Kitten at death's door from some infection/ ongoing issues and updates

[Nilo]

Hi. Only have a minute.
If it was my cat with a wound like that, I would stop applying anything to it. Bandaging cats is almost impossible without making things worse. If using clay litter, switch to paper. If he is chewing it, he needs a cone to stop him. If you don’t have one, you can make one out of a paper plate.

It is very important to not stress him. I know, there is a fine line between doing more damage than good. It’s hard to know where that is.

Get him back to the vet ASAP.

Regarding the missed meds, it doesn’t matter. What is done is done and you can’t go back. Just give on schedule from now on, if you can.

Thank you very much for the extremely helpful timely response.

When you've got more time, I have a couple more questions.

1. I thought I was bad at bandaging cats. Thanks for letting me know it's hard in general. I thought it's important to close wounds so that they don't get infected, especially since he's immunosuppressed. What do I do about that?

2. Does the wound in the image confirm that it's fleas? Are there any ideas or conclusions that can be drawn from just a look?

I'll do the litter switch, the cone and the vet visit today morning and update. Thank you for the reassurance, the relief and the immense support.

 

[Nilo]

Also I've been wondering about this. The vet said not to give any chemical flea treatment for Terry, last time. But I have not been able to find any resources online explaining when flea treatment injections or spot-on should not be given and why exactly. Can anyone let me know or link me to any resources?

I might have to meet a different vet today, as it's our religious festival this week, so it would be great if I could get informed on this topic before I meet the vet.

 

[iPappy]

Do you have a flea comb you could check the other areas for fleas or flea dirt? If this is fleas, that's a really intense wound from flea biting. If you can be seen by a different vet, I would go and see what they say.

 

[Meowmee]

View attachment 441085View attachment 441086
Left: Image right now. Orange color tint is from the ointment we applied.
Right: Same wound taken 2-3 days ago.What do the lines connecting everything mean?

The left image is zoomed on the curved wound line on the bottom part of the right image. The upper right part remains the same.
The multiple tiny wounds on the top right were present a week ago. My vet and I assumed they were from the needles. Then the patch on the bottom left appeared. Only after that, the line connecting them appeared.
It's progressively getting worser and I don't know what to do.
Can someone please guide me.

I'm especially worried because I once knew a dog that got bitten and had a similar sized wound and it was deep enough to see her insides. And she died within 2 days.

Sorry about Terry and his wounds. I remember thinking when you first mentioned that and described it that it could be caused by anemia. The reason I thought that was my cat Angie became severely anemic after she was given the drug convenia. She had been given fluids- really they didn’t know what was going on with her and should not have given any antibiotic, in the end it turned out she had cancer.. and she got a sore at the site on her ne where I gave her the fluid. I remember you said Terri was getting fluid too but I’m assuming this is in a different area than he got the fluid?
Anyway I know you’ve done blood work on him and maybe he was anemic too I think he was I’m sorry I had forgotten all of the details of his blood work now. as for the medication there’s nothing you can do just keep giving him them now and make sure not to miss more doses. I think it’s really important for him healing from everything, especially the virus.

Big hugs

 

[Meowmee]

Also I've been wondering about this. The vet said not to give any chemical flea treatment for Terry, last time. But I have not been able to find any resources online explaining when flea treatment injections or spot-on should not be given and why exactly. Can anyone let me know or link me to any resources?

I might have to meet a different vet today, as it's our religious festival this week, so it would be great if I could get informed on this topic before I meet the vet.

I am not sure about the flea treatment but if you don’t see fleas on him which you can check for with a flea comb I would not be giving him flea treatments. Those things are poisonous and yes they have to be used sometimes if you have a real infestation probably but you can also give a bath. But I don’t think any of this would be good for him right now while he’s healing from all of this. Did your DVM say they thought fleas caused this Wound? I guess that’s a possibility because you said he’s biting the area. However if he had fleas you should be able to find them with a flea comb and see them etc.

 

[Meowmee]

Thank you very much for the extremely helpful timely response.

When you've got more time, I have a couple more questions.

1. I thought I was bad at bandaging cats. Thanks for letting me know it's hard in general. I thought it's important to close wounds so that they don't get infected, especially since he's immunosuppressed. What do I do about that?

2. Does the wound in the image confirm that it's fleas? Are there any ideas or conclusions that can be drawn from just a look?

