Cat Chat Feline Forum

Hi, I have an adopted stray that came to me with an horrific collar wound. To cut a long story short, after several months of treating with manuka honey as advised by one veterinary practice I decided to try else where. I took him in, his wound looked like a raw chicken fillet , his tendon was showing, the wound is in the armpit area. The new vets said they could operate and close the wound leaving a small area open to act as a drain. We went ahead with the op, the majority of the wound was closed, they did this by creating a pocket and stretching his skin. After a month the vet said they would stitch the remaining wound. Took him in Monday, wound closed using tension stitches, Tuesday post op check, all fine, by Thursday the site had totally broken down and he has an infection. Took him in immediately, site cleaned, more antibiotics given. Went back today said even when infection cleared they will not attempt to close the wound, was told to flush with saline, dry off and apply cod liver oil. My question is where do we go from here? Has anyone had any experience with this sort of wound? My boy is approx 7 years old and predominantly a house cat. The wound is 80% better Rambo is a very placid and happy cat only distressed when wearing the buster collar or at medicine time. Eating/drinking/pooping n piddling all fine. Thank you.

Sorry to hear of your problem, poor kitty.

I can understand why the vet is reluctant to close the wound. We had a similar problem with Bob when he had his leg amputated. Most of the wound healed just fine but two spots became infected. The vet said if he re-stitched them he could be trapping the infection inside. We just kept them clean and eventually they closed on their own.

Can I ask a couple of questions? First of all - why cod liver oil? Secondly was it medical grade Manuka honey? Honey 'spreads' (medical NOT butties ) have been used for years to great effect. Perhaps in your kitty's case it was not an ideal first line of treatment. But it does have it's uses.

As Rambo is a mainly indoor cat, if you can keep the wound clean and dry it should, in time, heal completely.

Gentle fusses to Rambo

Hi, the cod liver oil - the vet had said she had seen some excellent results with this as this oil does have healing properties - not wholly convinced but at this stage will give the benefit of doubt. The manuka honey was medical grade, the old vet advised to buy from health store (to save on costs) we bought 10+ manuka. My other problem is trying to get his tablets down him- metrondiazole- he hates it with a passion!! The vet has also suggested a referral to a soft tissue specialist re a skin graft, for this we are talking in excess of £1000, again no guarantees. Time to clean the wound....so late battle commence!!

Morning lizzyh,

In your original post you say that

lizzyh wrote:The new vets said they could operate and close the wound leaving a small area open to act as a drain. We went ahead with the op, the majority of the wound was closed, they did this by creating a pocket and stretching his skin. After a month the vet said they would stitch the remaining wound.

After the month and before they stitched the remaining wound, what did the scar look like? Was it healing well, or did you have any problems with that? (is he a slow healer?) How is the wound looking now?

I can only go from the experience I have with Bobby. Quick recap - he was born with nerve damage to his front left leg. For his 1st year he got around fine and had no problems. Then a tiny puncture wound led to massive infection and we had to have his leg removed. It was only then that we discovered he was FIV+. As I said, at first the wound was healing just fine. But then they took the supporting bandage off and the wound was infected (my heart really sank when I saw this ) He was given a shot of a long lasting antibiotic.

It did take an awful long time, another injection and several courses of AB tabs, but he is fine now and the only way you can see the scar is by a sprinkle of white hairs among the black.

As for the tablets - does Rambo like milk? Cat milk might do the trick, but we have found that you can disguise most tablets crushed in evap. milk. I know it's full of sugar and not good for cats - but they all love it and if it means stress-free medication.... We find about a tablespoon is enough and it keeps for several days.

Keep on doing what you are doing and don't despair. I think (hope and pray) that the wound will heal without the need for anymore surgery. Please keep in touch. Best wishes

Sue

Hi Sue,

The would is currently very clean, very pink/red looking, i think scar tissue is starting to form at the very bottom edge, when I go home I will try and take a picture so u can see. when i clean wound there are tiny droplets of blood on the swab, more pin prick size. The first op was successful and the wound healed lovely, no break downs at all. The problem seems to be this stubborn bit, its right under his armpit so incredibly difficult to keep 'dry'.

Yes he loves milk, infact he loves most things!!! Rambo has a very particular talent of raiding our fridge, on many occasions he helped himself to the ham and cheese!!!!

Will keep on going with him and may retry the honey.

Thank you

Bob had a couple of 'stubborn bits', I thought would never heal - but they did .

lizzyh wrote:Rambo has a very particular talent of raiding our fridge, on many occasions he helped himself to the ham and cheese!!!!

Sounds like our Tommy! In our new kitchen he can now sit on the counter right next to his new best friend (the big white box). When I open the fridge door he puts his head around the corner and surveys the contents. He loves MEAT, so any sliced ham/beef/chicken gets his full attention.

RE getting pills down him..

