Puncture wound on my cat - advice please
Discussion
Hi All,
We have two Burmilla crosses both they are 18 month old brothers, both of which come and go in and out as they please via a microchip catflap. We were on our way out on Friday night and were trying to get the smallest one of the two to come in (he has developed a habit of sometimes not coming back till after nightfall and I like both of them to be in before we go out for the night), whilst looking for him we heard a really awful sounding cat fight and then caught sight of him. I checked him over when we got him in and all appeared fine, and he was in good spirits, looking for food etc. I concluded that the cat fight despite the sound, was as it usually is and was mostly theatre.
Today however I noticed a swelling behind the small cats right ear, actually quite a large swelling - about the size of half a maltezer under his skin. There was a strand of very thick matted hair attached to this, that I at first thought was a thorn - I couldnt believe I hadnt noticed this before. On closer inspection there was a sore point, which when we removed the matted hair did ooze a bit of gloop.
I checked cat books and googled etc as i have heard about abscesses forming from cat wounds but wasnt sure what to do. We have carefully cut away the fur surrounding the wound, and the matted hair - this very clearly revealed a quite obvious puncture wound. We cleaned this with a "Hibiscrub" dilution (given last time the cat was injured - i think by the same cat that has had a go at him again).
He didnt like any of the above too much and was obviously in some pain when we put some light pressure on the lump - but he didnt go as postal as he does when we try to feed him worming tablets. He is still quite active now, and is eating well, he doesnt seem bothered by the wound at all to be honest (partly why i didnt notice it i think as his behaviour is quite normal). He is scratching it a bit now that we have exposed and cleaned it - also ive seperated the cats as they tend to clean each other. I have also set the catflap to keep the cats in tomorrow.
Im not around tomorrow so my parents will be coming in to check on him. I am planning to take him to the vets on Thursday if the wound doesnt look like its healing. I just wanted to check that:
1) we are applying the correct care
2) Im not being stupid in not taking him to the vets immediately. (I could ask my parents to take him tomorrow instead of waiting till i am home again).
Apologies - Im probably sounding like an overly worrying type, but the little guy is my shadow and I want to make sure he is ok. Im concerned more than anything by the size of the hard lump under/on the wound. Although as stated he is currently bringing me his toys, headbutting me in the face and playing with a pen lid so he cant be too bothered.
Here is a picture of the wound immediately after it was cleaned as described.
Thanks very much for any advice guys.
R.
We have two Burmilla crosses both they are 18 month old brothers, both of which come and go in and out as they please via a microchip catflap. We were on our way out on Friday night and were trying to get the smallest one of the two to come in (he has developed a habit of sometimes not coming back till after nightfall and I like both of them to be in before we go out for the night), whilst looking for him we heard a really awful sounding cat fight and then caught sight of him. I checked him over when we got him in and all appeared fine, and he was in good spirits, looking for food etc. I concluded that the cat fight despite the sound, was as it usually is and was mostly theatre.
Today however I noticed a swelling behind the small cats right ear, actually quite a large swelling - about the size of half a maltezer under his skin. There was a strand of very thick matted hair attached to this, that I at first thought was a thorn - I couldnt believe I hadnt noticed this before. On closer inspection there was a sore point, which when we removed the matted hair did ooze a bit of gloop.
I checked cat books and googled etc as i have heard about abscesses forming from cat wounds but wasnt sure what to do. We have carefully cut away the fur surrounding the wound, and the matted hair - this very clearly revealed a quite obvious puncture wound. We cleaned this with a "Hibiscrub" dilution (given last time the cat was injured - i think by the same cat that has had a go at him again).
He didnt like any of the above too much and was obviously in some pain when we put some light pressure on the lump - but he didnt go as postal as he does when we try to feed him worming tablets. He is still quite active now, and is eating well, he doesnt seem bothered by the wound at all to be honest (partly why i didnt notice it i think as his behaviour is quite normal). He is scratching it a bit now that we have exposed and cleaned it - also ive seperated the cats as they tend to clean each other. I have also set the catflap to keep the cats in tomorrow.
