infected stomach. at a loss.

nathaliewhite

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got my cat spayed in September, had issues with the healing, took her to the vet, her spay scar finally healed. and then she started losing fur on her leg next to her stomach, took to vet, started treating with a wound spray twice daily. follow up a week later- wound has changed: suspected ring worm. prescribed fungal wipes twice daily + wound spray. follow up a week later, it gets better, prescribed miconazole, applied miconazole, got a tiny bit better. follow up a week later. they clean her up, it looks nice and healing. a couple days after that, her stomach is turning red, whatever it is, started spreading like wild fire. took back to the vet 1 week BEFORE her scheduled follow up. medical clip and cleaning + antibiotic shot (convenia) and steroid shot. he says it's really bad, stop fungal treatment, gives us chlorhexidine to clean her tummy twice daily. we have been doing that and it seems to be getting worse, she has a follow up on Monday. I am so lost, I don't know what to do. does anybody have ANY idea what this can be or what I can suggest to the vet to try and help figure out what is going on? please. she is in pain. it looks really bad. she' been going to the vet non stop since September, it is now December. this feels horrible, i'm doing everything right and she seems to just have more things making her suffer. :-(
the pictures are in order from start to now.
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di and bob

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Did they ever take a culture of the wound to see what they are dealing with? Is it fungal, bacterial, etc.? I would start there to deal with it with what it needs. Maybe oral steroids too, different antibitics. Maybe time to see another vet. It may be like a MRSA or staph infection taht really needs a specific antibiotic. Testing would eb teh frist step.
My God, that is horrible,that poor, sweet baby! I will pray for her to get better!!!!
 
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nathaliewhite

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Did they ever take a culture of the wound to see what they are dealing with? Is it fungal, bacterial, etc.? I would start there to deal with it with what it needs. Maybe oral steroids too, different antibitics. Maybe time to see another vet. It may be like a MRSA or staph infection taht really needs a specific antibiotic. Testing would eb teh frist step.
My God, that is horrible,that poor, sweet baby! I will pray for her to get better!!!!
no they didn't, they will be doing all of that Monday as well as testing antibiotic resistance as it has not gotten better. I will ask about MRSA/staph, yeast infections etc. none of us understand why it gets better and then overnight it's a whole different story either. after Monday, if nothing else is working the following week, our vet said it would be time to see a dermatologist. right now, because of the chlorhexidine, she is super dry on her stomach when the wounds are that it makes it painful for her to walk. I feel so bad about that as well. she is 8 years old. none of these issues started happening til she had a horribly done spay surgery (thankfully that finally healed. ) but it just keeps going downhill, I thought it looked bad before, but before is nothing compared to now.
 

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Please let us know what happens. You are clearly trying to help her and have tried numerous remedies. At this point, I agree that you need an appointment to a dermatologist. Did your vet do the spay surgery? If you see a dermatologist, they will take over her care and you can determine later if you need an entirely new vet. There are certainly enough in the Los Angeles area.

I am just going to add that part of my concern is that my avatar had a massive flea/food allergy episode over the last few months, starting in May. We did go to a dermatologist as she had turned into a sort of massive scab. While the use of Convenia can be controversial, I allowed it to be use twice, two weeks apart and it was a huge help. That is why I am concerned that your poor little girl is not substantially better.
 
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nathaliewhite

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Please let us know what happens. You are clearly trying to help her and have tried numerous remedies. At this point, I agree that you need an appointment to a dermatologist. Did your vet do the spay surgery? If you see a dermatologist, they will take over her care and you can determine later if you need an entirely new vet. There are certainly enough in the Los Angeles area.

