5 month old kitten keeps getting sores on head

trishawisha

Hi all
My five month old kitten keeps getting these nasty sores on different parts of her head. It started out about 2 months ago. I had to leave her at my sisters as we went away for the weekend, and she said she'd look after her. My sister has 2 cats, who disliked my kitten, obviously enough cos she was intruding on their territory. My sis realised this and kept them seperated for the whole time. My kitten has been wormed and has had her shots and gets stronghold every month. My sisters cats wouldnt have had the more expensive vaccine, dont get stronghold(but do have flea collars) and she has been a bit laxy daisy with the worming. They are outside cats for the most part, whereas mine is an inside.

Anyway the reason Iv gone into this detail is because a couple of days after we got her back she developed this sore on her neck, it quickley became infected and swollen,then her hair came out and I took her to the vet who treated the wound and said she probably got into a scrap with one of the other cats or something, thats all.

About 2 weeks after that she got 2 more sores around her ears, brought her back to the vets and the vet said even though shes been recieving stronghold, she probably got ear mites while in the womb and to give her ear drops and hopefully that'll be that. He also gave her a steroid shot and antibiotic.

3 Weeks later same problem only this time it was over one of her eyes, didnt notice it until her eyelid became completly swollen and she could only half open it. Brought her vack to the vets, they gave her antibiotics and Prednisolone tablets. That was monday.

The vet also said that because she is too small yet to get spayed Id have to keep her inside all the time as and I quote " Shes musch too small to be pregnant, so we'd have to do a caesarium on her and that would be terrible"....Fricking torture, cant be done, she loves hunting daddy long legs and such in the garden(totally enclosed by the way)

Just noticed that shes after deveolping another of these sores above her eyelid one and another on her ear, they're quite small at the moment but are definalety there.

Just dont know what is wrong with her.
Anyone have similar problems/solutions?
Thanks

ps Its not ringworm vet checked

Sigma Force

Cats are never too small to get preg. she could get preg. at any time at her age.

When you do get her spayed it would have to be when she's well and healthy and after the current problem is solved. Cats can live indoors at all times many prefer to be outside but for their own saftey indoors is best. There's lots of things you can get to keep a cat amused in the house.

Not sure what you can do about the sores sounds like perhaps some sort of allergy or immunity problem. Perhaps the vet can do some blood tests or mabey try a different vet. Sounds like this vet isn't getting to the route of the problem.

trishawisha

Thanks for your reply Guineapigrescue.
I know they can get pregnant at any time, the vet said shes way too small at the moment to get spayed, through the various infections she had she didnt put on alot of weight that youd expect for her age.

Shes like a little puppy, we throw a ball in the garden and goes to fetch it, very cute. We also have a cat tree and numerous toys around the house.

shes also too small to have blood taken from her, I kindof demanded the last time they carry out tests and find out what the real problem is, the vet then told me she needs to be over a certain weight.

I have seen 3 vets at the same surgery,depending what day of the week a different vet is on call this is probably why the problem isnt been resolved. I have spent a fortune now on her and would just like to know is there anything I can do.

star-pants

Has she been in any more contact with other cats since her first time?

trishawisha

Ya I have another cat, whos also been wormed, vaccined and strongholded once a month

star-pants

Has your other cat been at the kitten? fighting/playing?
just that sometimes if your other cat nicked the kitten it could be causing these sores?

trishawisha

They do play fight.She actually usually overcomes the other cat. Its not the cat though. The vet even said it. |It actually looks like shes being bitten by something small, and then it swells and gets infected.
Like I said, its not any wormed, fleas or mites....?

star-pants

Hmm that's so strange then, if it's not the cat, and your vets cleared her of mites n things. Would keeping her indoors for a while maybe help? incase it's something outside?

trishawisha

I wonder what exactly could be attacking her though? We live in a housing estate houses on either side, garden totally enclosed.....my head is so wrecked
Thank you for your replies and advice xxx

star-pants

I really wish I could help more, but I've no idea if the vets ruled out other cats/mites/worms etc. I assume your vet doesn't have any other ideas?
Could ants do that? I don't think they could but.. it's possible I guess. My pup was out licking ants the other day, came in covered!

hadook

There's a new Cats Hospital opened up in Cork recently OP (the vet who runs it used to work with Tom Farrington so they offer both conventional and homeopathic treatment). Might be worth bringing your cat to them to see if they can shed any light on it?

There are vets who'll happily spay a 12 week old kitten, apparently it's more difficult because everything is so small and that's why most vets insist that you wait til the cat is at least 6 months. If she's that small then the vet is right about the c-section though so do keep her in until she'll done.

Hope you get to the bottom of it

trishawisha

Thanks for all the replies star-pants. I have never seen an ant in our garden, anythings possible I guess. The other cat is thriving, no sign of any mystery sores on her.

