Wong Wong, a home-nursed sporo survivor (a sharing by Fenton Wong)

Our library of sporo stories: https://animalcare.my/2014/04/29/tiger-day-54/

We’ve been very concerned about the three queries for help and advice regarding their pet-cats who have been infected by sporotrichosis, so we’ve requested for a sharing of “barefoot knowledge” and experience in home-nursing sporo-cats.

Here’s Fenton’s earlier sharing: http://animalcare.my/2012/08/30/treating-and-looking-after-a-sporo-cat-a-sharing-from-fenton-yong/

And we’ve requested for some photos, so here’s a more detailed one with photos below.

Thank you very much, Fenton.

From: Fenton Yong
Date: Tue, Apr 2, 2013 at 1:49 AM
Subject: Sporo Survivor, Wong Wong
To: Chan Kah Yein <chankahyein@gmail.com>

Hi Dr Chan,

As per your request:

Wong Wong is a big cat and he was suspected to have contracted sporo from a vet that he was brought to. Note that we didn’t take close up photo when he first arrived since we were unmotivated to do so. It was in very bad condition.

This photo below shows Wong Wong when he first caught the disease (anyway his owners [uneducated old couple] was not aware about it, I believe after almost three months.

His condition when he was brought to us in Aug 2012:

He was in an extremely serious condition. Sporo wounds were all over his body (tail, hind legs, both sides areas below and behind the ears, testicles which were in very bad shape, minor wounds here and there) but the front right leg/paw was the worst. We took him to two vets which both gave the same opinion, put him to sleep. Judging from the condition, it was impossible for him to recover. The second vet even suggested to have the front leg amputated as so much damage had been done. It was the main problem and cutting it off might help save the cat’s life. I was also informed that his owner spotted blood in his sneeze and which the vet suggested that sporo might have spread into his nasal system.

This photo above shows his worsened condition. Can you see the right front leg/paw? One of the vets we took him to suggested that the leg to be amputated because it was beyond recovery. Weighed at the vet and was told that he was 4.7 kg.

How we went about it:

We fed him Sporonax as prescribed by the vet. Half a capsule per day. On top of that we looked for alternative treatment. First, we encountered a lady who had successfully nursed her cat to recovery with T-Factor. We tried this by feeding him two capsule a day and on top of that we also opened up the capsules and poured the powder all over the wounds. One bottle of T-Factor only lasted for two and a half days.  It did not show any improvement as claimed by the lady – this might due to the different condition of her cat. Next, we dug more information over the internet and found out that a certain formula known as Potassium Iodite (KI) can works miraculously on sporo but unluckily this item is banned for sale in Malaysia.

Next, we encountered another formula known as Terbenafine. A near-death English woman that suffered from Sporo was cured by the combination of these two formula. Since KI has been banned, we looked for Terbenafine and found the original brand, Lamisil. We bought one tube and tested on Wong Wong . The next day, we could observe that the wounds had started to dry up and we thought that this could be what we were looking for. I remembered at one time the pharmacy was running out of stock since we bought so many in the critical periods, which made him to pass us the gel version (the cream has run off). It worked almost the same but we found out that the cream worked better. His condition was getting better day by day and on the third week, we were ready to bring him for another check up. The lady vet was so surprised due to his rapid recovery and he weighed 6.5 kg then. He gained almost 2 kgs in those three weeks of recovery period. The vet prescribed more sporanox since he would be heading home. During the recover process, he was served with AD for every meal plus kibbles. On the fourth week, he was already bored with AD and we had to switch to the normal canned food. Note that he stopped sneezing blood on the second week, after the medication started and the introduction of Lamisil cream to his wounds.

Wong Wong was also fed with Colloidal Silver and mineral tablets since he was licking the cement floor, a sign of mineral deficiency. We also fed him with Great Compassionate Water (obtained from a Buddhist prayer ceremony).

On the fourth week, he was almost cured and it was time to bring him home. His owner was very worried and always thought of Wong Wong and so it was better for him to go back to his owner.

Side notes: When handling sporo cat, pls use disposable rubber gloves (those used by doctors). Wash your hands thoroughly after touching the cat. If it sneezes, quickly go away, it is an airborne disease.

In the process of healing; the dead flesh/skin started to drop off.

In the process of recovering, in between 2-2 1/2 weeks.

 Applying Lamisil cream onto the wounds.

 Resting in the confined bathroom.

The first day reaching home. He seems a bit confused after 1 month MC away from home.

Now 2013

Resting on his favourite clothed coffee table. The damage has been done, fur won’t grow back on that heavily ruined paw, the one which the vet suggested to be amputated.

This is a standard coffee table and Wong Wong hardly fit on it. He weighs more than 10 kgs now. Everyone around the neighbourhood was surprised to see a XXXL cat!

Hope this helps.

Best regards,

Yong