I am just going to add that part of my concern is that my avatar had a massive flea/food allergy episode over the last few months, starting in May. We did go to a dermatologist as she had turned into a sort of massive scab. While the use of Convenia can be controversial, I allowed it to be use twice, two weeks apart and it was a huge help. That is why I am concerned that your poor little girl is not substantially better.
we took her to campLA in long beach for her spay (we didn't want to spay her that isn't why we took her.) but they forced us to, we were going to get it done somewhere else. I to this day REGRET taking her to campLA. they are a low cost clinic, and she needed teeth pulled, that was the reason we took her, said they wouldn't help unless we agreed to spay at the same time. she had a real bad mouth infection had all but her front teeth and fangs pulled. the spay was wonky/botched. we never returned there and began taking her to economico pet hospital and they are great. if there is no improvement her Dr. will be giving us a referral i believe, or recommending us to a Dermatologist. she was on convenia once before but it was because her spay incision was infected, after that one time, her spay incision healed so quickly. that was in October. she just got convenia again for any skin infection on her tummy, dr said she can build resistance so probably won't do it again, she was on amox clav 3 times in the span of 2 months as well. first time from CampLA following her procedures to prevent infection in her mouth. her mouth healed perfectly btw. this mostly all started because she kept licking herself raw after we were finally able to free her from a spay onesie and cone she was in for over a month straight so she wouldn't mess with her spay incision and she eventually just went to town licking when it was off. it all started off as her licking herself raw. but it wouldn't heal no matter what. ugh. thank God she goes back tomorrow. I want her back to normal. I'm afraid of the costs too, I don't have a job, my partner is on fixed income, I used most of my savings on her already and am down to the last I can spend so I'm hoping it won't be too expensive. we got denied for scratch pay already when we were at campLA.
 

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It sounds like your vet is very good and he will give you a referral or the name of a dermatologist. If he does not, I would push for one. There is a nationwide group called Animal Dermatology
Animal Dermatology Group
with locations all over. I am not suggesting that you need to go to any of these places however as I am sure that there are others.

Do you think that the licking was from pain at the incision site?
 
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nathaliewhite

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It sounds like your vet is very good and he will give you a referral or the name of a dermatologist. If he does not, I would push for one. There is a nationwide group called Animal Dermatology
Animal Dermatology Group
with locations all over. I am not suggesting that you need to go to any of these places however as I am sure that there are others.

Do you think that the licking was from pain at the incision site?
thank you i will check it out.

I'm unsure. it could have been, but she didn't seem to be in much pain, just really itchy, and the itchy was on her leg/knee not even really her tummy. but it definitely did spread across the tummy. my partner and I are taking turns sleeping to watch her like a hawk. I sleep at night and he stays up til morning watching her and helping her get around, go litter box etc. my turn to watch is in the morning when he goes to sleep. I know cats hide their pain, which is why I'm unsure if she was licking due to pain or just itchy. our vet did say she's just really itchy in the beginning. she's in pain now, can't really touch her without her growling/swatting/hissing but we have to anyway when it's clean time. we give her gabapentin to try and help calm her down so she can sleep. it doesn't work either. and Gabapentin causes her bowel incontinence so we are careful with that.
 

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You have all certainly been through it! The damaged skin is painful now, but I would try to find out what caused the licking in the first place. A dermatologist might have some ideas and if it was itchiness that opens up a whole discussion of what might be causing the itch. Does putting a cool towel on the skin help at all? It is certainly not a remedy, but my vet told me to try that when Lily was very bad. She was on gabapentin and prednisolone after a couple of injections of Depo Medrol. Have any steroids been tried?
 
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nathaliewhite

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You have all certainly been through it! The damaged skin is painful now, but I would try to find out what caused the licking in the first place. A dermatologist might have some ideas and if it was itchiness that opens up a whole discussion of what might be causing the itch. Does putting a cool towel on the skin help at all? It is certainly not a remedy, but my vet told me to try that when Lily was very bad. She was on gabapentin and prednisolone after a couple of injections of Depo Medrol. Have any steroids been tried?
we were told to keep it dry so we haven't tried a cool towel. it does seem to be better after we finish cleaning and drying because she's able to move her leg without it being so dry and crusty but then obviously it dries more. she has got steroid injections, no pills, but they only last like a day. now, if we do end up getting pills of any sort, I'm wondering if I can crush them into her food. after her teeth were removed, she figured out out to tuck the pills between her cheek and gums and then spits it out somewhere else. and for some reason it's like, even if we do try getting them down her throat, she somehow pushes it back out. lol. there is granulation tissue, I read it's not supposed to be painful, but oh it is tender.
 

