Wound that will not heal!

[Arninindi]

Hi guys long story......

We have two sphynx cats, Arni and Indi.

Arni is Indis older half brother.
Indi was the runt of the litter an has stayed smaller than Arni.

Anyways the issue.

Around march time Indi had a sore on his rear "hock" kind of like his elbow. It was caused by either pressure from sitting on a hard or heat from a radiator, we aren't sure.
This because larger and despite our best efforts became infected.
We obviously took him to the vets where he had it cleaned, bandaged etc he was also put onto antibiotics.
Over the next month he had the bad skin around the wound remover 2-3 times only for the stitches to tear through the skin and become useless, we were advised to consider removing the leg entirely to save further suffering and because we were fast running out of funds. We couldn't have his leg removed without trying absolutely everything we could first.

So then it was treated as a "granulated wound" where the idea is that the skin grown back over thee area from the edges inwards. This eventually worked after daily dressing changes and complete cage rest 24/7.

About 2-3 weeks ago it opened again. We're not sure if he bit it because it itched or what happened. The issue now is that there is no skin to stitch and although he is having 24/7 cage rest and with a buster collar on it still isn't healing.
A scab forms a falls off like normal but it remains the same size and possibly is getting bigger. Under the wound is nice and red and not infected.

We are now completely lost for answers to the problem as are the vets.

He's normally a happy loving cat but has become grumpy and sad in his cage. He cries for us and his brother when he can't see us and has lost a lot of muscle from the cage rest.

Please please help.

 

[assibassi]

omg I am so sorry that happend to the poor Baby and that he is crying for you and his brother! I have no idea how to help with this, but wanted to tell You thank you for trying everything. What did the Vet say is his option now ? The leg taken away? Can you see another Vet or phone another vets opinion ??

 

[Arninindi]

Well they are a fantastic vets I must say. The only other option they have is a referral to a skin specialist. Sadly this isn't guaranteed to work and would cost us £1000+ money we simple don't have.

 

[assibassi]

Well they are a fantastic vets I must say. The only other option they have is a referral to a skin specialist. Sadly this isn't guaranteed to work and would cost us £1000+ money we simple don't have.

darn but very much understood, thats a lot of money . Maybe some of the other Members have some knowledge of this.

 

[GoldHazel]

Hi guys long story......

We have two sphynx cats, Arni and Indi.

Arni is Indis older half brother.
Indi was the runt of the litter an has stayed smaller than Arni.

Anyways the issue.

Around march time Indi had a sore on his rear "hock" kind of like his elbow. It was caused by either pressure from sitting on a hard or heat from a radiator, we aren't sure.
This because larger and despite our best efforts became infected.
We obviously took him to the vets where he had it cleaned, bandaged etc he was also put onto antibiotics.
Over the next month he had the bad skin around the wound remover 2-3 times only for the stitches to tear through the skin and become useless, we were advised to consider removing the leg entirely to save further suffering and because we were fast running out of funds. We couldn't have his leg removed without trying absolutely everything we could first.

So then it was treated as a "granulated wound" where the idea is that the skin grown back over thee area from the edges inwards. This eventually worked after daily dressing changes and complete cage rest 24/7.

About 2-3 weeks ago it opened again. We're not sure if he bit it because it itched or what happened. The issue now is that there is no skin to stitch and although he is having 24/7 cage rest and with a buster collar on it still isn't healing.
A scab forms a falls off like normal but it remains the same size and possibly is getting bigger. Under the wound is nice and red and not infected.

We are now completely lost for answers to the problem as are the vets.

He's normally a happy loving cat but has become grumpy and sad in his cage. He cries for us and his brother when he can't see us and has lost a lot of muscle from the cage rest.

Please please help.

I had an awful issue with a female furry cat I had. Every three days I was sitting at the vet's office for bandage changes. It was her paw that developed a hole of some sort. Antibiotic after antibiotic and it just wouldn't stay away for long before opening up again.

I was at my wits end so I took her very far away to a recommended vet in another state. He ran all sorts of tests and never found any cause for this. All along I was wondering if she was diabetic because she only wanted to drink water all the time. Her mouth was so dry if she wasn't drinking a lot of water. When she'd go to "meow", her meow sounded raspy. I asked a few vets to check her for this. They did and the test results always came back negative and again, I was always at my wits end.

