Poor cat, and what a stressful situation for you all.

I think firstly I would try mixing the liquid Antibiotic with some very mushy food like maybe a Lick-e-lix treat stick as they are liquid too, then syringe it into his mouth. This should make it much less bitter and stop the foaming.

If the infection is not under control, this may be why he is acting off colour. I would ask the vet for the Convenia jab which is a long acting Antibiotic, saving you from having to administer further doses. My cats have had it several times and no side effects.

He may just be extremely stressed, in which case the vets should be able to give him some Recovery food or maybe a few days on a fluid drip. I think find the mushiest food you can and try to syringe some into the side of his mouth.

 

@Deusxm

I agree it is worrying if he is subdued, listless and not eating well. My concern is that he may be dehydrated. A cat needs to drink a lot of water to compensate for not eating his wet food. Dehydration can make a cat feel very ill and can be dangerous if not addressed. It sounds as though he may need to go into the vet for 24 hours on IV fluids.

As Treaclesmum says maybe the infection is not under control. If you are not able to get him to take the antibiotic then it quite probably is what is causing the underlying problem affecting his appetite and demeanour. Has the vet taken swabs of the wound for the lab to see what bacteria are involved? I would be concerned about the infection spreading further.

I would ask the vet for an alternative suitable antibiotic. If you are able to pill him directly down the throat with a tablet, that would be better, as he is not eating much, and now associates the Easypill putty with nasty tasting things.

With large tablets I break them into pieces and put them in empty gel capsules which being lozenge shaped are easier to pill the cat with IME. (Empty gel capsules can be bought on ebay in packs. Size 3 or size 4 are the best sizes for cats (sizes 1 and 2 are too large)

In view of the fact you can see him deteriorating rapidly I would get him seen by the vet today, as an emergency tbh. The vet should check to see if he is dehydrated and also give him another antibiotic. The vet may also decide to admit him - which by the sounds of things I think he/she really probably should. I do think injured or unwell cats can get to a point where they are on the verge of giving up on life (especially if they have stopped eating) and that is why I think it is urgent to seek vet help today.

Please let us know how he goes.

 

@Deusxm - I just realised this may be your beautiful Egyptian Mau-type cat who has been injured and is unwell. Poor boy

He is only a young cat as I recall (under 2 yrs old)?

I really don't think a vet should be saying they can find nothing wrong, and sending him home. There evidently is something seriously wrong. Perhaps you could ask for your boy to be admitted for "observation" for 24 hours, if nothing else.

 

Thanks all for your replies! Yes, @chillminx, it's our Mau, he's now just over 2 years old.

As an update, we had him seen again and there was nothing physically wrong with him apart from his injuries. However, we decided to move his cage into a different room and it was like flicking a switch - he went very much back to his old self again, so I think he was primarily suffering from boredom and depression.

Unfortunately we are now a little bit back to where we were again - he keeps picking at his bandage and in a real overnight horror, managed to tear the whole thing off. We didn't know until we came down in the morning where of course he was licking away at his wound, and we also for the first time saw just how bad it is - a fully uncovered tendon that you can see expanding and contracting when he moves :Jawdrop

We're still having him rebandaged and back on antibiotics but they don't seem to be working, which means we need another swab and the vet sounded like she wasn't really sure what other antibiotic choices they have left, given he's on a very advanced one. He also now has the cone of shame, which as you can imagine is making him incredibly depressed...and we've had so many traumas putting it on him that we can't even go in the cage now without him trying to go straight for your face.

He's also proving incapable of using his litter tray without getting a good wedge of his stool stuck on the end, and if he goes in the night, it means we will usually find it smeared around his waterbowl and god knows where else.

Does anyone have any experience with using baby socks and medical adhesive tape to prevent picking? The cone is proving quite unviable but given the problems he's having with picking and subsquent infections, we're getting quite stuck.

 

@Deusxm - I'm glad that he was less depressed after you moved his cage to a different room. But sorry to hear there are problems with the bandage.

If he has an infection the bandage should be changed 1 to 2 times a day until the infection is under control. I have noticed that sometimes vets bandage an injured limb very tightly which is very uncomfortable for the cat. Check that his leg below the bandaged area is not swollen and his paw is neither hot or cold.

