Tiger has sporotrichosis

This afternoon, my daughter, Ming-Yi noticed a few wounds on Tiger's left front paw. It looked quite mild and I hadn't noticed it before this, but I wasted no time in taking him to the vet's.

The vet too thought it looked like "lick wounds" but they are definitely not bite wounds, though.  It looked like something erupting from inside and Tiger had licked it. But of course, the vet did not rule out sporotrichosis though he doubt it would be as it didn't look anything like sporo at all.

The vet initially thought I could bring Tiger back in one week's time to check again but we thought it better to do a smear impression under the microscope, just to rule out sporo.  The vet did say that sometimes during the early stage of sporo, we might not be able to see any spores, and yet it could still be sporotrichosis (that would be a false negative).

Anyway, we proceeded with the smear impression.

The spores were clearly visible. It is sporotrichosis.

Another vet was called in to look at the slide to confirm the diagnosis.

I was shocked. How did Tiger contract sporo when he is totally indoors?

Well, apparently, sporo is found in soil. Normal cats might be able to fight off the infection easily but immune-compromised cats may contract the disease. So, we do have a grassy area with soil. Tiger must have got the fungus from there.

 According to the vet, this isn't the "classic" sporo wound and that is why he didn't think it would be sporo.

But it is.

According to research and theory, the prognosis for an FIV+ cat with sporotrichosis isn't good. With a compromised immune system, it would be difficult to recover. Tiger is FIV+.

But the vet knows I will not give up on any animal, so we will proceed with treatment.

Moreover, I have a friend whose cat, Morton, healed from sporo. Morton is also FIV+ and his lesions were far worse.

The vets shared that based on their experience with other patients, for immune-compromised cats, the sporo does recur, but we shall cross that bridge when we come to it. Now, we will focus on treating these 4 wounds first. I have not checked thoroughly to see if there are other wounds, so it seems like it's just these four wounds so far.

The vet says the infection is in its very early stage (maybe that is why it doesn't look like sporo wounds yet). The recommended medication is Sporonox. But Sporonox taxes on the liver, so Tiger should also go on a liver supplement like Liv-52 (now, called Biopure). I also have been giving them Petalive's Liver and Immunity Booster so I will continue with that.

I remember Lamisil cream also helps.

From the vet's, we went to the pharmacy to get the required medication.

Plus a box of gloves as sporotrichosis is zoonotic (can spread to humans).

Tiger is 5.75kg, so the dosage is half a capsule of Sporonox. I also gave Tiger the Transfer Factor and Vetri DMG as added immune boosters, especially when he is FIV+.

Tiger would have to be isolated from the rest of the clan too since the spores spread through the air. I would need another 3-tiered condo for Tiger. It was out of stock in Subang, so Connie helped me get one.

I let Tiger stay in the living room while waiting for the cage to arrive. He wanted so badly to go back into the room as he had always felt safe in the room and isn't adventurous like Tabs or Indy.

Finally, the cage arrived and we began setting it up.

Preparing the new condo for Tiger.

Inviting Tiger to have a look at his new condo.

We didn't want to rush him so we let him approach the condo in his own time. The PatioCats were all outside in the porch. Heidi and Vincent wanted to come in but we didn't allow them to until Tiger is isolated.

I finally carried him in and he seemed quite interested in his new condo, though he wasn't exactly happy. He would much prefer to be under the sofa. We will give him time outside, of course. But the isolation is necessary too.

Poor Tabs. She was wondering why Tiger couldn't come back inside and play with her.

We placed the condo at this spot so that Tiger can still see all his friends and won't feel lonely. I will stay with him at the dining area too.

I hope the treatment protocol will bear positive results for Tiger. I am well aware that being FIV+, it will be more challenging, but we will definitely give him our very best.

Your prayers for Tiger will be very much appreciated too.  Thank you!