Then I had to leave for vacation and didn't want to leave her at home with the other three hairy cats I had. I was too afraid to have her away from me not knowing how her paw was going to be when I got home...so I decided to board her at my vet's office. The day before I came home, I got a phone call from the vet's office saying that they noticed her drinking water like it was going out of style, so they tested her for diabetes and it came back positive. Huh? How many times (at this vet's office AND another vet in another State) was she tested for this and it always came back negative??? Anyway, nobody could answer that question, but I was just so glad that she had a dx and I was able to give her two injections a day.

So my thoughts are to have your cat tested and if it comes back negative, maybe think about testing again.

Good luck and I hope it all works out. Please let us know.

 

[Arninindi]

Lets hope so.

 

[Arninindi]

I had an awful issue with a female furry cat I had. Every three days I was sitting at the vet's office for bandage changes. It was her paw that developed a hole of some sort. Antibiotic after antibiotic and it just wouldn't stay away for long before opening up again.

I was at my wits end so I took her very far away to a recommended vet in another state. He ran all sorts of tests and never found any cause for this. All along I was wondering if she was diabetic because she only wanted to drink water all the time. Her mouth was so dry if she wasn't drinking a lot of water. When she'd go to "meow", her meow sounded raspy. I asked a few vets to check her for this. They did and the test results always came back negative and again, I was always at my wits end.

Then I had to leave for vacation and didn't want to leave her at home with the other three hairy cats I had. I was too afraid to have her away from me not knowing how her paw was going to be when I got home...so I decided to board her at my vet's office. The day before I came home, I got a phone call from the vet's office saying that they noticed her drinking water like it was going out of style, so they tested her for diabetes and it came back positive. Huh? How many times (at this vet's office AND another vet in another State) was she tested for this and it always came back negative??? Anyway, nobody could answer that question, but I was just so glad that she had a dx and I was able to give her two injections a day.

So my thoughts are to have your cat tested and if it comes back negative, maybe think about testing again.

Good luck and I hope it all works out. Please let us know.

Thank you

So was diabetes the reason it wouldn't heal?

 

[lizziepickle]

have you looked into getting an outfit made that would cover and pad the area at the same time. i would also look into cold laser treatments. they help speed up the healing process. and yes if a cat is diabetic and they have a sore it will not heal , or if it does it will take forever.

 

[GoldHazel]

Thank you

So was diabetes the reason it wouldn't heal?

Yes, it absolutely was.

 

[Hairless Blessing]

I know, this will sound crazy, but, it works. I had a horse, one time, that got his leg caught in barb wire and it cut it deep
and it was bad. I took him to the Vet and he got shots and antibiotics.
Then, the Vet told me, the wound needed to heal from inside out, he said get some meat tenderizer, everyday, put his foot in a bucket of water,
so the wound, would get tinder and take sterile cloths and easily remove the hard crust and put the meat tenderizer on the wound.
Then, wrap it. I did this daily, for a loooooogggggg time. It was a horse and a huge wound. But, it healed and looked
wonderful and he never had any problems. I couldn't have stitches put in it, because there was not enough skin to stitch.
The meat tenderizer, won't harm it, even if, it doesn't help. But, if it was mine, I would try it, because, I know, how well it worked for
my horse. You can tell, when, it is well enough and you won't have to wrap it or soak it any longer. This could be why, it's not healing
very well.
It's not healing from the inside. I would check, on the diabetes, also.

 

[Inflamed]

I don't have any suggestions just wanted to express my sympathy and thank you for all you have done so far! Good luck, I really hope you find a solution soon.

 

[GoldHazel]

I know, this will sound crazy, but, it works. I had a horse, one time, that got his leg caught in barb wire and it cut it deep
and it was bad. I took him to the Vet and he got shots and antibiotics.
Then, the Vet told me, the wound needed to heal from inside out, he said get some meat tenderizer, everyday, put his foot in a bucket of water,
so the wound, would get tinder and take sterile cloths and easily remove the hard crust and put the meat tenderizer on the wound.
Then, wrap it. I did this daily, for a loooooogggggg time. It was a horse and a huge wound. But, it healed and looked
wonderful and he never had any problems. I couldn't have stitches put in it, because there was not enough skin to stitch.
The meat tenderizer, won't harm it, even if, it doesn't help. But, if it was mine, I would try it, because, I know, how well it worked for
my horse. You can tell, when, it is well enough and you won't have to wrap it or soak it any longer. This could be why, it's not healing
very well.
It's not healing from the inside. I would check, on the diabetes, also.