Antibiotics can be given by IV as an inpatient, if necessary, and can be more effective that way.

Being so stressed will increase his cortisol levels considerably and will delay healing. I would be giving him a calming supplement in his food e.g. Zylkene or Yucalm. Check with the vet they are OK with you giving him either of those seeing as he is under their care at present. They may prefer some other type of relaxing, calming supplement.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vetoquinol-Zylkene-Capsules-Small-20-Count/dp/B00K06MAK2/ref=sr_1_5?crid=1EKVATE5OHBJA&dchild=1&keywords=zylkene+75mg+for+cats&qid=1596802227&sprefix=zylkene+,aps,140&sr=8-5

(open the capsule and add the powder to his food)

OR

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lintbells-...ndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

It will take up to a week to see benefit.

Are you finding ways to keep him entertained in his cage? e.g. Youtube videos for cats - set up your phone, tablet or laptop on the floor of his cage.

With his litter tray he will be finding it hard to support himself while he squats to poo. He may also be finding it awkward to get in and out of his tray. I suggest giving him a plastic tray with a small lip at the edge. They are sold as catering trays e.g.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kristallon-Foodservice-350X450mm-Serving-Platter/dp/B009A5VVOU/ref=pd_bxgy_img_3/262-0274119-3113378?
_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B009A5VVOU&pd_rd_r=1bfaa711-09dc-4913-91bc-55179733d8fb&pd_rd_w=WPP1p&pd_rd_wg=yt526&pf_rd_p=7f32cdc8-94b7-4754-b23c-fbe7502e5648&pf_rd_r=TP4QA71VH1F4BKTTKCEN&psc=1&refRID=TP4QA71VH1F4BKTTKCEN

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Grunwerg-P...ndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfbXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

It's best to have several trays ready prepared so you can quickly swap over a soiled tray. Put a thin layer of fine granular litter to cover the bottom of the tray. Or do away with litter and use puppy training pads cut to fit. Whatever he seems more comfortable with.

Ensure he is not getting constipated. Wiping lumps of his faeces around his cage suggests he is not evacuating properly, and is scraping his bottom on surfaces to get stuck pieces of stool out of his anus. If he is on opioid based painkillers they tend to be very constipating. Or he may be constipated because of lack of being able to move around as he was used to doing. If you suspect he is constipated give him 1 ml of Lactulose daily, mixed in his wet food. (too much could cause a loose stool)..

If his litter tray is very close to his food and water bowl he may need a larger cage.

By all means try the baby socks with the medical adhesive tape that sticks to itself and see if that helps.

 

@Deusxm with regards to the buster collar, consider swapping it for either a soft collar, or a blow-up ring collar. Cats manage with these much better and they are more comfortable to wear.

 

Thanks guys. His bandaging is rather significant and certainly not possible to change twice a day - it's the entirety of one of his back legs and his temperament means we are currently taking him to the vet twice a week where they have to sedate him first before they change his dressings. In terms of size he is closer to an F3 Savannah than a domestic cat and although he's generally very good with me and my wife, he can be highly aggressive to strangers who upset him and he can do some significant damage.

We've got Feliway on the go constantly to keep him calm - he just gets very bored so we play with him as much as we can through the bars and given the nature of his injuries. I'm a bit too scared to try videos on an iPad. We can't even watch nature documentaries on the TV when he's in the room, as he reacts quite impressively!

We've got a double cage system so his litter tray can be kept away from his food. The problem is his standard post-poo routine is to stick his face right in it for a sniff. He's a big cat, so, you can guess what that means for his 'deposits' and when he's got his buster collar on, it's a disaster. :Facepalm I'd love to try the catering trays but he's an energetic digger....

 

As he is a big cat, could he fit in to one of these? https://medicalpetshirts.com/products/mps-hind-leg-sleeves-dog/

Or maybe one of these may help https://www.vetuk.co.uk/dog-accesso...essories-dog-collars-c-628_809/buster-inflatable-elizabethan-collar-blue-p-7902

We use the soft comes, Baby would play in the garden with hers and would get it muddy. I would swap it for the spare and hand wash it.