My little cat has just been put on daily meds for life and I've been having real trouble getting tablets into him over the last week or so. The vet recommended I use a pill popper to force them into his mouth .. I'm not prepared to do that to him long term, it's cruel and I don't want him to grow to hate me. I tried all the usual tricks but he's too smart and tends to pick the tablet out of anything I hide it in. Someone recommended these Pill Pockets.. I didn't know they exist!
Ordered some this afternoon so hopefully they work... the reviews are very good for the most part

If you can afford to wait longer you can get them for half the price but I needed mine urgently so went for the £9 option to get them on prime.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Greenies-Feline ... s+for+cats" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'll report back on results..

Good luck with your boy, his wound sounds like a real nasty, stubborn wound. I'm sure it'll heal up eventually though with all the care you're giving him

She wasn't under my care so I'm afraid I don't know the details, but the rescue I volunteer for had a cat with a similar collar injury last year and that took months and months to heal, but after several 'false starts' it did finally heal over properly and the cat is fine (and in her new home) now. Hopefully your boy's will do too.

I've tried to upload a picture unfortunately its too large the milk trick worked with one lot of AB's but not the dreaded metrondizaole!! Going to try the pill pockets, but he's a clever boy and hard to trick!!

I use picresize (http://www.picresize.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) to post my photos. I find it very easy to use. Sorry the milk trick didn't work on the 'dreaded metrondiazole'. But don't give up - their love of milk often overcomes such problems (especially if you real powder the tablet). I have not heard of pill pockets. They sound a good idea. We used our own version to give our dogs any tablets -they were called Munchies (easier with a dog, throw them a choccy and they don't ask questions and yes, they were the milk chocolate ones)

Rambos remaining wound

[quote="Crewell but after several 'false starts' it did finally heal over properly and the cat is fine (and in her new home) now. Hopefully your boy's will do too.[/quote]
Hi, was that with surgery or with manuka honey?

Ow! Poor Rambo. That does look sore, but it IS clean! It is in a very awkward place isn't it?

Because of his FIV problem, the vet decided to leave Bob his shoulder blade (to reduce the size of scar). The wound was over the 'sticky out' bit of his shoulder blade and that was one of the two bits that took an AGE to mend. The skin was in constant motion over the blade - I thought it would never heal - but it did!

Keep up the good work!

Super awkward place I'm afraid, the wound is actually 80% smaller than the original so we are moving forward. What do you think to introducing the manuka? Id be interest in your opinion on that. When I used to use it I put it on a swab, tucked that under his arm and put a baby vest on him, needless to say he was not happy about that and his street cred went from hero to zero!! I was thinking of putting a small amount of manuka and not covering it.

I am a big fan of honey and not just Manuka. I am also a great believer in the phrase - if it ain't broke, don't fix it! You seem to be doing just fine as you are. It might be a very slow process, but it seems to be working. Are you still using the cod liver oil? If you do use the Manuka, as you say, just a small amount.

Helen - cat rescue cat with the similar injury, can you find out what her treatment was? It was obviously successful.

Poor Rambo! But lucky to have a mum as loving and caring as you...

Regarding the antibiotics - you can get the vet to give 2 week jabs - they take a second, are painless, and don't cost that much in the scheme of things. My girl had her tail nearly bitten through and the wound was becoming infected. The vet said 'have you ever had to pill her' and I said 'no, but I don't think she'd like it!' and he gave her the injection instead. It didn't cost me much extra and within the 2 weeks the infection had completely gone and its healed up nicely.

Sorry if you've ever been down that route, but if not worth asking!!

-Also the vet recommended Hibiscrub for pets - like they use in hospitals - bathe with 1 part to 20 parts water I think. It's what vets use to clean wounds.

lizzyh wrote:Hi, was that with surgery or with manuka honey?

The cat had surgery, then a second op a few months later. It finally healed over after the second op and just keeping the site clean. This was in the armpit area as well.

How's Rambo been today?

Hi,

Rambo has been well, still refusing the metrondiazole no matter what I put it in but will take the antirobe no problem - will continue trying. He hates having the wound flushed but its a job that has to be done, he gets lots of cuddles and a treat or two after Back to the vets on Friday for a check up - thats gona be fun!!

Update on Rambo........been back to the vets today all going well and there are signs of the site granulating. We've been given the option of going to a specialist in soft tissue and reconstructive surgery, the cost could be in excess of £3k with no guarantees. I think we are going to see how the wound heals over the next month or two, there is no infection now but still on AB for time being. Rambo isn't in any distress, to be honest he never has been apart from when he was operated on. He is a very loving layed back kitty just hates medicine time n wound cleaning time, other than that he's just a purr machine

Rambo sends hugs back to you n yours, hope Summer is doing well x

Rambo is healing as you can see by his little face he's soooo chilled x

Very pleased to hear the news. Fusses to Summer and Rambo and thanks for updating. Keep in touch. x

I am so pleased for Summer!!! Rambos wound is 90% smaller than it originally was, it doesn't bother him at all, it never really did. Due to the position of the wound it won't scab over, to hot and sweaty under his armpits, its going to be a long road but it is granulating slowly xx he's a bigggg softy, sleeps every night cuddled into me, Blue sleeps next to hubby, Bella on the stairs, Sam either on me or a cushion and tigger on her perch in the kitchen ahhhhh my furbabies, love them all to bits xx