I'll do the litter switch, the cone and the vet visit today morning and update. Thank you for the reassurance, the relief and the immense support.

From what I have learned over the years it’s not a good idea to cover wounds in cats for the most part although there may be occasions when you do, because they’re very susceptible to getting abscesses and covering them I think can lead to that.

Usually though it’s from a scratch or puncture wound of some type and then they develop the infection under the skin …the way the abscess heals itself is by breaking open and letting all of the pus come out. It’s pretty scary to watch because it can end up with this big gaping wound and then eventually just all heals and up- rapidly too. Sometimes if it’s a really deep abscess they have to put drains through the wound so it can drain properly.

 

[silent meowlook]

It looks like there is a soft swelling under the wound. It looks like it in the second photo. Is it swollen? Is it on his knee? Hard to tell from the picture.

 

[maggie101]

Hey folks. I know it's been a while. Sorry about that. Things I'd been putting off taking care of Terry caught up.

Terry's doing a bit better His fever has been gone for over a day. Temperature is 102.3 to 102.5. He's responding better to assisted feeding. He used to be bed ridden but is now moving around a bit changing positions, using the litter box, scratching the sofa, coming to the food bowl (but not eating), fighting back at the vet. The yellowness has spread to his ears and a part of his face.

I'll reply back to everyone later today.
Nice to see you guys are keeping the conversation going while I've been gone. I wouldn't have known Vegemite was that interesting

S silent meowlook
Your post scared me. You've raised a lot of serious concerns that I would have totally missed. Thank you very much for covering many blind spots. I've talked to my vet vaguely about the topics you raised and I'll post his explanations and decisions later today. I'd love to hear what you think about them. Sorry for the delay. Thank you for being patient.

Fabulous news! I have been checking in to see how things are going. Thanks for the update!

 

[Nilo]

I visited the vet. He told me it's not fleas, but a skin infection. And that all of that skin and more skin (where the infection is not yet visible but still present) will peel off, and it cannot be prevented. Was told no new antibiotics are needed initially, but was later prescribed Cephalkem. Advised to wear e-collar until the wounds dry up.

I have no idea about any of this.
I had tons more questions that the vet couldn't answer due to the crowd and short working hours.
I'll make a longer update in a few hours painting a better background picture, and asking the questions that are bugging me.

When is this nightmare going to end!? It's been one infection after another. I can hardly believe it.

 

[Meowmee]

I visited the vet. He told me it's not fleas, but a skin infection. And that all of that skin and more skin (where the infection is not yet visible but still present) will peel off, and it cannot be prevented. Was told no new antibiotics are needed initially, but was later prescribed Cephalkem. Advised to wear e-collar until the wounds dry up.

I have no idea about any of this.
I had tons more questions that the vet couldn't answer due to the crowd and short working hours.
I'll make a longer update in a few hours painting a better background picture, and asking the questions that are bugging me.

When is this nightmare going to end!? It's been one infection after another. I can hardly believe it.

That's good it is not fleas.. I hope it is nothing serious and it heals soon... hang in there, you are doing a great job

 

[silent meowlook]

Hi. So, I have poured over everything I could find regarding the wounds and your cat. Nothing really except that his immune system is still to low to form a response to those wounds. I hope they are wounds and not caused by something else like a fungus or bacteria. I can’t find anything to relate to that though.
Yes the wounds should be kept clean but they also need to be open like they are in order to drain. Doing a culture would be useless because he is on so many antibiotics.

The Cepha drug prescribed targets the skin. I hope that helps. He is on some hard antibiotics, so make sure he is getting probiotics. As for which ones, I think others are more qualified to answer that.

The apple cider vinegar, or any vinegar is acidic. The acid will delay the wound from healing. So, don’t use it. It would be one thing if it was a yeast infection with no open wounds, but it isn’t. Even then there are much better products for that.

The ointment is going to also hold in what is supposed to naturally drain on its own. That is why I say no ointment.

I am glad you saw the vet. I hope he gets over this quickly.

He is having one infection after another because his body is so weak from fighting off the big things going on, the virus. It really is a miracle he is alive.
I am sorry this has been so hard on you and him.

 

[gemmamiso]

I don’t have any better medical advice than what’s already been given by others, but keep going! This will end; you are still doing an amazing job you got this

 

[Nilo]

I use the word 'wound' loosely, I don't have a better word for it at the moment.

