Sore That Won't Heal - Out Of Ideas

[greenkitty]

This is Hector's sore nose. He has chronic Rhinitis caused by the damage cat flu left behind, his nose constantly runs so of course he licks it and it gets sore. Believe it or not this is actually an improvement from a couple of months ago when the scab covered his whole nose (the scab had just dropped off when this picture was taken, it will scab over and not look so angry!). The vet is out of ideas as am I, we've tried Fuciderm, Sudocream, Hypocare and Flamazine on it none of which have really helped. His problems are compounded by him being on steroids and long term AB's both of which slow down healing. He also has Interferon which is an anti-viral immune system booster and Piriton.

Am prepared to try anything as long as it's not detrimental to his quality of life. Anyone have any ideas?

If only his previous owner had bothered to have him vaccinated.

[MarkB]

Poor boy

Is there a possibilty it is a cold sore?

I was in Holland & Barrett yesterday and they have a topical lysine cream.

[greenkitty]

I don't think so, I think it just sore from licking and rubbing. He's also a Calici cat flu carrier not Herpes. It doesn't have the same sort of crust that a cold sore has, it's definitely a scab.

[SarahT1 [PLLE]]

Poor lovely boy, what a pain for him. This is out of the box and probably not at all helpful, but could there be a repetitive nature in the licking for him, so it's habitual and not always necessary. Do you see what I mean? A kind of over grooming, although there's obviously a physical cause, I appreciate Just wondering whether rescue remedy might help to or lavender oil, some calming essence. Probably way off track. Sorry.

[greenkitty]

Thanks for the thoughts but his nose really does run all the time, we're doing everything we can on that front but our options are limited and it's a question of trying to keep it under control, quite often when he sneezes (which he does a lot) it goes up onto his cheeks and nose so he's constantly trying to keep his face clean. Also the scab obviously gets itchy or feels tight so he does groom it a lot, even with a comfy collar on he can still lick it!

[SarahT1 [PLLE]]

Poor baby. Fusses to him. He is so lovely. What a trial for him. x

[greenkitty]

He's a beautiful boy with a lovely nature, if only his original owner had bothered to have him vaccinated his life would have been so different. This isn't the best picture of him either, he'd just woken up and had been dribbling!!

[SarahT1 [PLLE]]

When we adopted our oldest girl out of the house of a hoarder who had died, she had not been vaccinated for a long time and was flea and mite infested. How she managed not to have got ill is incredible. She was lucky, thank goodness, but if she'd stayed there much longer might not have been so. At least your Hector has the best mum he could wish for now.

[elastu]

Has your vet consulted with one of the veterinary schools?

[drayton]

I successfully treated the Rhinitis on my cat using Lysine, I got it from Holland & Barretts & added it to his food, it stopped the discharge almost immediately with no side effects.

[Crewella]

Poor Hector, still beautoful even with a scabby nose. I'm afraid I have no experience or ideas ...... I suppose a dressing/cover of some sort it out of the question ......... just to try and give it a chance to heal ....... ?

[Meandmymunki]

Have you tried just washing twice daily in diluted hibiscrub to dry it up? Just dab it on with cotton wool ball twice a day.
Also I know we probably mentioned this before but the 3 day antibiotic nasal flush cured my cats rhinitis 15 years ago..... Might help with the cause.

[greenkitty]

I haven't tried the nasal flush, what does that involve? I haven't heard of it and it hasn't been suggested. My vet did consult the Oxford Cat Clinic but they didn't have any suggestions apart from what we've already tried. He has a large area of raw tissue in his nasopharynx which is causing his problems, from what I believe it won't ever heal but I'm not sure why that is, must be something to do with the virus. He's been twice to a referral practice.

I bought an Aloe Vera plant yesterday and he's had two applications of that, evidently its a good natural anti bacterial and prompts healing.

I have tried Hibiscrub in the past but I might give it another go if the Aloe doesn't work. I have tried Lysine, it's good for Herpes but doesn't have much effect on Calici which is what Hector has.

[Meandmymunki]

I had a cat who too was suspected of carrying calici although never tested, she lost all her teeth very young due to it and sneezed her entire life, all our walls were green and red spattered and she was on antibiotics every few weeks. In the end our vet suggested admitting her and putting her under and then he inserted 2 canulas thru the top of her head and flushed antibiotics thru her nose, he repeated this the next day and next again and she never sneezed any type of mucus again...... It was quite a miracle really.

[greenkitty]

Wow that is impressive, I wonder if they still do that procedure today?

I have to say to Aloe does seem to be having a positive effect on the sore, it's shrunk a but and looks a little better.

[Janey]

Poor Hector, another thing you could try if the aloe vera doesn't work is a good Manuka honey, if you've not already tried that? I use it on wounds and when we adopted our last cat, she was from a rescue at a vets and the vets there were treating one of the cats who was awaiting a home, with the honey. She had a very large open wound (from a burn) and was responding well. Another thing, is castor oil, this was new to me but a naturopathic doctor I was once seeing recommended it for one of my cats who had what we thought was a bad leg ulcer, and that responded quite well for a time, we did bandage the leg up though. I'd also just check with your vet before trying anything you're not sure about of course.

[greenkitty]

I've asked around on the Manuka honey as I was very interested in trying it on him, a scientist friend told me that you shouldn't use unpasturised honey on those with suppressed immune systems (AB's and Steroids both suppress the immune system and Hector is on both) so I would have to use the regular honey. Having done a bit of Googling the regular honey has most of it's goodness removed during the heating process so I don't think the health benefits would be the same as if I used the Manuka. It's a real shame because I've heard such great things about it's healing properties.

[Meandmymunki]

I would imagine you would just need to speak to a vet up for trying the nasal flush, the vet that did it for buttons has long since retired but the vet I see now mentioned it when we were discussing a ferals treatment the other week, but we didn't do it as too feral to cope with the 3 day ordeal. But we would have gone for it if the cat in question was tame.

[greenkitty]

I'll certainly speak to the visit next time we're there. I'm actually pretty pleased with how is nose is looking this morning, instead of raw tissue there seems to be some new skin forming so the Aloe Vera seems to be working. When he comes out from under the bed I'll try and get another pic to show you the progress.

[greenkitty]

Here he is this afternoon. I hope you can see an improvement too.

[Janey]

That does appear to be looking better, I do hope it continues to heal, love to gorgeous Hector x

[Meandmymunki]

Sorry to throw other stuff in here but have you or your vet ever considered the following link as a cause?

http://www.cat-world.com.au/cryptococcosis-in-cats" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[greenkitty]

That's really interesting Sally, I've never heard of it and it's never been discussed. The referral vet did test him for a lot of different diseases and viruses but I've no idea which and whether this was one of them. But he does tick quite a lot of those symptom boxes, I shall look into it further.

[Crewella]

That does look better! Give lovely Hector a fuss from me.

[SarahT1 [PLLE]]

Definitely looking better, Julia, and more handsome than ever. Well done!

[greenkitty]

Fusses will be passed on later and will be gratefully received thank you, he loves his fusses

[Meandmymunki]

I've seen a cat with it once before and your pic of hector reminded me of my friends cat that had this, might not be but as he insured anything is worth a go..... It can be blood test or swab apparently.