Please help, need advice on my senior bengals
I’m hoping someone might have some insight into a mystery case involving my cat.
My Bengal cat, Macy (11 years old), started developing ulcers in the back of her mouth/throat area (around the pharynx) about 1–2 years ago. The reason we initially took her to the vet was because she started licking excessively. She was licking so much that she was pulling out her fur and becoming bald in some areas. She was also constantly licking her lips and pawing at her mouth, which made us suspect she was experiencing oral discomfort.
We had her thoroughly worked up by our veterinarian. She was checked for cancer, eosinophilic granuloma complex, dental disease, and pretty much every common cause they could think of. She had a dental cleaning and additional testing, but everything came back negative. Despite all of that, the ulcers remained.
At the time, our vet thought it could possibly be an inflammatory or allergy-related issue, so Macy was started on prednisone and switched to a hydrolyzed diet. There was also some discussion about whether the excessive licking was causing the ulcers or whether the ulcers were causing the licking—we were never really able to determine which came first.
Eventually the ulcers went away. We never figured out whether that was because of the prednisone, the diet change, or something else entirely. She was eventually taken off prednisone and remained primarily on her hydrolyzed diet, although there were occasional food changes over time.
Fast forward to about a month ago, and the exact same thing started happening again. She began licking excessively, licking her lips, pawing at her mouth, and once again started losing fur from overgrooming. We took her back to the vet and found that the same ulcers had returned.
This time we repeated the previous treatment plan. She was put back on prednisone and continued on her hydrolyzed diet. However, unlike last time, the prednisone has done absolutely nothing. She has now been on it for about six weeks with no improvement, and we’re currently weaning her off. She still appears uncomfortable and continues to exhibit the same symptoms.
What makes this even more confusing is that her biological sister, Maddy (also 11 years old), has recently started showing similar signs. Over the last little while I’ve noticed increased lip licking, and tonight I saw her pawing at her mouth for the first time. We haven’t checked inside Maddy’s mouth yet, so I don’t know if she has ulcers, but the similarities are concerning.
We’ve consulted multiple veterinarians (2–3 different vets), and nobody has been able to determine what’s causing this. Macy has been tested for virtually everything we can think of, and we’re still without answers.
Has anyone ever seen something like this before? Does this sound infectious, inflammatory, autoimmune, allergic, or something else entirely? The fact that her sister may now be developing similar symptoms makes me wonder if there could be an infectious component, but that’s just speculation on my part.
Both cats are 11-year-old Bengal sisters. Any ideas, experiences, or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. At this point it feels like a complete mystery.