• Terry's not been biting and causing the wounds. I misunderstood his behavior.
• Terry's only been biting to remove the top layer of his already formed wound. And he also licks it.

He's probably caused the fall of hair in those spots though. Because there are more wounds hidden under his hair in the same region (not visible in the images), that he does not pick at yet.
The wounds are all in the lower back and left thigh region only .

The cone's so much trouble.
My hands are covered in bite wounds and scratch marks, and Terry's a Houdini. I've tried using a few different tying techniques. He starts shaking and purring out of fear the entire duration the cone is on, and gets violent suddenly.
Also he's unable to eat with it on. Even with trying different shaped utensils, on raised platforms and such.
After some family fights, I concede that Terry's not going to wear the cone for the moment.
I read that there are other options like onesies, but sewing and stuff is not our cup of tea.
I made him understand that he's allowed to groom himself all over his body but he shouldn't bring his mouth near the wound area. He did seem to get it. But I don't know if he'll control his instincts in my absence. I pray that he's smart enough to.

Terry's regular vet has taken a break from the hospital for a few months. We'll need to try other vets and settle with one. It's another struggle, back to square one. Almost all vets here are simply horrible, gotta find one whose cons won't affect Terry significantly.

Questions

• No official diagnosis of the skin wounds were provided. Just a direct treatment. Does anyone have any ideas or links on what it could possibly be and where I can read more? Seems like it could be any of these - antibiotic allergy / flea allergy / food allergy / bacterial / fungal / viral infection / or something else.
  None of Google's images for skin infections in cats seem to match Terry's. And I find the articles helping narrow down a cause to be non-trivial for Terry's case.
  Dealing with feline allergic skin disease mentions how it's usually difficult to identify the cause for vets too. So could use any help.
• Since it seems to be progressively getting worser, when will it stop? An estimate duration or the stages of progression would be nice to know. What can I do to prevent this from getting even worser apart from the things mentioned?
• All I have to do is keep Terry from biting or licking it and wait? Will it heal safely on its own without any complications?
• What's the worst that can happen if a cat licks it, can it get spread all over the body? Or does it cause abrasions on the skin delaying healing?
• Will wounds / abscesses cause permanent scars in cats?
• Regarding the infections, what do I do to prevent newer and newer infections from infecting Terry? The vet told me there's nothing I can do to prevent infections everytime I asked him for a few weeks now. Do you have any tips on what to do or avoid?
• They told me these infections were happening only because Terry was immunocompromised from FPV, but Terry beat FPV about 2 weeks ago when his WBC shot up high, right? So when will his immune system become strong enough again? A week, a month or more?
• If some infection is always there, when will his body recover? We can't take antibiotics forever.
  They're stopping his antibiotics from today for a week (stopping Doxycycline, Metronidazole and Enrofloxacin end of today, continuing Cephalkem), so will he be even more susceptible to infections? What do I do to save him?
• How often should a cat with infectious anemia get his CBC tested?

Replies:

Do you have a flea comb you could check the other areas for fleas or flea dirt? If this is fleas, that's a really intense wound from flea biting. If you can be seen by a different vet, I would go and see what they say.

You were spot on. Thanks for the advice that fleas wouldn't cause wounds this bad.
Yeah, I couldn't find any fleas with the flea comb, but I wasn't sure I was doing it right.

Sorry about Terry and his wounds. I remember thinking when you first mentioned that and described it that it could be caused by anemia. The reason I thought that was my cat Angie became severely anemic after she was given the drug convenia. She had been given fluids- really they didn’t know what was going on with her and should not have given any antibiotic, in the end it turned out she had cancer.. and she got a sore at the site on her ne where I gave her the fluid. I remember you said Terri was getting fluid too but I’m assuming this is in a different area than he got the fluid?
Anyway I know you’ve done blood work on him and maybe he was anemic too I think he was I’m sorry I had forgotten all of the details of his blood work now. as for the medication there’s nothing you can do just keep giving him them now and make sure not to miss more doses. I think it’s really important for him healing from everything, especially the virus.

