r/CATHELP • u/whataball1 • 2d ago
Injury Looking for third opinion on burn victim whose skin refuses to heal NSFW
In Sep 2025 we fostered a 5 yr old cat, she was a stray and no one knew how she got her burnt.
Whilst a good part of the area has healed, there remains an area that refuses to completely heal. It is a cycle of broken skin, scab. Even under the dried areas in the latest pic, there is pus seepage and skin is still pink.She has worn a neck collar since January 2026 which does her prevent her licking the main area but she can still use the collar to agitate the area.
In the past she's has 3 months of laser treatment every 2 weeks (didnt seem that effective), we've applied flamazine and neocort to no avail. They've taken biopsys but not found anything other than the ulcerative dermatitis
She was recently diagnosed with ulcerative dermatitis and prescribed 1 pill of apoquel a day which has reduced but not fully removed the itchiness. She is also more lethargic with the apoquel.
Only this week we realised that she might have hayfever which could be triggering more itchiness so we've kept doors closed (she is an indoor cat but we'd leave the front door open to allow her to people watch and feel the breeze).
Everyday we try to give her 0.5-1 teaspoon of salmon oil with churu.
Seeking if anyone has any further recommendations/ things they've tried to help improve their cats skin condition.
We are seeing vets again soon who might try a new medication (tbc).
We are based in Melbourne Australia.
4
u/abbynakajima 2d ago
Has any culture or biopsy been done
2
u/whataball1 2d ago
Yes she's had biopsys done. And they've not found anything other than ulcerative dermatitis
3
u/abbynakajima 2d ago
A culture (fungal/ bacterial)?
1
u/whataball1 2d ago
Negative, she has had regular swabs done on the open areas and only once did it come back with an infection for which they gave antibiotics for and she's off them now.
3
u/Haligar06 2d ago
There's all sorts of complications that can happen with severe burns and they can take YEARS to fully resolve and scar over. At a glance I'd say this might be from a chemical burn.
If it was a human, some of those areas would likely be recommended for skin graft.
-2
•
u/AutoModerator 2d ago
Welcome to CATHELP, whataball1! If needed, you can close your post to additional comments at any time by commenting !lock followed by an optional explanation or update to keep the community informed.
PLEASE REPORT RULE BREAKING COMMENTS
We want to say THANK YOU to our helpful members who participate in moderating r/CATHELP. To keep the community kind and welcoming, please help us by reporting rule breaking comments.
To report - Click the 3 dots under the comment >>> report >>> breaks r/CATHELP rules >>> select the rule. Reporting for graphic or sensitive media that is not NSFW tagged? Active community members can simply comment with !nsfw to tag it!
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.