Open sores

I was just wondering if any of you had some advice for poor little Kareem. He has 2 open sores on his back. He has lost all of the hair suurounding these sore, presumably from licking them so often. I try to stop him from licking these sores, but hes a stubborn boy and regardless of my constant watching he continues to lick them. Kareem was seen by the vet a couple of weeks ago regarding this and the vet picked off the scabs- yes they were almost healed- and applied some sort of ointment. Now they seem to be worse than ever. Each sore is about the size of a quarter. I intend to take him to the vet in the morning. A different vet of course. But I wondered if anyone has encountered this with their cat? Quite often they look as though they are healing and then with his perisistant licking of them they turn red and weepy. Can you please give me your thoughts on this. Wondering if he will need a steroid injection of some kind. I can't tell if they are itchy or if they are just painful for him.

Thanks for listening, Kareemsbuddy

I don't have any thoughts or advice but someone with more medical expertise on this board will probably respond to your message within the next 12 hours. In the meantime, take care of yourself and poor Kareem.

I don't know if the vet had mentioned what he thought had caused this. Depending on what caused it would determine weather or not a steroid would help. If he has a skin infection from the licking, they may put him on an oral antibiotic. They will continually lick if it's itchy, or if it's a stress related behavior. Hopefully another vet will be able to give you better insight once they look at it. They may even have you put an e collar on him to keep him from licking it while it's healing.

Thanks alot for your quick replies!! The original source ws a flea hypersensitivity that caused these sores......about 2 months ago. They were doing great until the vet picked at them.
We'll see what they have to say tomorrow, and I'll give you all an update!!

Kareemsbuddy

Oh my goodness! Kareem is BEAUTIFUL! Is he a Maine Coon? I would think so. Please keep us updated on how he's doing.

Yes he is a Maine Coon!! And he sure is beautiful!! My husband likes to call him "handsome"!!!!!

More pictures to come soon!!

Kareemsbuddy!!

just a thought - if he keeps at the soars -maybe an e-collar is needed till they heal.

I have a cat with persistant open sores on her back.
She's had them cultured and biopsied, and the only diagnosis they came up with was 'possible allergies".
After trying pretty much everything, it's now been concluded that she creates them herself by over grooming.
She overgrooms everything, herself, the other cats (they leave though before she can damage them), the dog, us, her bedding.
We are still trying things with her as drug therapy will be our last resort.
In the meantime, all we do is watch to be sure they don't become infected, and we use distraction when we actually catch her doing it.

Thanks alot! I use distraction also to try to keep Kareem from licking, but its like they really bother him. I know that he over grooms, as he is a long hair Main Coon. I keep an eye on them to make sure that they don't become infected, but I don't really know what I would be looking for. If they do become infected is it common to use a topical ointment prescribed by a vet? He doesn't seem to be licking them as much today....YET. They always look good in the morning, nd by early evening they look red with blood, and weepy. I think a cortisone shot is what he may need.

Kareemsbuddy

She went through a round of topical antibiotic as well as a round of antibiotic pills.
She was e-collared through the whole thing, she healed well etc.
Several days after her e-collar was off, the sores were back
It's a battle were still fighting, though I am about to halt all treatment, and give her a couple months, I'm thinking that the frequent vet trips have now simply exacerbated the problem.
We'll see how it goes.

Thanks for your support. Its not a huge concern, but it worries me. I feel so helpless when theres not too much I can do to help the little guy. He hasn't been licking them much today, so we'll see how it plays out!
Kareemsbuddy

What did the new vet say about Kareem's sore? I hope he is doing better.

We are headed to the vets in the morning, so I will keep you updated! I hope he doesn't need a e-collar, I think it will drive him nuts!!
I'll let you know the outcome.

Originally Posted by kareemsbuddy

We are headed to the vets in the morning, so I will keep you updated! I hope he doesn't need a e-collar, I think it will drive him nuts!!

I'll let you know the outcome.

Click to expand...

Oh, I hope he doesn't need an e-collar, too. Yes, please keep us updated!

Good luck, I hope you can find a cure if not the cause!

Cassi now wears a tiny t-shirt to keep her from overgrooming, she's not happy about it, but taking it better than she did the e-collar.

Thats a great idea! I'll see what the vet says, and maybe I'll be headed out to find a tiny T tomorrow

Just a tip, cut the sleeves off and make it a muscle t, you know how cats' front legs disappear when they lay down?
Cutting the sleeves off keeps them from losing their legs lol

LOL, thats hilarious! Good thinking! Aww..he's gonna look cute...if I can find one

How did the vet visit go? How's your handsome boy?