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Bring all of this up to the dermatologist. Convenia and steroids have not worked. She has special needs and won't be easy to give pills. Most pills can be crushed, but if the medication is time released that can be messed up by crushing or breaking. There are compoundable liquid medications from certain pharmacies, but that is getting ahead of the story.

Your vet will probably forward all of the records to a dermatologist.
 
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nathaliewhite

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Bring all of this up to the dermatologist. Convenia and steroids have not worked. She has special needs and won't be easy to give pills. Most pills can be crushed, but if the medication is time released that can be messed up by crushing or breaking. There are compoundable liquid medications from certain pharmacies, but that is getting ahead of the story.

Your vet will probably forward all of the records to a dermatologist.
absolutely. thank you so much for giving me your time to help. I will keep on updating.
 
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nathaliewhite

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UPDATE: took her to the vet today for a follow up. Dr sedated her and scraped all the infection off, and bandaged basically her whole body lol. she has another follow up on Thursday to see how it's going and replace the bandage, no improvement means dermatologist but at this very moment they don't think it is necessary because they have treated worse, did a skin culture will get the results in a few days to a week, she is now on prednisolone, amox/clav, and a higher dose of Gabapentin. here are the photos the Dr emailed me of how it looks after scraped. honestly a lot better than what the infection was looking like. and it is at least bandaged. I feel bad she can't move, at all, but it's for the best until we see improvement. she seems to feel much better after the infection was scraped off of her. poor baby.
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Poor girl! I'm sorry to hear about everything she's been through. I hope the debridement will help and she'll start to recover now.

I rescued a feral cat who had lost all of her kittens and had terrible mastitis. The infection had eaten away most of the skin on her belly. She had to stay at the vet's for 3 weeks, had several surgeries to remove dead tissue and pull the edges of the wound back together and was on an antibiotic drip for the first week. She made a full recovery though and there was only the tiniest little scar.

She lived another 13 years after that. We thought we were going to lose her for the first few days, but she was a fighter and proved us wrong.

Sending love to your girl.

:heartshape:
 

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Make sure she is breathing ok in that wrap. I dont know what to say on this other than that I have never seen a cat bandaged this and have not heard of scraping the skin.

I truly think you need a board certified dermatologist to help her. And, stronger pain medication like buprenorphine. That must be so painful.

Did they do a biopsy? How soon after the spay did this start? Do you know what kind of heat support was used for her spay recovery? Is there anything that changed in the house prior to this starting?
 

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I would keep her on oral prednisolone. (Note there is a big difference between Prednisone and Prednisolone. Cats cannot metabolize prednisone). Ask your vet. It has helped so many of my cats with skin problems. Yes you can crush it and put it in a small amount of lickable treat such as Delectable Lickables. But it is bitter, I give mine by cutting it in half and giving in a small piece of Cat Pill Pockets in the Salmon flavor. Stronger smell. one cat is really picky so I crush some of her favorite treats with a baggie and a rolling pin or hammer and roll the med and pill pocket in that, She happily takes it then. Good luck, I pray that little girl begins to heal.......
 
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nathaliewhite

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I would keep her on oral prednisolone. (Note there is a big difference between Prednisone and Prednisolone. Cats cannot metabolize prednisone). Ask your vet. It has helped so many of my cats with skin problems. Yes you can crush it and put it in a small amount of lickable treat such as Delectable Lickables. But it is bitter, I give mine by cutting it in half and giving in a small piece of Cat Pill Pockets in the Salmon flavor. Stronger smell. one cat is really picky so I crush some of her favorite treats with a baggie and a rolling pin or hammer and roll the med and pill pocket in that, She happily takes it then. Good luck, I pray that little girl begins to heal.......
hello! I posted an update in the comments. she is also on oral liquid prednisolone now.
 

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I’m sorry, I think I was so affected seeing her poor abdomen I wasn’t concentrating. It truly sounds like they are doing all they can right now, I really hope they find something in the tests!
 
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nathaliewhite

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hey guys. I have good news and bad news, the good news is that they figured it out. the bad news is that it's pseudomonas aeruginosa. I have been crying. I don't actually know what to do but we will be trying an antibiotic injection for 2 weeks and see what happens. this is so messed up.
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