Big hugs

Actually, he did get his antibiotics injections in those parts. That's why we all initially thought it was wounds from that. He got the drip fluids in a different spot though.
Yes, he was extremely anaemic. It's normal to forget values, it's been multiple days. I'll summarize. He was at Hb - 3.7, RBC - 2.88 on Jan 4. He's been brought up to Hb - 7.0, RBC - 4.54 as per Jan 11, with supplements. They didn't test for it, but told me it must be caused by mycoplasma felis bacteria. Ofc, it could be from the antibiotics like you're saying too. Do cancers cause fevers though? Not sure if Terry's symptoms match cancer. Not that I know anything about cat cancer.
Yep, haven't missed a single dose of any med other than that 1 day in the past 18 days. But, I am getting exhausted, Terry needs to get better and fast.

I am not sure about the flea treatment but if you don’t see fleas on him which you can check for with a flea comb I would not be giving him flea treatments. Those things are poisonous and yes they have to be used sometimes if you have a real infestation probably but you can also give a bath. But I don’t think any of this would be good for him right now while he’s healing from all of this. Did your DVM say they thought fleas caused this Wound? I guess that’s a possibility because you said he’s biting the area. However if he had fleas you should be able to find them with a flea comb and see them etc.

Got it. Yeah, I'll put it off.
They said it last time, not anymore.
Vet gave the green light for flea treatment yesterday. Except he probably doesn't have fleas lol. Nothing visible after the flea comb, but I didn't use it near his wounds and tbh I wasn't sure I was doing it right.
Anyways, it's covered now that fleas were never the cause.

From what I have learned over the years it’s not a good idea to cover wounds in cats for the most part although there may be occasions when you do, because they’re very susceptible to getting abscesses and covering them I think can lead to that.

Usually though it’s from a scratch or puncture wound of some type and then they develop the infection under the skin …the way the abscess heals itself is by breaking open and letting all of the pus come out. It’s pretty scary to watch because it can end up with this big gaping wound and then eventually just all heals and up- rapidly too. Sometimes if it’s a really deep abscess they have to put drains through the wound so it can drain properly.

I see. Covering wounds leads to abscesses? That sounds a lot like what my vet said about the skin peeling off, except he didn't mention the words abscess or pus. In fact, he didn't give me any keywords at all, or even an official diagnosis.
Where can I read comprehensively about this?
Well, these wounds were not originally caused by something else then got infected, but look like they are caused by some infection, right?
Is this something that could possibly be fatal / dangerous or is it just painful for the pet and difficult to watch for us?
I'd also need to know to identify deep abscesses from others then.

That's good it is not fleas.. I hope it is nothing serious and it heals soon... hang in there, you are doing a great job

Thank you very much for your strong support, Meowmee . Big hugs!

Fabulous news! I have been checking in to see how things are going. Thanks for the update!

Yep, Terry's been on a rollercoaster getting better from one infection before struggling with another. Thanks for being here supporting Terry!

Hi. So, I have poured over everything I could find regarding the wounds and your cat. Nothing really except that his immune system is still to low to form a response to those wounds. I hope they are wounds and not caused by something else like a fungus or bacteria. I can’t find anything to relate to that though.
Yes the wounds should be kept clean but they also need to be open like they are in order to drain. Doing a culture would be useless because he is on so many antibiotics.

The Cepha drug prescribed targets the skin. I hope that helps. He is on some hard antibiotics, so make sure he is getting probiotics. As for which ones, I think others are more qualified to answer that.

The apple cider vinegar, or any vinegar is acidic. The acid will delay the wound from healing. So, don’t use it. It would be one thing if it was a yeast infection with no open wounds, but it isn’t. Even then there are much better products for that.

The ointment is going to also hold in what is supposed to naturally drain on its own. That is why I say no ointment.

I am glad you saw the vet. I hope he gets over this quickly.

He is having one infection after another because his body is so weak from fighting off the big things going on, the virus. It really is a miracle he is alive.
I am sorry this has been so hard on you and him.

Wow, thank you! That's mighty nice of you. Absolute gratitude.
Well, I don't think the wounds were caused by anything external. There were just 2 possibilities - they formed on their own, or Terry chewed and caused them. The former seems most likely at the moment.
Thank you for all the tips! I didn't know any of them, I'll follow all of them, they make a lot of sense.
Yep, I give him prescribed probiotics supplements twice a day.
I'll ask the vet about the ointment mentioning your reasoning.

I don’t have any better medical advice than what’s already been given by others, but keep going! This will end; you are still doing an amazing job you got this

Thank you for the constant support! You people keep me sane.

