my 7 month old kitten was attacked by a cat..she was bitten all over her back i took her to the vet and ...?

Question

he gave her antibotics and flushed out her bites..i went back every day for a week to have her checked..then he says that her skin is dead and she needs a $4000.00 operation please help she is very healthy eats good and plays...her skin is cracking and peeling but not bleeding...will her skin grow...is ther any thing i can do i don't have $4000.00 but want to save her...help

i took her to a specialist and they said the same thing...

the specialist said she will need a skin grapht...and they will have to remove all the dead skin

right now she has an open wound thats about a 1/2 " by 3" its not bleeding but its open

a veterinarian.... is there any thing i can do for her my self...my email is [e-mail] i need help

a veerinarian...i'm in NY on longisland..I called cornell and they said that they would check her out but it would cost me that they are not doing it for free..i'm about 5 hrs from them ..i'm willing to drive her anywhere....

Answer 1

That sometimes happens, but is not extremely common.

Is this veterinarian a specialist? If not, ask to be referred to one. If he is, ask for a referral anyway.

When faced with such a recommendation, a second opinion is always wise. I encourage it with my own clients, too, when such an expensive surgery appears to be needed. (They come back to me when my diagnosis/treatment plan is confirmed.)

I'm confident enough in my own knowledge and abilities to not be threatened by having someone else review one of my cases....and wise enough to realize that sometimes someone else migh have more experience or a better idea for a particular case.

EDIT: Good on your for already consulting a specialist! You're a good cat mom. :-) Skin grafts are just expensive to do....no way around it. The reason this sometimes happens with some cat fight wounds is that cat mouths contain a particularly nasty type of bacteria that is occasionally resistant to our 'regular' first-line antibiotics. Another possible cause is that your kitten's immune system might be compromised. Before spending any more money on treatment, I'd be testing her for FeLV/FIV again even if she was negative in the past (unless it was just done a few days ago.) I would also have them repeat a fecal, as intestinal parasites can cause wounds not to heal, by robbing the body of essential nutrients needed for that. (In your cat's case, I doubt that's the CAUSE of the problem...but it certainly could be a contributing factor.) Have they done a CBC and Blood Chemistry profile yet? That would be next on the agenda. (Do the FeLV/FIV test and fecal first, however.) If her fecal is positive for parasites, those are easily (and inexpensively) treated prior to surgery. If she tests positive for FeLV and/or FIV, I wouldn't recommend additional surgery, as her prognosis would be poor. (Keep in mind that if the cat who attacked her was FeLV/FIV positive, your cat might be in the 'in-between' phase where it's too soon to show up on the test.)

Additional EDIT: There's nothing I can suggest you do at home, Ralph. Sorry. Even though I've seen cases like this before, every case is different from the others. You could ask your DVM about additional betadine flushing and a special type of bandaging procedure called wet-to-dry, both of which help stimulate healthy granulation tissue and wound contracture. I've done that successfully MANY times, but can't say that it would work with your kitty without seeing the wound myself. It's not something you can do at home, however....you'd still have to take her in once or twice a day, in which case it would be much less stressful on your cat to just let her stay there for awhile. (Whatever you do, do NOT use peroxide in that wound if anyone recommends it!!!! That will only make matters worse.) Ask your DVM to get on VIN or NOAH (he'll know what that means) or call around to the various veterinary colleges (or call around yourself) to see if anyone is currently conducting a wound-grafting study that your cat might be eligible for. (Are you in the U.S.???) If so, you might be able to get the treatment/surgery for free or greatly reduced cost, if you're willing to drive to the location of the study.

Good luck and kitty prayers, hun. I wish I had a magic answer for you. Please keep posting updates.

Count your lucky stars that you are in New York!!!! :D
The veterinary college at Cornell is to cats what the Mayo Clinic is to humans. You just can't do any better than that. They are the number-one feline research facility in the U.S. I would trust their judgement implicitly (and no...I'm not a Cornell grad, lol.) Please consider making that drive for them to at least evaluate her. They'll then give you an estimate for treatment. You might be pleasantly surprised. It might not be nearly as bad as you are expecting....veterinary schools are sometimes even less expensive than private practitioners, since they are a teaching hospital. If they are not running a currently-funded research project, they can't do it for free....but they can certainly write some of it off if it's a good teaching case. (Still get that FeLV/FIV test and fecal done first, however....since those are likely to be less expensive at your regular DVM.) Good luck!!!
*paws crossed for you*

Answer 2

You know, the not bleeding of the skin doesn't necaserrely (sp?) have to be a good sign.....it CAN mean the skin is dead.

Have you asked your vet what the opreration is about?? I mean : $4000, sounds like your vet is planning on doing a skingraft on your cat, tho I've never heard such a thing is done on cats.

I've seen a documentary on Discovery a while ago : seems there ARE organisations that might help you out if you haven't got the money to have your pet operated on.
Maybe you should call one of the bigger animal-shelters, or the SPCA, and ask them if they know of such an organization.

Good luck.

Answer 3

Get the poor thing some cat toys. Give her something even more fun to attack; a friend. Your cat is incredibly lonely and has no one to socialize with but you. That would be perfectly ok for an adult cat but is absolutely miserable for a kitten. Get another kitten and get a scratching post and some string so they can play and attack and bite and scratch and generally be cats without driving you nuts. The post will give them something to exert their strength upon and the string will let them play with you without harming you. But the best thing would be each other because that would open up all kinds of fun that you as a human can't provide.

Answer 4

I'm sry about your kitten but I can't do anything to help because I don't have any money. I'm sure her skin probably will grow. If the vets for sure that it will survive if she gets the operation done then I would try to raise money with fundraisers or something. If there is over a 75% chance it still might die after the operation then it might be smart to put it to sleep if its really bad. another thing you might do is talk to the vet about getting the operation done and as you get more money pay the fee off.

Sry I can't help. Good luck raising $4000,000!

Answer 5

I would think that the antibiotics would kill any infection and that her skin would grow back and heal. If she is acting normal and eating it seems that she is feeling well and not fighting off any infection. Sometimes skin will peel off if it is dead which means that new skin is growing. I would def. get a second opinion on this and I am pretty sure you will hear a better diagnosis.

If it turns out the first vet is right then you could ask the humane society if they would be willing to take her.

Answer 6

I would go with Cornell even with the long trip. You might try IMOM.org to see if they would give financial assistance. That's In Memory of Magic and is a foundation set up to assist people with cat emergencies when the funds are not available for treatment.

If you apply I have no idea how long it might be before you get a response and it is certainly worth a try.

Answer 7

Why don't you take her to another vet for another opinion.

What kind of "specialist" did you see?????????

I would see Cornell first. I go there a lot and cannot imagine that costing $4000. Really. It does not cost that much for a visit there either. It would be worth the trip.

Answer 8

See if there is a freee animal clinic in your area. If not, call the ASPCA, and find out if maybe they can do the operationa nd work out a way for u 2 pay gradually

Answer 9

that is a crazy amount of money. i would see if there are any organizations or anything in the area that will help financially with this sort of thing. as horrible as it sounds and as much as i dearly love my cats... i would never spend $4,000 on them-- especially for a surgery that risky. especially as a kitten.

I'm sorry this happened to you. that is super sad and horrible to deal with.

Answer 10

its a good thing you took her to the vet cat bites are dangeous to other cats are far as will she be alright it sounds like she will be fine i would give her fish liver oil it help humans with skin and isn't toxic to cats that might help and its only $2 at walmart try that for a days if no improvement got see another vet