Chronic open wounds

[Adrians1224]

Hello,
I was wondering if anyone has any experience similar to mine and if they can send suggestions about what is happening with my cat. I first got my cat about a year ago from an animal hospital I worked at. He was a stray and was being treated for multiple open wounds on his body they suspected to be from a puncture wound or fight with another animal. After a long battle to close up these wounds, I adopted him and he's the sweetest boy you could hope for. Soon after adoption, though, he would get the open wounds to reappear overnight. It would literally go from being totally fine (not even a scab) to an open wound that went entirely through his skin so you could see his muscles underneath and parts of his organs. These were treated with surgeries, steroids, and antibiotics and eventually closed up again. However, every few months the same thing would happen, often appearing in new spots along his lower midsection. None of the veterinarians I have brought him to have had any clue as to what is wrong with him and some mentioned it looked like something they had only seen in textbooks regarding livestock. After his most recent flare-up I brought him to a dermatologist who thought he must have pansteatitis and gave me 5mg Prednisolone to give to him twice daily. These steroids helped close the wounds up once again and I was told to keep him on that dose of medication for the foreseeable future. However, despite getting this medication twice daily these wounds have started to open up again, causing me to think that these veterinarians don't really have any clue and instead of testing him for various diseases/disorders, are just trying to prescribe medications and not deal with it anymore. I am worried they are treating the symptoms and not the cause.I hate to see him in pain like this and was hoping someone on this forum had experienced something similar and found answers that helped their cat live healthy. I know it can't be that he is opening these wounds himself as many of them open in places he couldn't reach and he would have to be incredibly determined to break through his skin completely overnight. Any answers would be greatly appreciated thanks.

 

[LTS3]

Ouch! Those don't look good at all. See if any of your vets will be willing to consult with a veterinary school or other vet hospital for a consult. I know you said you've already seen a dermatologist but it won't hurt to get another dermatologist's opinion. This well known vet hospital offers courtesy consults to vets: Referral Services

This might be a stretch but could the wounds be a result of a food intolerance? Usually skin scratching is a symptom but cats can be oddballs sometimes. One of my cats get non-itchy bald spots when he has an intolerance to something in food. What brand of food are you feeding your cat?

 

[Nice Loki]

Poor boy, that looks nasty. What is his name? I love ginger boys.

I'm sorry that you're not having any help from vets, just treating the symptoms isn't good enough, there is definitely something more to this that needs to be addressed.

So to start at the beginning:

Is he being regularly treated for fleas and worms (even if you don't see fleas, he could still be overreacting to just the general presence of one) and if so what treatment are you using?

Do you wash all his bedding on hot washes to kill off any lurking fleas, mites, bed bugs, bacteria etc.?

Has he been tested for any allergies (flea, dust mites, food)?
Has anyone taken swabs or sections of the wound area and sent it for testing?
At this stage I would be pushing for investigation now rather than a "treat it and see" approach.

Other things you might consider doing at home while medical investigation is being done:

Have you cleaned & bug bombed the whole house? Fleas can potentially live for months without a host (under certain conditions).

Do you regularly and thoroughly vacuum and dust the areas where your boy goes? If you don't already have one, consider getting a vacuum cleaner with HEPA filters and empty the cleaner regularly as you vacuum to help prevent dust being recycled back into the air.

Take down and clean all curtains and nets curtains.
Get all your bedding thoroughly washed on hot washes and at the same time get all your duvets (dooners, quilts or whatever you call them) cleaned.
You could also consider getting your sofa/settee, armchairs and carpets professionally cleaned if you want to be as thorough as possible.

As LTS3 said above, food intolerance / allergy could be an issue.

What food is he on, what snacks or treats do you give to him?

As you said, he came into the animal hospital with open sores. Strays living on the streets are normally flea ridden and host to ticks if they are immunocompromised. Coupled with the high stress of street living and a poor diet, I do wonder if your poor boy has a depleted immune system that is still not fully recovered even a year later.
If it hasn't already been done, ask for a full round of tests to check blood and organ functions.

Let's see if we can help your beautiful boy.