 

[silent meowlook]

Hi. Yeah, no cone then. No treatment should ever kill the cat. Meaning, if he is fighting you, he is using energy that he needs to heal to fight you. It’s not worth it.

I don’t have the answers to your questions. I doubt anyone does. I am sorry.

Unfortunately cats don’t know time limits to disease and it takes each cat their own time to recover.

I hope he continues to improve. I know it’s exhausting.

You said they didn’t check for micro plasma? It’s easy. Just stain a blood smear and look for it on the blood cells. I’m surprised they didn’t do that.

 

[Nilo]

Comprehensive Update:

Got a better picture from the vet today. I haven't read more about it yet, just repeating what was told to me.
Terry has necrotic dermatitis. An infection triggered from the injections and fluids given.

Treatment:

• No ointment. Yep, vet agreed with you, S silent meowlook
• Cephalkem antibiotic
• Continuing Metronidazole antibiotic for a while

That's it, as it's something that resolves on its own.

Nature of the infection:
A layer of infected skin will peel and fall off, or get picked off by Terry.
A new layer of skin is being formed underneath. That is what causes the swelling in some parts.
It is best to prolong the peeling of the upper layer, so that the lower layer has enough time to be created.

It is not a fatal or dangerous infection, just a painful inconvenient one.
The infection is not capable of spreading to any other part of his body. So no serious worries of Terry licking or biting the area.
Such a huge relief that it's not fatal or a spreading infection. Phew.

E-collar not necessary for the first stage where the top layer has not yet peeled off.
It will get red, raw and scary after peeling, just like Meowmee said. It's exactly what you said, mate, you got any links for me to read up on or more tips on better handling? Please share your experience, Meowmee .
At that second stage, we'll have to try a cone or something else again to keep Terry off it.

On other news, Terry's feeling strong enough to rebel again. He doesn't want to take his medicines. And gets easily scared.
He's actually able to run away from me. First time in like 20 days. Not that fast, but a vast improvement anyways.
But he still stumbles while walking or jogging. His hind legs collapsing frequently while his front legs are fine.

The yellowness from Jaundice has been reduced significantly. I forgot to mention that in my last update.
But vet recommended that I become able to identify any changes in the yellowishness of his eyes and gums, and monitor him at home and bring him in immediately if it gets worse. I am not yet there, sometimes everyone looks yellow to me lol, how do I trust/train my eyes to notice minute differences in shade!?

Medication: (Dates all inclusive)

• Enrofloxacin: Dec 30 to Jan 14, then Jan 19 to Jan 22
• Doxycycline: Jan 3 to Jan 16, then Jan 24 to not sure how long yet
• Metronidazole: Jan 7 to Jan 14, Jan 16 to Jan 21
• Supplements for iron, liver, platelets, etc and probiotics all continued for the near future

His blood parameters must become normal by next week.
But his immune system may take 1-2 months to become completely normal. Until then, he may be susceptible to infections, and there's nothing we can do about it.

Shanky:

Blood Test Report:
Hb - 10.8 (from 9.5)
WBC - 14.6 (from 20.2K)
RBC - 7.19 (from 6.36M)
PLT - 291 (from 39K)
HCT - 32.5
Previous blood test was on Jan 7

Medication: (Dates all inclusive)

• Enrofloxacin: Jan 7 to Jan 16, then from Jan 24 - Feb 2
• Doxycycline: Jan 7 to Jan 16, then from Jan 24 - Feb 2
• Metronidazole: Jan 6 to Jan 14
• Supplements for platelets and probiotics continued
• Supplement for liver started now. Wait, that doesn't make sense, I got to call and ask them tomorrow if they meant to write iron supplement but wrote the wrong one. It's the Hb that's below ideal range.

Terry's Weight: (5.5-6 months old)
Jan 3 - 2.23 kg
Jan 11 - 1.77 kg
Jan 16 - 1.86 kg
Shanky's Weight: (almost 7 months old)
Jan 6 - 2.22 kg
Jan 17 - 2.6 kg

Shanky is screaming her ass off due to her ongoing heat cycle, all day and night, disturbing all our sleep. She's such a dramatic screamer. Guess she'll have to endure it until Terry becomes normal, to get sterilized.

I hope we get along well with this other vet. He's experienced.

Please do share your thoughts.
Thank you for the immediate support during my moments of panic, everyone. You guys have had my back once again.
This is the single most wholesome community I've been in.
Cheers!

