Got a fix for the follicularly-challenged kitten?

[booger]

(I know a cat isn't exactly a homestead animal but couldn't figure out in which forum to ask this.)

We took in some orphaned kittens a few weeks ago. They were probably about 2 weeks old at the time. One of the kittens climbed on top of another one and part of his scalp came off. Ow. No yanking or pulling, it just slid off rather easily. It was most of the top of his head at the time but he's grown into it now so it appears smaller. He also ended up losing fur and the underlying skin in few other spots but they're fairly small compared to this one. I've just been keeping an eye on it , hoping it would somehow heal. The area surrounding the complete scalping has lost the hair but the skin has healed. The actual scalping area, though, ick. It'll stay raw for a while, then scab over for a while. Then, one day, we find a hunk of what looks to be a very poorly-made toupe laying on the floor--that would be the freshly-shed scab with a few surrounding hairs.

Is there anything we can do to help this heal once and for all? I doubt he'll ever get hair back since the skin is completely gone but it would be nice if it wasn't a big, open, juicy scalp most of the time.

Here are a couple of pics:

 

[Brooks]

Kewl! Your very own Borg kitty!

I'm guessing that essential fatty acids would help to at least form proper skin but I don't know exactly how that would work for a kitten. Possible it will always be bald there.

 

[Melodi]

Abandoned or malnourished kittens, often have hair that falls out. I'm not sure about all the medical reasons, but it tends to improve when their care and nutrition does. But they may loose a lot of hair (and sometimes skin) in the meantime. This little guy looks like he may have had an infected abscess as well (more often seen in older cats that have been in a fight). If he had a scratch or injury that got infected, it could swell up into an abscess (like a boil) and then burst. When it burst open the infection will come pouring out, along with the dead skin on top. If there was a lot of muck and puss when the skin came off, this is probably what happened. Either way, to home treat that sort of wound, I would clean the wound as much as you can (with something that safe for human babies) and then put antibiotic ointment on the wound. Kitty will not be able to lick it off on his head, but his sibling can. So, you may want to try a very light "kitty bandage" or separate him from his sibling for a day or two. But being alone and frightened can cause a kitten to go downhill very fast. So I would try to keep them together as much as possible. Even if it were for supervised visits a few times a day.

If the injury refuses to heal, becomes warm to the touch, or seems to get worse. A trip to the vet would be the best idea. They have shots that can hault an infection in its tracks. If a vet is absolutely out of the question, you can try giving micro-doses of human anti-biotics mixed in with kitten formula. But unless you have a friend who is a vet tech, or other experience, to help with the dosages, you can kill the kitten as easily as you can cure them. Older cats can deal with this sort of experimentation a lot better than tiny kittens. Still, I've had a number of home doctored babies pull through. One was so wasted that all his hair had fallen out and his tummy swelled up like a starving child on TV. A diet of mashed potatoes and kitten milk got him going. His hair took a year to grow back and he stayed a "mini-kitty" until he was nearly two. Then grew into a full sized cat.

I think you are right, your baby is unlikely to get his skin back, but if you can keep him from getting a systemic infection (or get a vet to treat it quickly if he does). You are likely to have "Scar Face" (or some equally fun nickname) around for a long time.

Please keep us posted!

Melodi...

 

[booger]

Kewl! Your very own Borg kitty!

Thanks for the ideas! There was no injury, infection, or anything out of the ordinary before it happened. It happened the same day we found them, after I had already given them a very thorough look-over. Very strange, I thought. Maybe something to do with beind dehydrated or malnourished? It wasn't just the hair but the whole scalp, skin included, all in one chunk. *shudder*

There have been no infections and it doesn't even seem to bother him. It's just kind of gross to look at, especially when it's juicy. Blech. It's been a few weeks since we found them and it happened. I had hoped the exposed flesh would have some sort of permanent covering by now. I was thinking of maybe taking a razor or a lemon zester and doing a little kitty skin graft experimentation. Just kidding!

If nothing else, he'll make a great Halloween cat. He's black and the wound looks a lot like his brain is showing. Boo!

 

[yellowsprings]

My cats get bit occasionally and then it gets infected and look the same as your kitty. The vet said to put neosporin on the raw areas. This is safe for cats, and I would assume kittens also.

I had five four week old babies when mommy was killed by a wandering dog! Soon they will think you are mommy/daddy and become very attached to you. Enjoy!

My cats are homestead animals! They mouse and keep the birds and rabbits out of my garden! I would have a rodent problem if it were not for the kitties!

 

[night driver]

grab a black light and shine it on the lession.


If it glows GREEN, grab your wallet (and it better be full) head on out to the vet's and he'll prolly give you a compounding scrip for griseofulvin....

think ringworm....

 

[Willow]

Hmmmm....it looks like it started as an abcess. Abcesses are infections that fester under the skin which usually start with a small wound. The wound quickly heals over and traps bacteria under the skin. It quickly turns into a pus filled cavity that bursts open. The problem is the opening heals over and the abcess reforms. The key to healing abcesses is forcing them to heal from the inside out. This means keeping it scab free and clean.

When I have a cat with an abcess I clean with hydrogen peroxide, dry and then treat with a cow mastitis treatment that can be purchased at the feed store. When a cat has an abcess on the top of the head it is almost impossible for it to drain properly so it's critical to keep it clean and medicated. Also, it is important to make sure your meds don't run into the kitten's eyes.

Sometimes kittens will get grubbs. The grubs are deposited on the animal by the adult fly and the larvae migrate through the body to just under the skin. There they form a cavity and develop. During their devolpment they puncture an 'air hole' in the skin which eventually becomes their escape route. This grub home often becomes a nasty infection and should be treated in the same manner that an abcess is treated.

My concern about this leision is it's inability to heal on it's own. The fact that it keeps sluffing off indicates there is something preventing healing in the wound. Infection is the first thought...as I described above...but next would be a foreign body of some sort. If you can't get good healing to take place within just a couple days I would highly recommend taking to a veterinarian.

As for whether this kitty will ever have hair on the top of his head.....yep. Once healing starts this wound will heal up so you won't even know there was anything there. I had a kitten last year that had a grub in his neck. The resulting wound and infection involved almost the entire left side of his neck. At this time there isn't even a bald spot to show where the wound was.

Good luck with the kitty.

Willow

 

[Albuburbia]

Have you tried pouring some colloidal silver on it?

 

[notimetospare]

I agree with Albuburbia, I'd wash it up good with colliodial silver, flush it with it and then I'd put neosporin on it. I would also give the kitty CS in it's food until it gets better. Just a small amount, maybe Albuburbia could recommend an amount, I'm thinking maybe a teaspoonful, that way it would have the CS internally to work on the infection from the inside. It will probably take a while, but if you keep at it, it should get better. I have given my animals CS in their daily water also for medicinal purposes and it has always helped. You can hardly go wrong using CS!!

Vickie