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 Post subject: Hock Wound Not Healing
PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2017 6:38 pm 
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Bengal Kitten
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Joined: Fri Feb 10, 2017 5:48 pm
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Hi All

I am new here, I have been reading your boards and this seems like a really friendly forum with lots of advice so thought it might be worth asking regarding my 6 year old neutered Female Bengal Esme.

Last year towards the end of summer/beginning of autumn she started licking a bald patch on her thigh. We thought this was because the house we are attached to, which was previously empty/silent started to get renovated and this was possibly stressing her. We treated her for parasites, got the pet remedy out, increased her play sessions and started to leave the radio on when we went out. We kept an eye on it but she never broke the skin or and the patch never got any bigger so we weren't too concerned (this may or may not be relevant to the below).

Then in mid October a wound appeared on both of her hocks, her right worse then her left. We are not sure how the wound occurred if she created it or it was as a result of hard floors in the ? Or something else. This happened once when she was about a year old, the breeder told us it was relatively common so we kept an eye on it and it cleared up by itself. So we kept an eye on them. However it soon became clear due to her licky state of mind that she wasn't going to leave them alone so we took her to the vets.

She is a very sensitive soul and we wanted to go down the least intrusive route so she got a buster collar. She hated it, but eventually got used to it.

Nearly two months passed and the wound on the left healed OK, but the right one remained a never changing large scab. We were about to book to take her back to the vets, when the scab split and there was blood all over her collar (from trying to itch her ear). So we took her back asap between Christmas and new year.

The vet was able to gently pull back the scab (Esme was incredibly tolerant) and he said it was a crator behind and didn't look very healthy at all. We had the wound swabbed and she was booked in to have it debrided (all the dead material removed) under sedation.

The swab came back and the wound contained five types of bacteria, three of which were quite highly resistant. So our vet chose Veraflox antibiotics as it covered all of the bacteria and she has been on that since. as well as Metacam for the pain.

Since the deriding we have been going back every 3-4 days for dressing changes and this had been going on for nearly 4-5 weeks. At this point our vet was really happy with the condition of the wound and felt there was enough skin/movement to attempt stitching it up. That was maybe two weeks ago.

I was away last week for two days with work, my partner was looking after her. I came home on the Tuesday night and she was obviously not herself. Wednesday we made the decision to take her back early and on opening her dressing we were absolutely gutted, all of the stitches had popped and the wound was open again :sad: she also had a temperature.

We have since run bloods which all seems fine and she is currently at North Downs Specialist Referrals till Monday being looked at by a soft tissue specialist (it breaks my heart having her away from home as she is so sensitive and such a worrier).

My question is, has anyone else has experience of similar? Any advice?

I have been reading about how Neuropathy in Bengals can cause wounds to not heal? But she doesn't seem to have any of the other symptoms, although she has always been a bit clumsy.

Thoughts, opinions and positive vibes are all welcome and thank you for reading my essay

Emily xx


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PostPosted: Mon Feb 13, 2017 8:19 pm 
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Asian Leopard Cat

Joined: Thu May 23, 2013 2:21 pm
Posts: 9217
Emily, I'm sorry it's taken me three days to locate this post. Know that we members are not veterinarians or vet techs and have no medical training. I'm not familiar with a hock wound. I just know that wounds can be difficult to heal. (I've had them from cat bites and had to undergo surgery and wound treatment). Your baby is at a specialist right now ... and that's probably the best thing. The poor little thing. This is not fun for her and I know how scared she must be just being away from you. Hopefully, they can get this healing process going for her.

I will say that I do not believe this is "relatively common" as your breeder stated! If any other member has experienced something like this, I hope they find this post and will comment.

And keep us updated on how things go.


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PostPosted: Thu Feb 16, 2017 9:58 am 
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Bengal Kitten
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Joined: Fri Feb 10, 2017 5:48 pm
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Hi Sherry

Thank you for the reply. I honestly understand that the people on this forum can not give medical advice. But I just thought if someone had gone through similar they could point myself and my vet in the right direction (if we are not already on it, which is hard to say at the moment).

Esme is currently back home and under the care of our own vet again, but under instructions from the specialist. She is on cage rest. Her leg has been extended, splinted and a bandaged created with a pocket of air above the wound to stop anything touching it.

She is happy to be home and coping OK. We are giving her lots of love and attention.

We had the first bandage change last night and it's not improved yet.

Thank you again, Emily xx


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PostPosted: Thu Feb 16, 2017 5:57 pm 
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Asian Leopard Cat

Joined: Thu May 23, 2013 2:21 pm
Posts: 9217
Emily, I hope the injury improves. Wounds are especially difficult to heal and take a long while. I know you are happy to have her home with you. Familiar surroundings are always nice, plus the loving care of the owner can help. Was this just a wound and not a fracture? I'm sure changing the dressing isn't fun for you or Esme. Please keep us posted.


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