Thanks Hadook for the advice. I work in Glanmire, so am aware of the cat hospital, But am living in Carrigaline, and this vet is convenient for all the mini emergancies Iv been having with the kitten(sookie by the way). If it happens again, I will definatley consider going to them.
Shes the most beautiful kitten besides this.

ghost_ie

I know this sounds daft, but could your kitten be allergic to something? My eldest dog has suffered a lot from eczema this year - a thing she's never had before - and the vet has put it down to her suddenly becoming allergic to something which has never bothered her before. Whatever it is, it hasn't affected the other two dogs, and it seems to have cleared up since the weather has become less humid.

Something you might like to try on the sores is manuka honey. I didn't like putting so much steroid cream on Scamp's eczema and tried putting manuka honey on the patches instead. It seemed to have a good effect - it certainly stopped her scratching and the bald patches cleared up well. It can't do any harm to your kitten, and may do some good.

trishawisha

Woah eczema is not something iv thought of to be honest. I will definatley try the honey, did u find out what was causing the allergy?

ghost_ie

trishawisha wrote: »

Woah eczema is not something iv thought of to be honest. I will definatley try the honey, did u find out what was causing the allergy?

never found out what was causing it. It's just something she's suddenly become allergic to. As the sores are on your kitten's head be prepared for her to start washing it off with her paw when you apply it. Scamp developed quite a taste for honey and would go to any length to lick it off with such a happy expression on her face .

To be honest, I'm not sure if it's putting the honey on the sores, the honey being licked off and ingested or just that animal's own saliva being applied to the wound that does the trick but it certainly seems to work.

Do let us know how your kitten gets on. Hope the honey works as well for you as it did for me

Chiaki

post a pic? might be more helpful sounds like an allergy to a bite. similar to flea allergy in dogs

dee o gee

Any chance it could be ticks? Our cat is an indoor cat so she doesn't get them but the dog has gotten a few before and if they aren't removed asap it swells up all around them. I don't use stronghold so I don't know whether it protects against ticks or not.
Im just throwing suggestions out here i could be completely off the mark but could she be allergic to something like the wormer or the stronghold? Or maybe a food allergy, could you try her on a completely different food for 2-3 weeks, it has to be a very plain food like chicken and rice, or if you can get the applaws tins of cat food they come ready prepared with JUST chicken breast and rice, no additives or any of the crap that can cause allergies.

trishawisha

http://www.flickr.com/photos/33262833@N05/

I hope that works, pictures arent great
The vet has checked for all the obvious....fleas, worms, ticks
Maybe it is an allergy to the stronghold, but the vet said it was unlikely as the affected areas are far away from where the spot on treatment was applied. So am going to try the honey today. Thanks a million for all the replies and advice! xxx

GigaByte

I just did a quick search and found this, it may be helpfull. Lovely kitten by the way.

Question
My cat keeps getting dry scabs on his skin. The latest outbreak is on the neck/head/shoulder area. A few months ago he had an outbreak of these scabs on his lower back near his tail. There is hair loss at the site of the sores, they are dry scabs, some are large and others tiny. Sometimes the small ones are close together. In addition to his head area, I just found a large one on his right side. They disappear on their own, then I think the problem has ended, and all of a sudden, he has another break-out. A few of my other cats developed sores, but they went away. This one cat definitely has a problem. I used an ultraviolet light, but didn't see any ringworm spores. My cats do not go outside. What could this be?

Answer
You are describing a condition called "miliary dermatitis." This is often a sign of allergy. Your cat may be allergic to something in the house like housedust mites or it could be allergic to something in the food. Some cats with ear mites also have a skin reaction to these insects in the ears. Ask your vet if your cat can have a shot of DepoMedrol to get the itching stopped.

trishawisha

Oh how I wish this has been sorted!!
Sookie was getting a 0.5Ml shot of depomedrone once a month whenever her sores reappeared until february. After februarys shot, she didnt need another until the start of may, from may she got another on the 24th of July. The sores have come back this week.
Our Vet has been fantastic, but because he didnt know the root of the problem, just treating the symptoms, hes been waiving his consultation fees for months. I got the feeling the last few times we were there, because we werent paying for a consultation we were rushing in and out and the fact that he recommended trying her on a different type of steroid when the next bout occurs that'll cost around €100 + a month, I decided to go somewhere else.
So we're just back from the new vets and sookie stayed behind as shes under going a biopsy this afternoon. The new vet has outlined an agressive plan for the problem and it feels like we may come to a solution after all this time.
It looks like it will probably cost a bomb but if it helps it'll definatly be worth it.
Our old vet was fantastic for all that time, only charging for the medicine, but the new vet was shocked at the amountof steroids our cat had been givin (she said the recommended amount is 0.5ML every six months) and that had it continued the cat could've suddenly dropped dead down the line. She also commented on sookies size and weight, saying she was very small for her size. I cant remember the last time she had been weighed in the other vets.
Thanks for the best wishes last year
Anyway fingers crossed the biopsy goes as planned