 

[Nilo]

Hi. Yeah, no cone then. No treatment should ever kill the cat. Meaning, if he is fighting you, he is using energy that he needs to heal to fight you. It’s not worth it.

I don’t have the answers to your questions. I doubt anyone does. I am sorry.

Unfortunately cats don’t know time limits to disease and it takes each cat their own time to recover.

I hope he continues to improve. I know it’s exhausting.

You said they didn’t check for micro plasma? It’s easy. Just stain a blood smear and look for it on the blood cells. I’m surprised they didn’t do that.

Interesting tip. Thank you!
No worries, I got my answers.
Apparently, it takes 10-20 days to completely heal.
Yeah, sad they didn't check for it. But I can't make them.
Thanks for the immediate response.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

For the jaundice, try taking pictures of him today, then in a few days to see if there are any changes. Take them under the exact same conditions (lighting, same time of day, same place) so you will be able to notice any change in his coloring.

WHERE on his body are the "wounds". That will help us in determining how to best help with how to keep him from licking, etc. Someone earlier mentioned it almost looks like it almost looks like it's near one of his back "knees", but that seems like an odd place to get injections. Anyway, the reason I ask is because I am wondering whether or not one of these might work:

Just google "balloon type ecollar for cat" and see what comes up.

 

[Meowmee]

I have an awful time replying here because even when I don’t select quote it’s selects everything that people said and then I can’t get rid of it it’s almost impossible to cut and paste what I want to reply to so sorry for that… such a pain.

anyway I was replying yesterday and I guess I never finished it but what I wanted to say was I did not think that Terri had cancer. What happened with Angie was totally different. She was given convenia for no reason with no real diagnosis…just because they were pushing the drug on everybody, and then she became severely anemic and that was what caused her to get the sores where I gave her the fluid. They told me that.

But at the time I didn’t know what was causing it- anyway it turned out after she died from being given convenia I found out that she had cancer because I had a necropsy done on her at Cornell Hospital.

But that point they had suspected at one of the hospitals that convenia did affect her, which my dvm tried to deny, and that she did have cancer- but it was not the type of cancer that they thought it was. It was a real eye-opener for me because this guy was supposedly an expert, and he was absolutely sure if she had this type of cancer. But the necropsy proved him completely wrong.

anyway I am glad that Terry .has a condition which is going to heal and it’s not anything life-threatening that is a big relief!

As for the wound healing I am not any expert on it. I used to have cats that were indoor outdoor and one of my cats had an abscess, he was on antibiotics and I also gave him some homeopathic treatments which seem to work very well.

But at one point when the abscess was healing it opened up to at least a 2 inch to 3 inch or larger !, gaping wound which looked so horrible.

I wish I had taken a photograph of it, and then it closed up and totally healed… then within two days it was gone it was totally- amazing!

I don’t know if Terry’s is going to be similar to that abscesses are very specific. But I will try to find some links and post them here.

My other cats have had abscesses in the past- Byron who I took in from outside had several abscesses on his rear end and they had to put a drain in them… but his never looked as bad as that other one. And Sybil had an abscess on her ear. At that point she was not going out anymore but she had scratched her ear because she had itching from a fungal infection.

I’m going to look up this condition that you said he has and see what they recommend for that. I agree with trying the donut elizabethan style cone when he needs one instead of that horrible plastic one. I have never put those cones on my cats- well, I did try but they all got them off and they refused to use it. And they all healed fine without it.

For the liver or the bilirubin issue with jaundice I also recommend to take a photograph of his eyes and ears which is where you will probably notice itand then make a comparison to see if there is any change.

Here are some links:

Abscesses in Cats | VCA Animal Hospital

I am not sure if this the same thing thye think Terry has or not but here are links. It seems it may be caused by the FPV virus and the effect on his liver as well as depletion of his blood levels etc. are you sure that’s what they said he has I think they must be wrong because it seems like it’s very rare in cats and it’s usually associated with some awful thing like liver cancer. I don’t know maybe it’s just from the virus and all of the effects on his liver and blood values. Maybe he just scratched and or gotten infection at the injection site for the antibiotics?

