MANUKA: THE HONEY AND THE CAT

*Warning for sensitive viewers: this blog contains pictures of open wound

A story about a wounded feral feline, a jar of honey, and the unexpected bond that changed everything.

There are some animals that arrive in our lives not gently, but in a way that forces us to stop what we’re doing and pay attention. Manuka was one of those souls.

Karen’s story:

I was driving to my clinic early one morning when I saw something in the ditch that didn’t look right. After years of wildlife rescue, you learn to recognize the shape of trouble. I pulled over and found a young feral cat with a back leg and paw so damaged it hardly resembled a paw at all. The skin and tissue were gone, exposing tendon, muscle, even bone. He had likely been hit by a car, and had a “degloving wound,” where the skin and flesh are peeled off the body by trauma. He was terrified, but alive and in shock, and allowed me to pick him up. 

I brought him to the hospital, where Blair and my assistants met me at the door. One tech took one look at the wound and insisted he needed to be euthanized immediately, or at a minimum, amputate the leg. I understood why she said it. It was a horrific injury, and he was a feral cat with no owner, no history, and no reason, on paper, to pour time and resources into.

But something in me wasn’t ready to give up. I had just started working with Manuka honey on difficult cases, and we’d seen almost unbelievable healing on a wild turkey with a large gunshot wound to his chest, which you can read about in Mama Becker’s most recent blog. I wanted to try the healing powers of medicinal honey again, but this time on a much bigger challenge.

We gave him hydromorphone, a very strong pain medication, cleaned the wound, and gently coated what was left of his paw with medical-grade Manuka honey. Then we wrapped it lightly in what’s called a wet-to-dry bandage and set him up in a quiet recovery area of the feline ward, separate from the rest of the kitties. The plan was to keep him on strong pain medication and rebandage his leg twice a day, covering the entire skinless limb with a new layer of manuka honey each time. 

The next morning, we unwrapped it and stared. The wound already looked healthier. There was no foul smell, no spreading infection, no new tissue damage. We kept going. Every day, a little more healing. Every day, a little more hope.

Yes, that’s bone you see. This is about two weeks post-rescue (and twice-daily manuka honey treatment)

The missing toenails were the only remaining trace of his injury when he was completely healed.  

And something else happened: this feral cat, who had every reason to hate humans, began to purr when we treated him. He leaned into our hands. He relaxed. As his body healed, his spirit softened. Blair, who had never wanted a cat and was allergic to them, found herself falling in love.

His paw is almost healed in this picture!

By the time his paw was fully healed, hair growing over what had once been an exposed, shredded limb, he was no longer a clinic rescue. He belonged to Blair. Because he was eating a raw food diet, which greatly reduces the reactivity of dander and saliva, she never had an allergic reaction to him. 

He moved in to live with her dogs, rats, rabbit, snake, and bearded dragon as if he’d been raised among them. He was funny, affectionate, confident, and grateful in a way that only animals who have known real suffering can be.

Manuka loved Karen, when she came to visit

The name we gave him stuck: Manuka.

He lived years longer than anyone predicted, we are guessing around 17 years. Considering he was FIV positive and had experienced serious trauma before Karen found him, he’d lived a long life.

Blair shared with me that one evening when she arrived home, she saw that her back door was cracked open, and her heart just sank. She had a feeling, ‘Manuka wasn’t in my house anymore’. Blair searched every possible hiding place, multiple times.  She called Karen crying and heartbroken. Karen gave her all the tips and tricks to try to find him, but she too had that feeling, he left to go off by himself to pass. 

“I took his litterbox outside and sat on that back stoop calling for him. I sat and waited.  I posted fliers everywhere, checked shelter sites and lost animal sites.  I finally had to accept that his time on this earth was done. He had given me such a beautiful gift and lesson; I had fallen in love with Manuka...I had fallen in love with cats. He showed me that love and compassion is possible after so much gross trauma. My aunt saved his life and further solidified my belief in healing forms of medicine like Manuka Honey.  He will always be one of my favorite teachers.  He turned me into a cat person for life.” 

And when his time was finally closing in, he did what some former ferals do: he slipped quietly out the back door one day, choosing to go back to the wild on his own terms. It was his last gift of dignity, and we honored it.

He was one great cat.

What makes Manuka honey so special?

Manuka honey is a type of honey produced by bees that pollinate the flowers of the Manuka tree (Leptospermum scoparium, a cousin to the tea tree plant), native to New Zealand and parts of Australia. What makes it uniquely antimicrobial is its high concentration of methylglyoxal (MGO) that gives manuka honey broad-spectrum antibacterial, antiviral, and wound-healing properties that remain stable even when exposed to heat, light, or digestive enzymes, unlike the hydrogen-peroxide-based activity of regular honey. 

Researchers have found that it can stop the growth of bacteria that don’t even respond to antibiotics, including dangerous strains like MRSA. It doesn’t just cover a wound, it changes the environment of the wound so that harmful microbes can’t survive. It also supports tissue regeneration, reduces inflammation, and keeps the wound moist without trapping infection.

Manuka honey is graded using quality systems such as UMF (Unique Manuka Factor) or MGO rating. Higher numbers reflect greater concentrations of MGO and other key markers, meaning more potent antimicrobial action. Lower grades are typically used as everyday food honey, while higher grades (UMF 15+ or MGO 500+) are reserved for therapeutic use such as wound care, immune support, or digestive health.

That’s why Manuka the cat never needed IV or oral antibiotics. The honey acted as both an antibacterial agent and a wound dressing, and his body did the rest.

A goodbye worthy of a feral spirit

Some feral animals never fully domesticate, even when they love us. They are half-wild in their bones. When Manuka chose to walk out that door near the end of his life, he wasn’t leaving us. He was choosing to finish his story the same way it began, free.

Yes, Blair posted Reward: Lost Cat signs. Yes, she searched high and low for days, trying to find him. Yes, it broke her heart he chose to leave. He had never expressed a desire to go back outside before the day he planned his great escape; it was out of character for his typical behavior since being rescued, but not out of character for his DNA. 

He healed because he was given a chance. He loved her back because she saved him. And he changed her forever, because nature has a way of reminding us that the line between broken and whole is often thinner than we think.

Manuka was never just a cat. His story was a lesson in compassion, in listening to one’s instinct, and in trusting that sometimes the simplest medicine… love, patience, and honey, can do extraordinary things.

Safe use of Manuka honey for pets

• Use only medical-grade Manuka honey, not grocery store honey
• Look for a UMF or MGO rating (these certify potency)
• Best used on open wounds, burns, hotspots, cracked paws, and skin infections
• Apply a thin layer, then cover with a non-stick dressing and light wrap
• Change at least once a day, or as directed by your vet
• Do not use on deep puncture wounds or in diabetic pets without professional guidance
• Honey for wounds is for external use, not for feeding by mouth (unless you’re treating G.I. ulcers)
  

Much love,