Feral cat with problems.

Dr. Marie replied:

Hi Larry. I'm just heading out of the office right now and will be back on line this evening. In the meantime if you can send me some photos that would be great! You can email them to photos@askavetquestion.com.

Thanks!

Dr. Marie



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Dr. Marie replied:

Ok, thanks for the photos Larry. I'll include them here:







The poor girl looks very uncomfortable. The first thing that I noted when I saw your pictures is that this is no "normal" skin problem. It doesn't look typical of a bacterial infection or a flea problem. Unfortunately, as your vet suggested, the only way to get a diagnosis here is going to be to do a bunch of tests. But, it is understandable that there is only so much you can do for a feral girl.

I have seen skin look like this after a burn. However, it really shouldn't be itchy.

It's possible this is ringworm, but it doesn't look exactly like ringworm. Ringworm is a fungal infection. Sometimes it can be treated with baths with lime sulfur, but this is difficult to do on a tame cat yet alone a feral one.

It could also be something called fragile skin syndrome. This is really not common. But when a cat has it it always mean that there is a serious underlying problem like liver disease or diabetes.

Another possibility is an autoimmune disease like pemphigus. This is really hard to control and needs lifelong steroid therapy.

The runny eyes could be a respiratory tract infection. It's possible that she's got a chronic mycoplasma infection. But this is bad news too because it needs chronic treatment with oral antibiotics.

I'm not sure what I would advise for a case like this. I would likely try a long acting steroid injection and also a Convenia injection (which is an antibiotic that lasts for two weeks.) to see how things go.

But, if things are not improving then we may be stuck.

I wish I had more answers for you!

Dr. Marie.