Vest got his second skin scraping today.....
Vest got his second skin scraping today.....
the last one was negative and the vet wanted to wait 10 days and do it again. If this comes up negative we will have to a different kind of test. Traci, which one do you think we should do next? The one where they pluck the hair out and grow the skin in a dish or the CBC? This is the bad part, the CBC will stress him out more because he is very hard to draw blood from. Last time I believe she finally had to take it from his neck when he was under for his dental. But... this is cheaper as they can do the CBC here in this country. The hair plucking is less stressfull but very expensive as it has to be sent to the states. Which do you think we should do next? I am totally willing to do all of them, or whatever it takes. Also, he started out with 4 spots and now only had two. The cream helped and now I can bathe him with the pet shampoo with iodine in it, the medicated one I bought from the vet. That may or may not help but she said to wait until after the skin scrapings. I might try and bathe him this weekend. He is still on the cream but I may have to stop soon, not sure how long the cream can be used. It's an anti everything cream. Thanks! Sara
Sara and her 6 kitties. Clover , Saharan, Mona, Negrito, Nando and Silvestre (Vest/The Vest).
Next step is a culture, this is fairly simple, vet simply gets a small sample of fur and follicles, places in a petri or vaccutainer with agar, and monitors it for growth for up to 7-10 days. Don't do any bathing at all until after next test result is acheived, I'm not sure why she suggested bathing with an iodine-based application, I would think this too harsh on kitty's skin.
..........Traci
Shampoo...
Its a shampoo for dogs and cats which is Iodopovidona pura 5gr. and shampoo base 100 ml. I am not sure either, it says for micosis superficiales, dermatomicosis, infecciones bacterianas superficiales, poidermias, impetigo.
I guess since he is having skin problems she thought this might be theraputic? I hope it's not too strong. Does it sound gentle enough? In the past baths have helped him so I wanted to give it a try.
I will wait and bathe him after he gets the folicle skin test if this test comes up negative.
The reason the test has to be sent to the states is they are having problems importing the material that the folicle grows in. So they grow it in the states. Wish us luck and please let me know what you think about this shampoo.
I guess since he is having skin problems she thought this might be theraputic? I hope it's not too strong. Does it sound gentle enough? In the past baths have helped him so I wanted to give it a try.
I will wait and bathe him after he gets the folicle skin test if this test comes up negative.
The reason the test has to be sent to the states is they are having problems importing the material that the folicle grows in. So they grow it in the states. Wish us luck and please let me know what you think about this shampoo.
Sara and her 6 kitties. Clover , Saharan, Mona, Negrito, Nando and Silvestre (Vest/The Vest).
Wow, your vet really doesn't have a growing medium (agar) to use for cultures?
As for the shampoo, it appears the iodine base is minimal, if your vet has used it in confidence in other skin conditions, and has instructed you to use it, I'd only use it once, if that. I'd simply prefer another test result first. Some pets, like people, may have a slight reaction to iodine. Be sure to double check the bottle and make sure if it requires dilution with water.
Until the next test, I wonder if you might ask your vet if continuing the cream may be more sufficient at this point.
As for the shampoo, it appears the iodine base is minimal, if your vet has used it in confidence in other skin conditions, and has instructed you to use it, I'd only use it once, if that. I'd simply prefer another test result first. Some pets, like people, may have a slight reaction to iodine. Be sure to double check the bottle and make sure if it requires dilution with water.
Until the next test, I wonder if you might ask your vet if continuing the cream may be more sufficient at this point.
..........Traci
Second test came back negative....
looks like we will have to do a skin culture. I don't feel comfortable continuing the cream that I am sure has some cortizones in it. You said there were no allergy tests for cats? The CBC would be the next step if the skin culture comes back negative? I still have not bathed him. It's not horrible, but I see him licking it time to time and it looks sort of like a tiny bald patch with a couple of red spots on it. There are tiny hairs growing inside the patch. Heck, maybe I will just take the folicle samples to the states when I go next month. Either that or mail them. Can you belive we can't import the stuff to grow the culture in? Sara
Sara and her 6 kitties. Clover , Saharan, Mona, Negrito, Nando and Silvestre (Vest/The Vest).
