Wound that doesn’t seem to heal

[MMW38]

Hello everyone. I adopted my kitten from the shelter about 3 months ago. He is about 10 months now. I took him too my vet within a week of being adopted for a check up and I also noticed that he had a runny eye and was sneezing a lot. It turned out that he had a respiratory infection so was prescribed oral antibiotics and and eye ointment. The respiratory infection cleared up, but i started noticing that his one eye developed an open sore in the bottom corner. I brought him back to vet and they changed the eye ointment and gave him the antibiotic injection. After about a week there was no change; it actually seemed worse. He had an open wound that was raw and also had white, sticky mucus. I brought him back to the vet again and he swabbed it and saw many white blood cells. He is thinking that it is something auto immune related. He suggested doing a biopsy type procedure where a sample of skin from the area would be analyzed or start a steroid to help his body fight it off. I opted for the steroid first. He was on the steroid for a little over a week, but again no change and it almost looks worse. Right now I am weaning him off the steroid and he would have the surgical procedure done in 3 to 4 weeks and just making sure his eye is kept clean. I am hoping that someone on here may have either had a similar issue or can offer some insight as to what may be going on with him. Thank you.

 

[BlackCatOp]

Ohhh... what a cute little black kitty! I’m sorry his wound is not healing. I have a few questions if you don’t mind.

Is the wound itchy?
Is kitty current on flea meds (if so which one)?
Are you cleaning/applying anything to the site?

My initial thought is that the infection could be fungal in nature since antibiotics didn’t help and steroids have made it worse.

 

[MMW38]

Thank you for responding. It does not seem to bother him. He doesn’t itch it and opens and closes it normally like other eye. The vet did the ring worm test on him to rule it out and it was negative.
Yes, he is on revolution plus. I am using a basic saline to keep his eye clean. He has also been prescribed 2 different types of eye ointment at 2 different times since this started happening, but they seemed to irritate it more. I also just realized that I did not put in my post that he is FIV+. Maybe that has a connection. I never thought of a fungus. That could be it and it is only in that one area.

 

[BlackCatOp]

Thanks for the additional info. Since he is not pruritic, I am leaning towards a fungal infection caused by cryptococcus (cutaneous cryptococcus.) Given his FIV status, he would be more susceptible to the infection as well.

The only other thought I had was a viral dermatitis (due to feline herpes or FIV.) however, these lesions tend to be pruritic.

I would definitely pursue the biopsy to find the cause so your kitty can get the correct treatment. Wishing him the best!

 

[MMW38]

Thank you. That was all very helpful. I made an appointment to see vet tomorrow.

 

[fionasmom]

Fiona herself was rescued as a tiny kitten with a URI. The remant of it, as explained by my vet, was an eye that was always a little runny for the rest of her life of 16 years. We treated it with various meds over the years, I kept it clean for her, and it seemingly did not bother her. However, it never opened up as much as your kitty and I would pursue further options so that it can heal.

 

[BlackCatOp]

Thank you. That was all very helpful. I made an appointment to see vet tomorrow.

Interested in seeing what he says! Keep us updated on your kitty’s progress!

 

[glittercat]

Aw poor little kitty

Hope you are able to find out what is causing the problem and treat it x