Kitty sinus infections--
Anyone have experience with this?
First, I am the one with the cat who must wear a collar for two weeks and the good news is that she is wearing it fine. She has a nightly "TLC" time when one of us holds her on our laps and she can sleep without the collar and purr and wash her paws.
But to begin at the beginning:
Last May this kitty developed an abscess on her forehead which then burst open. The vet put her on an antibiotic and said that it would drain for "a while".
Meanwhile, our other cat, Camilla, went through her final illness and died at the end of July. This kitty, named Little Kitty, was eating and acting normally except for the crusty forehead which I would periodically soak with a warm cloth, so she was put on the back burner, so to speak.
Then, in August I realized that this thing had really gone on way too long so I took her back to the vet--this time the partner looked at her and said he thought he could feel something in the wound, and recommended surgery to clean it out. Since he was the senior partner we took his advice and on August 22nd she had the surgery, the collar put on and both an antibiotic injection and an oral pill, Clavamox. He never did find any foreign object, but did find an opening through the skull and into her sinus cavity, which he flushed out and got rid of a lot of pus and stuff. Stitched her up and sent her home. They were dissolving stitches.
A week later, this last Thursday, the wound re-opened by itself and more pus and drainage began to come out. Call to the vet--he said that after the antibiotics wear off, then he can culture it and find out specifically what antibiotic she needs. Meanwhile she has an open wound again in her forehead.
I googled "sinus infection in cats" this morning, and found that a sinus infection can cause an abscess just like the one she had! They had assured me at the vets' office that it was from an external wound and could not have come from inside. But Little Kitty is an indoor cat and we can't imagine how she would have gotten hurt, unless by a stray paw swipe from one of the other cats.
Now I am really unsure that I should trust our vet--if this diagnosis and treatment was all wrong. I think now that the first time the antibiotic didn't clear it all up, they should have cultured it and found the right antibiotic, and realized that maybe this was a sinus infection and not a wound! She seems to have had feline herpes all her life--she is nine--and from time to time has watery eyes, sniffy nose and sneezing--and that weakens the immune system and would naturally lead to something like an infection.
I am so sad she has had to go through all of this! She is the sweetest little thing--affectionate and easygoing. I only want to fix her up and not put her through any more bungling, if that indeed is what has happened here. My plan is to take her to a new vet clinic next week and see what they say.
Has anyone seen a sinus infection go into abscess like this? We like to think our vets know more than we do, and of course they do, but now I'm seriously beginning to doubt what they've been telling me about this case.
= new reply since forum marked as read
He sneezes off and on and I thought it was because the AC in my condo was up too high, but most days he would go to the patio door and sit in the sun for at least an hour or so before climbing back on the couch, or going to his bowl and eat some of his food (which he's doing right now as I write this). When I took him to the vet last year I was told he has feline herpes, so he got treated for that and except for putting on a few pounds he's doing pretty good.
I'm sorry you're going through this, and I pray all goes well for your little one! 