Sara,
I do find it incredibly odd that your vet can't get the medium in your area. Is there possibly other vets in your area who can? Do all your vets have to send off for mediums?
Ideally, the culture would be the best route, but I don't know if you can wait a month on this.
On the other hand, if your vet in the least suspects an immune-mediated problem (unlikely), she could start with a CBC but I don't know if it would reveal what you're looking for. For immune-mediated problems, one should always consider a serology (i.e., hemobart, toxo, fungals, etc) which would be more expensive than the CBC. Double-check with your vet about her thoughts on immune-mediated possibilities, and if she doesn't suspect those, then talk to her about waiting until you can do the culture, providing of course that Vest is not having problems, not developing any other conditions or signs or symptoms.
Does this help? I'm so sorry you're going through this frustrating period, Sara, try asking your vet what she would proceed with if Vest were her kitty, you might get a direct response then! You might also ask another vet in your area if you can simply for another opinion on test options.
I do find it incredibly odd that your vet can't get the medium in your area. Is there possibly other vets in your area who can? Do all your vets have to send off for mediums?
Ideally, the culture would be the best route, but I don't know if you can wait a month on this.
On the other hand, if your vet in the least suspects an immune-mediated problem (unlikely), she could start with a CBC but I don't know if it would reveal what you're looking for. For immune-mediated problems, one should always consider a serology (i.e., hemobart, toxo, fungals, etc) which would be more expensive than the CBC. Double-check with your vet about her thoughts on immune-mediated possibilities, and if she doesn't suspect those, then talk to her about waiting until you can do the culture, providing of course that Vest is not having problems, not developing any other conditions or signs or symptoms.
Does this help? I'm so sorry you're going through this frustrating period, Sara, try asking your vet what she would proceed with if Vest were her kitty, you might get a direct response then! You might also ask another vet in your area if you can simply for another opinion on test options.
..........Traci
Vest scheduled for skin culture next Tuesday.....
she said she would pluck hairs from the lesions but I will ask her to pluck some from the neck like you suggested Traci. Thanks. She said a week or two for the culture to grow and see if he has any type of skin fungus.
No bathing, no cream until this is done. I wonder if some tiny cat multi vitamins Vest took and loved once might be a good idea now to raise his denfeses?
Sara
She said a week or two for the culture to grow and see if he has any type of skin fungus.No bathing, no cream until this is done. I wonder if some tiny cat multi vitamins Vest took and loved once might be a good idea now to raise his denfeses?
Sara
Silvestre got his hair folicle test today......
the vet plucked hairs from the two sores, neck area and I had her take one from the temporal region as well because he had a tiny sore there a while back. Now I have to wait for the cultures to grow. I was mislead, they can grow them here now I guess. 
She also scraped some more skin from the lesions. They are not horrible lesions but lesions none the less. No scabs or weaping, crusting, just a little raw from scratching. She brought tiny glass slides here to my house, put the samples on that, sealed them up and took them back to the office. He growled the whole time. 
If this comes out negative, CBC time. I want to solve this so bad. She told me to start putting Pervinox on it now which is sort of like a topical betadine solution for OTC use. I just hate that I don't know what this is. She said they would centrifuge the blood? Is that part of the typical CBC process? Sara
She also scraped some more skin from the lesions. They are not horrible lesions but lesions none the less. No scabs or weaping, crusting, just a little raw from scratching. She brought tiny glass slides here to my house, put the samples on that, sealed them up and took them back to the office. He growled the whole time. If this comes out negative, CBC time. I want to solve this so bad. She told me to start putting Pervinox on it now which is sort of like a topical betadine solution for OTC use. I just hate that I don't know what this is. She said they would centrifuge the blood? Is that part of the typical CBC process? Sara
Sara and her 6 kitties. Clover , Saharan, Mona, Negrito, Nando and Silvestre (Vest/The Vest).
Well if she's going to do a CBC, she wouldn't centrifuge, centrifuging is used to seperate blood, blood serum is drawn off the top, usually used for chemical analysis (organ function tests and enzymes). Centrifuging is also done for platelets and packed cell volume (PCV) or pre-surgical screens.
The CBC uses non-clotted whole blood, (hence, 'complete blood count').
The CBC uses non-clotted whole blood, (hence, 'complete blood count').
..........Traci