Degenerative Skin Disorder (Necrolytic Dermatitis) in Cats | PetMD
Superficial necrolytic dermatitis in a cat: diagnostic findings (case report)

hugs to all

edited to say I have edited this post 3-4 times now to remove doubles of what I dicate and it keeps putting them back in… this is beyond annoying and frustrating. It never happens anywhere except at the site too. I do get the doubles sometimes when I dictate at other places but I only get the repeat saving of everything and not properly editing here.

 

[Nilo]

Nothing much to update.
One quick question though. Folks, does wearing clothing count as closing the wound, even if it's a bit loose? I'm considering getting Terry a recovery garment from Amazon. It will take a week to arrive, so I need to order right away if it will work.

Terry's feeling pretty scared of all humans for absolutely no reason, and runs away from us every single time on approach, until we catch up and pet him to calm him down. It's making me approach and check up on him a lot less as I don't want him to waste his energy running and bumping into things.

I previously mentioned that the vet said it's necrotic dermatitis. But I don't think that is what Terry has and here's why.
A summary of what I learnt about Superficial Necrolytic Dermatitis (SND):
Apparently, the process of shedding skin sheets is called necrolysis.
No google hits on "necrotic dermatitis" in cats, there is only a "necrolytic dermatitis".
SND has matching symptoms (scabs, redness, alopecia, scaling of skin, ulceration), but it has a high mortality rate and caused by either one of these - severe liver damage or some very dangerous infections in immunosuppressed animals or cancer.

Even though, it has some matching symptoms, I don't believe Terry has necrolytic dermatitis because
1. It's simply too scary, I refuse to accept it
2. The vet did not mention "necrotic dermatitis" on his own, he only said that when I asked him specifically for a name. And even then, he took a moment to think about it. So maybe he just came up with a possible name as a guess but didn't really mean necrolytic dermatitis. Cause if the vet did get the name right, he wouldn't have said that it's not fatal at all.
3. Two sources mention that it's quite rare in cats and all the reported cats had lesions on their pawpads, Terry doesn't.

For the jaundice, try taking pictures of him today, then in a few days to see if there are any changes. Take them under the exact same conditions (lighting, same time of day, same place) so you will be able to notice any change in his coloring.

WHERE on his body are the "wounds". That will help us in determining how to best help with how to keep him from licking, etc. Someone earlier mentioned it almost looks like it almost looks like it's near one of his back "knees", but that seems like an odd place to get injections. Anyway, the reason I ask is because I am wondering whether or not one of these might work:

View attachment 441267

Just google "balloon type ecollar for cat" and see what comes up.

Wow, that's such a brilliant idea, wish I'd thought of that.
I've started taking pictures, and am finding out how much I suck at taking pictures lol. Hope I can make it work or that I won't need to.

Wow, these look comfy. Great recommendation indeed.
I addressed the location of the wounds in a previous update, but it's easy to miss stuff in my long updates.
Left lower back and Left hind thigh.
Will these work for that area? The thigh part will probably be reachable, right? What about the lower back?
I've anyways ordered one on Amazon, it's arriving in 2 days. The choices were pretty limited (there are just 2 products, the other arrives only next week), so I really hope this one works, at least to a large extent.
I'll let you know after trying it on Terry.

Thank you very much for the great suggestions!

I have an awful time replying here because even when I don’t select quote it’s selects everything that people said and then I can’t get rid of it it’s almost impossible to cut and paste what I want to reply to so sorry for that… such a pain.

anyway I was replying yesterday and I guess I never finished it but what I wanted to say was I did not think that Terri had cancer. What happened with Angie was totally different. She was given convenia for no reason with no real diagnosis…just because they were pushing the drug on everybody, and then she became severely anemic and that was what caused her to get the sores where I gave her the fluid. They told me that.

But at the time I didn’t know what was causing it- anyway it turned out after she died from being given convenia I found out that she had cancer because I had a necropsy done on her at Cornell Hospital.

But that point they had suspected at one of the hospitals that convenia did affect her, which my dvm tried to deny, and that she did have cancer- but it was not the type of cancer that they thought it was. It was a real eye-opener for me because this guy was supposedly an expert, and he was absolutely sure if she had this type of cancer. But the necropsy proved him completely wrong.

anyway I am glad that Terry .has a condition which is going to heal and it’s not anything life-threatening that is a big relief!

As for the wound healing I am not any expert on it. I used to have cats that were indoor outdoor and one of my cats had an abscess, he was on antibiotics and I also gave him some homeopathic treatments which seem to work very well.

