to get to the bottom of this is to start with the tests for the most likely cause. This is when the experience and training of a Veterinarian becomes very important!!

As you can see – Stomatitis is a mouthful and can have many causes with successful treatment depending on finding the underlying cause.

In this case, unfortunately, the cat tested posted for FIV which is untreatable, except for symptomatic therapy.

** The author of this article accepts no liability for misdiagnosis. If your animal shows any signs/ symptoms of the diseases described above, contact your veterinarian immediately. This is an informational article only and is NOT a complete list of diseases in dogs. This article should not take place of regular veterinary care.*