Sporothrix schenckii

About a month ago, a cat came around to our house. Well, of course there are many cats who came to our house to eat. But this one particular cat was no stranger to us. He has been coming to our house to eat for quite a while. But 4 weeks ago, he came with his body badly wounded. I thought he got a fight with other male cat/dog. The worst part was his nose. Almost half of it was torn. Small patches all over his body, hands and feet. I did not bother to give him treatment at that time because I thought to myself, it was pretty normal for stray cats to get caught in a fight and sooner or later the wound will heal by itself. But I was wrong. Few days back, he came to our house again. This time, I saw the wounds did not get any better at all. In fact, it got worse. The bleeding has not dried yet. All the patches were bleeding. Worst part is still the nose. I decided not to wait any second and put him in a cage. After feeding him, I applied Greenzhi toothgel to the infected area, thinking that it was just normal wound. Knowing that Greenzhi could be a little painful to be applied, I tried to calm him down first. But surprisingly, he did not over react or scratch me when applying Greenzhi on his wounds. He sort of knew that I am trying to help him or maybe he just could not stand the pain anymore and just let me do whatever with him. Only God knows. The next day, it did not get any better and I asked the vet to come over and look at the cat. Let's call the cat Tiger.

The moment MrVet looked at Tiger, he immediately knew what's wrong. He said that Tiger did not get into a fight. He has been infected with a type of fungus called Sporothrix. I was kinda shocked as I was not expecting it to be fungus infection because all this while, I thought fungus infection would be dry, and not bleeding horribly. He recommended a one-month treatment for Tiger together with antibiotic. It will all be capsule & tablet, no cream can be applied. We just started giving him the medication yesterday and MrVet said if there's improvement, it can be seen after 15days. I really hope he will get better because according to MrVet, other cats and even human could get infected. It is dangerous if the infected cat scratched/bit us. So, he said that after a month, if there's no improvement, we should decide on what to do with Tiger, either to continue with the (expensive) treatment or .... :c

For the time being, I feed him medication together with Soy Protein and Lu Chun Tea. At the moment, I can't afford to give him Yung Kien LingZhi. If any of you would like to donate, please contact me on how to purchase the stocks for him. Even Nutri-Health Tablet would help. :c

Picha of Tiger showing the areas infected with Sporothrix fungus

GreenZhi has been applied on the nose and all the wounds

Tiger being strong as he could be

GreenZhi dripping off of his nose

Mr Vet asked me to do some research on the disease and like always, MrWiki never failed me. Here is some info :

Sporothrix schenckii is a thermally dimorphic fungus that can be found world-wide, and is the only active species of the genus Sporothrix.

The species is present in soil, and in vital and decomposing plant material such as peat moss. Colonies grow moderately rapidly at 25°C. They are moist, leathery to velvety, and have a finely wrinkled surface. The colour is white initially and becomes cream to dark brown in time (“dirty candle-wax” colour). At 37°C, colonies are yeast-like and creamy. The colour is cream to beige. The conversion of the mould form to the yeast form is identification of Sporothrix schenckii. Infections due to Sporothrix schenckii are more common at certain geographical areas. Peru is an area of hyperendemicity for Sporothrix schenckii infections.[1] Sporothrix schenckii is the causative agent of sporotrichosis or rose-handler's disease. Sporotrichosis is a subcutaneous infection and it starts following entry of the infecting fungus through the skin via a minor injury and may affect an otherwise healthy individual. Following entry, the infection may spread via the lymphatic route (nodular lymphangitis may develop). Patients infected with Sporothrix schenckii may be misdiagnosed as pyoderma gangrenosum due to the large ulcerations observed during the course of sporotrichosis.[2]

References

1. ^ Pappas, P. G., I. Tellez, A. E. Deep, D. Nolasco, W. Holgado, and B. Bustamante. 2000. Sporotrichosis in Peru: Description of an area of hyperendemicity. Clin. Infect. Dis. 30: 65–70.
2. ^ Sporothrix spp. Doctor Fungus.

-taken from MrWiki