Sore on cats neck. Advice appreciated.

[gavin3011]

Our girl Emi has this irritated sore on her neck. I'm not sure how she got it originally but I think her collar might have been on too tight and it rubbed against it. She has to wear a cone (with a collar to keep it secure) around her head as she has some obsessive scratching issues where she will scratch at her ears and cheeks until they bleed. We have extensively investigated this issue with multiple vets and dermatologists to no avail.

Anyway, this sore on her neck is just not healing, or it's healing extremely slowly. I've cut a sock and put it around her neck as she is now scratching at the neck reinjuring herself. When we take her cone off so she can groom while we monitor she licks at that spot and makes it bleed. It has been like this for weeks. I suspect the sock is hampering the healing or is rubbing against the wound, but without it she just licks or scratches it worse.

I would take her to the vet but she becomes very, very aggressive and distressed. It's like she turns feral. She's cut me up pretty badly trying to get away from the vet. So I'm trying to avoid that if I can, for her sake and ours, but I just don't know what to do.

Photo attached. The fur is a bit yellow as I just wiped some derma oil on the area.

 

[Kris107]

How old is she? Have you changed food or anything else lately?

 

[gavin3011]

She is 11. We are always rotating foods as both our cats get bored and will stop eating things they had previously enjoyed. They eat mostly wet (canned) food and some dry.

 

[fionasmom]

Given that you have been to vets and a dermatologist, can you contact any of them for an update with the pic attached? If any of these appointments have been recent, they might be willing to help you without an actual visit.

I have had cats who reacted to the use of a collar or cone, but the sore healed as soon as the irritant was removed.

What have the vets given you to use on Emi, or what have they done otherwise, like the use of a laser?

 

[gavin3011]

Given that you have been to vets and a dermatologist, can you contact any of them for an update with the pic attached? If any of these appointments have been recent, they might be willing to help you without an actual visit.

I have had cats who reacted to the use of a collar or cone, but the sore healed as soon as the irritant was removed.

What have the vets given you to use on Emi, or what have they done otherwise, like the use of a laser?

I'm waiting on the most recent vet she's seen to get back to me. Hopefully she calls today.

Emi is also on a low does of Clomicalm to help with what the vet thought was an anxiety-related overgrooming of her stomach. There's no ongoing care plan for her, no one knows why she scratches her face like she does. We decided we had put her through enough stress to try to sort out the issue and it felt like the vets were just guessing or throwing around ideas rather than basing treatments or investigations on evidence after the initial tests didn't reveal anything. I've never heard of later therapy for cats.

 

[fionasmom]

I am not a vet, but the use of a therapeutic laser by a medical professional is done in may instances to heal wounds, incisions, etc. It was done on the feet of a GSD I owned after we had almost given up healing his sores.

Nothing was done for the actual sore on Emi, just the Clomicalm?

If the vets believe that this is truly from an anxiety related cause, there are other medications that can be tried.

Was anything done to try to heal the wound itself?

 

[gavin3011]

For the sore on her neck you mean? Nothing yet, she hasn't seen a vet recently. The clomicalm was for an old issue. Sorry for the confusion. I haven't taken her to the vet yet due to how out of control and aggressive she becomes with vets. With her it's a balance, whenever she has an issue I have to work out if it's manageable at home or if it's something she needs medical attention for and is worth putting her through the extreme stress so goes through at vets.

 

[fionasmom]

I completely understand your concern about taking Emi to the vet, but this sounds as if it is not healing and not being treated. You are trying, but it is beyond home care. She may need a medication to calm her, but Clomicalm may not be the one, and the sore needs to be looked at. If there is a cat only vet in your area, that might be an option.