Hmm, that's so interesting about the meat tenderizer. I wonder what why that worked.
I know of two other odd remedies:

1) applying honey for things like bed sores

2) if there is an infected wound, take warm/a bit hot water after it was boiled and cooled a bit...add baking soda until it begins not to disolve (concentrated solution). Dip a clean gauze pad into the solution, apply to wound and cover the entire thing with a Saran type of wrap. Do this 2X a day until all the infection has come out. It's an amazing remedy.

 

[MollysMom]

I googled "cat wound that won't heal" and a bunch of people were recommending colloidal silver as a miracle healer for cat wounds... May be worth looking into. I hope you find an answer for this, poor baby.

 

[Hairless Blessing]

Hmm, that's so interesting about the meat tenderizer. I wonder what why that worked.
I know of two other odd remedies:

1) applying honey for things like bed sores

2) if there is an infected wound, take warm/a bit hot water after it was boiled and cooled a bit...add baking soda until it begins not to disolve (concentrated solution). Dip a clean gauze pad into the solution, apply to wound and cover the entire thing with a Saran type of wrap. Do this 2X a day until all the infection has come out. It's an amazing remedy.

The meat tenderizer, keeps the skin soft on the outside and easier to get off, the crust and then, it heals on the inside first.
If a wound is deep into the skin, it has to heal on the inside, if it doesn't, it will never heal and can cause serious problems.
I wonder how the cat is?

 

[mrs.meowalot]

I know, this will sound crazy, but, it works. I had a horse, one time, that got his leg caught in barb wire and it cut it deep
and it was bad. I took him to the Vet and he got shots and antibiotics.
Then, the Vet told me, the wound needed to heal from inside out, he said get some meat tenderizer, everyday, put his foot in a bucket of water,
so the wound, would get tinder and take sterile cloths and easily remove the hard crust and put the meat tenderizer on the wound.
Then, wrap it. I did this daily, for a loooooogggggg time. It was a horse and a huge wound. But, it healed and looked
wonderful and he never had any problems. I couldn't have stitches put in it, because there was not enough skin to stitch.
The meat tenderizer, won't harm it, even if, it doesn't help. But, if it was mine, I would try it, because, I know, how well it worked for
my horse. You can tell, when, it is well enough and you won't have to wrap it or soak it any longer. This could be why, it's not healing
very well.
It's not healing from the inside. I would check, on the diabetes, also.

I don't think that this sounds crazy. When I was twelve years old my hole legs got burned by accident with accelerant. I had wounsd from grade 2-3 and my mom had to clean and peel up the ''healing'' skin off of my legs. I don't know for how long she had to do this tho. But the wounds healed really good and you almost see no scars now. I would talk to your vet about this. I hope your baby feels better soon. Sending good thoughts your way!

 

[GoldHazel]

The meat tenderizer, keeps the skin soft on the outside and easier to get off, the crust and then, it heals on the inside first.
If a wound is deep into the skin, it has to heal on the inside, if it doesn't, it will never heal and can cause serious problems.
I wonder how the cat is?

This is such an interesting remedy. How much meat tenderizer do you put on and how do you apply it? I'm going to store this information into my memory bank. LOL

 

[Hairless Blessing]

This is such an interesting remedy. How much meat tenderizer do you put on and how do you apply it? I'm going to store this information into my memory bank. LOL

I just sprinkled it on until it was covered good. It keeps the outside layer soft, so the inside layers heal.

 

[GoldHazel]

I just sprinkled it on until it was covered good. It keeps the outside layer soft, so the inside layers heal.

Ok, so you didn't have to wet it down or cover it with a bandage?

 

[mel2009]

If you google a product called ainwell filtabac it's a product designed to help skin healing with sunscreen - ( a bit like a animal version of sudocream ) if you look at the wound pictures of some animals before and after the product might be suitable for what you need - there is also a comment of a lady who uses it on one her sphynx cat and I've used it when the cat has scratched/ cut his skin and it's healed up lovely, the one I have comes in a white bottle with green writing.