But at one point when the abscess was healing it opened up to at least a 2 inch to 3 inch or larger !, gaping wound which looked so horrible.

I wish I had taken a photograph of it, and then it closed up and totally healed… then within two days it was gone it was totally- amazing!

I don’t know if Terry’s is going to be similar to that abscesses are very specific. But I will try to find some links and post them here.

My other cats have had abscesses in the past- Byron who I took in from outside had several abscesses on his rear end and they had to put a drain in them… but his never looked as bad as that other one. And Sybil had an abscess on her ear. At that point she was not going out anymore but she had scratched her ear because she had itching from a fungal infection.

I’m going to look up this condition that you said he has and see what they recommend for that. I agree with trying the donut elizabethan style cone when he needs one instead of that horrible plastic one. I have never put those cones on my cats- well, I did try but they all got them off and they refused to use it. And they all healed fine without it.

For the liver or the bilirubin issue with jaundice I also recommend to take a photograph of his eyes and ears which is where you will probably notice itand then make a comparison to see if there is any change.

Here are some links:

Abscesses in Cats | VCA Animal Hospital

I am not sure if this the same thing thye think Terry has or not but here are links. It seems it may be caused by the FPV virus and the effect on his liver as well as depletion of his blood levels etc. are you sure that’s what they said he has I think they must be wrong because it seems like it’s very rare in cats and it’s usually associated with some awful thing like liver cancer. I don’t know maybe it’s just from the virus and all of the effects on his liver and blood values. Maybe he just scratched and or gotten infection at the injection site for the antibiotics?

Degenerative Skin Disorder (Necrolytic Dermatitis) in Cats | PetMD
Superficial necrolytic dermatitis in a cat: diagnostic findings (case report)

hugs to all

edited to say I have edited this post 3-4 times now to remove doubles of what I dicate and it keeps putting them back in… this is beyond annoying and frustrating. It never happens anywhere except at the site too. I do get the doubles sometimes when I dictate at other places but I only get the repeat saving of everything and not properly editing here.

Hey, don't worry about the editing or the readability. You're giving such valuable info I can't find anywhere else, who cares about the formatting, doubled paragraphs or extra quotes?! I sure don't. Please don't stress yourself.

Ah, I see. Sorry I misunderstood.
Anemia can cause sores? Terry did have severe anemia. But the vet never mentioned the connection, I'll ask next time I meet him.
Oh, you found she had cancer after she died? That's pretty sad. I'm very sorry.

Hope I can be as strong as you have been, to face this with Terry.
It's very wholesome to hear it heals fast. That's my favorite part to think about

Oh, if it didn't look worse, how'd you know you needed to put drains?
What should I be looking out for? Depth of swelling or something?

Wow, that's a lot of cats and struggles. Respect.
It's quite informative to know experts like yourself can't make your cats wear an e-collar, I thought it was a skill issue on my side or a behavioural one on Terry's, not that the product is itself not ideal for cats. Great to hear they might not even need it. That's a load off my mind.

Yes, I read those same links and more earlier, and panicked hard. Wrote a draft asking about it here, but never posted it at the time. I instead took some time to reflect and calm down, and the above typed is what I have concluded.
Glad that you feel that it must have been some mistake too.
Thanks for reading the links yourself and reassuring me.
Even if I don't read up, you people always have my back.

You're the only person that I have met online or IRL who seems to have experienced quite a similar dermatitis issue. Unable to find any other cases upon googling (although I feel like it should be relatively common). So I am insanely grateful that you're sharing your experience with me.

Btw, have you tried clearing the cookies and re-logging in?

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

The balloon type e-collar might work where his wounds are located. I just don't know. Hoping it will and that it doesn't freak him out too bad.

I'm thinking Terry is running away from everyone simply because he's presumably either getting pilled or taken to the Vet, or have his wound tended to so often that he simply doesn't know when it's safe just to be around someone and relax, poor little guy. When this is all over and he can just hang out he should change. I recently took my very clingy cat to the Vet for his semi annual check-up and he was weary of me for a few days afterwards, afraid I was going to stuff him in the carrier again, I guess. But he's now forgiven me and begs me to pick him up again.

I think you must be right about the name of what's wrong with his wounds, because I read the same thing as you, and it certainly doesn't match with what the Vet told you. I think Terry would be dead by now if that's what it was