by TerrieLynn Bach
Eleven months ago, Bastrop C.A.T.S. was contacted by a concerned person in our community regarding a badly injured tom cat. It appeared he had been attacked by another animal. Much of the back of his neck was exposed muscle tissue, with a larger-than-palm-sized open wound (graphic pic warning).
We felt so lucky when medical foster queen, Kickie, agreed to take him. Kickie is a highly experienced vet tech. I felt pretty sure she would be his only chance at recovery. She is a master at open wound care in cats and dogs. Daily hydrotherapy, which abrades the wound with water to encourage the growth of new skin combined with medicinal honey and daily bandaging quickly became a way of life for this feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) positive guy.
Wound care in FIV positive kitties is tricky. FIV is an autoimmune disease that cats can get from blood contact with an infected cat– usually from deep wounds among fighting tom cats. Without a fully functioning immune system, recovery from any disease, virus, or bacteria is very challenging for these cats.
Originally named “Church” for that first vet evaluation appointment, Kickie quickly decided that name wouldn’t do. While she was considering what his new name would be, she went ahead and started his daily hydrotherapy (see the bathtub pic of a wet kitty!).
Turns out that “Church” was not only a friendly cat, but a true “character,” demanding his breakfast, loudly, from his recovery crate every morning. He would MEEOOOWWW! and Kickie would answer him from the kitchen. And he would reply, without fail, every time! Thus, “Church” became Hiram Hollerback!
Kickie has a lot of dogs, both her own and fosters. Soon, it was apparent that Hiram has a strong dislike of dogs. Sadly, he was stuck in a crate by his choice, way past the time necessary. But now he has a whole room to himself!
We wonder if the animal that attacked and nearly killed him was a large dog.
Months of daily hydrotherapy with Hiram growing increasingly resistant to daily baths went by, eventually evolving into several times a week. Progress on the wound was slow, then got slower, then seemed to stop.
One of our other volunteers had heard about a technology for wound care in cats and dogs called hyperbaric treatments. There is only one location in central Texas offering this therapy for a “rescue” price, and we decided to give Hiram a week of hyperbaric oxygen therapy a try. Hiram had a total of 15 hyperbaric treatments. He shared the chamber with another animal to reduce the costs.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) works to greatly reduce the levels of inflammation by establishing new blood vessels that allow oxygen-rich blood to reach inflamed damaged tissues. This proactive treatment provides supportive care at the cellular level until conventional veterinary medicine can reach its therapeutic level.
The best part is that, afterwards, Hiram’s wound started to show slow healing progress again!
In June, Hiram was offered the opportunity for a UV light treatment to help the wound further. The vet office that his foster works at was contacted about this therapy and needed a test subject to show and sell their equipment to them. They used Hiram for this and it has shown a marked improvement in just four treatments (two-minute treatments about a week apart).
We are thrilled with the increasing diminishing size of his wound over these most recent months (see the bottom right pic in the collage).
Soon it will be completely healed!
If you are interested in learning more about this hyperbaric oxygen therapy, here is a news piece on the central Texas company All Creatures Hyperbaric Care.
As always, your donations support cats like Hiram in their vet care, cat food, and litter. Thank you for your generosity!
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