 

[GoldHazel]

If you google a product called ainwell filtabac it's a product designed to help skin healing with sunscreen - ( a bit like a animal version of sudocream ) if you look at the wound pictures of some animals before and after the product might be suitable for what you need - there is also a comment of a lady who uses it on one her sphynx cat and I've used it when the cat has scratched/ cut his skin and it's healed up lovely, the one I have comes in a white bottle with green writing.

That's interesting. I will check it out later. I wonder if it can be gotten in the United States.

 

[cleozmama]

This is all too familiar territory to me, except I was the patient. I
had Necrotizing Fasciitis (flesh-eating bacteria) in my calf. The
would was approximately 6"x9" and almost as deep as the underlying
muscle and bone. It took 9 hospitalizations, 8 surgeries (including 2
skin grafts), and 3 years of my life to heal over (I'm not diabetic). I also contracted MRSA and C. difficile infections.

Infections are to be taken very seriously!

Yes, the wound must heal from the inside out. Ask your vet about
irrigating the wound with Dakin's solution followed by sterile saline. This will kill any surface germs before you apply any dressings. Dakin's is expensive to buy, but cheap to make at home, just Google for the recipe.

I would recommend using vetwrap or Coban to cover the dressings. I'm sure your vet uses this stuff, too.

If the wound ever smells bad, get to the vet immediately!

I wish you and your baby the best of luck and hope this post will help.

 

[GoldHazel]

This is all too familiar territory to me, except I was the patient. I
had Necrotizing Fasciitis (flesh-eating bacteria) in my calf. The
would was approximately 6"x9" and almost as deep as the underlying
muscle and bone. It took 9 hospitalizations, 8 surgeries (including 2
skin grafts), and 3 years of my life to heal over (I'm not diabetic). I also contracted MRSA and C. difficile infections.

Infections are to be taken very seriously!

Yes, the wound must heal from the inside out. Ask your vet about
irrigating the wound with Dakin's solution followed by sterile saline. This will kill any surface germs before you apply any dressings. Dakin's is expensive to buy, but cheap to make at home, just Google for the recipe.

I would recommend using vetwrap or Coban to cover the dressings. I'm sure your vet uses this stuff, too.

If the wound ever smells bad, get to the vet immediately!

I wish you and your baby the best of luck and hope this post will help.

Wow, so sorry you went through all of that. Thanks for the information, this may be very helpful to many others one day.
I too learned the hard and painful way how important wound care is. My two sons and I got bit by Brown Recluse spiders (we never saw them...it started while on vacation). So incredibly painful and scary as flesh became necrotic.

 

[cleozmama]

Wow, so sorry you went through all of that. Thanks for the information, this may be very helpful to many others one day.
I too learned the hard and painful way how important wound care is. My two sons and I got bit by Brown Recluse spiders (we never saw them...it started while on vacation). So incredibly painful and scary as flesh became necrotic.

OMG! So sorry to hear you went through that ordeal. Those are the worst bites! My NF started as cellulitis and my leg split wide open. Fortunately, the nerve endings all shattered. I will have a huge crater in my leg forever, but at least they were able to save the leg and me.

 

[GoldHazel]

OMG! So sorry to hear you went through that ordeal. Those are the worst bites! My NF started as cellulitis and my leg split wide open. Fortunately, the nerve endings all shattered. I will have a huge crater in my leg forever, but at least they were able to save the leg and me.

Holy cow! Thank God you have your leg for sure and your life! Whew! I'm glad you are here.

 

[SphynxKid]

Please look into this dressing for your baby. It is expensive but this type of dressing is used as preventative and treatment for wounds in critical care patient. If they have any type of wound, deep tissue injury, pressure ulcer, Etc, this type of dressing(actually one with a more sticky border) is applied. However, this one you would be ale to cut down to his wound size and use the pack more efficiently, and then cover it with a vet type wrap (the sticky ace wrap) so that he could come out of his cage for awhile and not chew off his dressing. The good part about sphynx, is that this dressing would stick to him unlike cats with hair. If this were one of my babies, I'd drop the few bucks to see if it works and keep it covered with this type of foam/colloid dressing.

http://www.amazon.com/Mepilex-Wound-Care-Dressing-Safetac/dp/B00294P2JO/ref=pd_sbs_bt_5

Jen