Im not around tomorrow so my parents will be coming in to check on him. I am planning to take him to the vets on Thursday if the wound doesnt look like its healing. I just wanted to check that:
1) we are applying the correct care
2) Im not being stupid in not taking him to the vets immediately. (I could ask my parents to take him tomorrow instead of waiting till i am home again).
Apologies - Im probably sounding like an overly worrying type, but the little guy is my shadow and I want to make sure he is ok. Im concerned more than anything by the size of the hard lump under/on the wound. Although as stated he is currently bringing me his toys, headbutting me in the face and playing with a pen lid so he cant be too bothered.
Here is a picture of the wound immediately after it was cleaned as described.
Thanks very much for any advice guys.
R.
It looks healthy and clean at the mo, keep bathing it twice a day with diluted hibiscrub to keep the wound open and draining. They tend to close quickly and without antibiotics it is at much higher risk of filling up with pus again.
As long as he remains well and lively and eating and the wound remains clean looking then Thurs will be fine.
If he goes off colour at all he may have a temperature and need antibiotics sooner ot if the surrounding tissue of the wound stops looking the healthy pink red it does right now he needs seeing more quickly. Or if he keeps scratching it making it worse.
Occasionally abscesses will drain and clear up just with bathing etc but most often they start to look like they're healing only to flare up a few days later so even if it is looking much better by Thurs he should still be seen.
Hope that helps.
As long as he remains well and lively and eating and the wound remains clean looking then Thurs will be fine.
If he goes off colour at all he may have a temperature and need antibiotics sooner ot if the surrounding tissue of the wound stops looking the healthy pink red it does right now he needs seeing more quickly. Or if he keeps scratching it making it worse.
Occasionally abscesses will drain and clear up just with bathing etc but most often they start to look like they're healing only to flare up a few days later so even if it is looking much better by Thurs he should still be seen.
Hope that helps.
bexVN said:
It looks healthy and clean at the mo, keep bathing it twice a day with diluted hibiscrub to keep the wound open and draining. They tend to close quickly and without antibiotics it is at much higher risk of filling up with pus again.
As long as he remains well and lively and eating and the wound remains clean looking then Thurs will be fine.
If he goes off colour at all he may have a temperature and need antibiotics sooner ot if the surrounding tissue of the wound stops looking the healthy pink red it does right now he needs seeing more quickly. Or if he keeps scratching it making it worse.
Occasionally abscesses will drain and clear up just with bathing etc but most often they start to look like they're healing only to flare up a few days later so even if it is looking much better by Thurs he should still be seen.
Hope that helps.
Many thanks Bex it certainly does, much appreciated. As long as he remains well and lively and eating and the wound remains clean looking then Thurs will be fine.
If he goes off colour at all he may have a temperature and need antibiotics sooner ot if the surrounding tissue of the wound stops looking the healthy pink red it does right now he needs seeing more quickly. Or if he keeps scratching it making it worse.
Occasionally abscesses will drain and clear up just with bathing etc but most often they start to look like they're healing only to flare up a few days later so even if it is looking much better by Thurs he should still be seen.
Hope that helps.
I will do as you say. Best Regards,
R.
bexVN said:
Just out of interest are there any other wounds on around his head?
Oh and don't worry that you didn't spot it sooner, abscesses take a couple days to brew but then they balloon rapidly!
He has a very small nick (no blood or scab strangely) on the ear just above the puncture wound, its hard to see as it is in the covered flap of skin at the base of the ear, but this too is new damage. Oh and don't worry that you didn't spot it sooner, abscesses take a couple days to brew but then they balloon rapidly!
Edited by bexVN on Monday 16th April 23:32
He regularly has small (a couple of milimeters at most) scabs on his head - but I am assuming that these are from play fighting with his brother, or squeezing under fences / gorse bushes.
There is a very large tabby which doesnt have a collar that roams the neighbourhood - it is seen rarely but is known to have scrapped with most of the neighbourhood cats (neighbours either side have moggies and have had similar problems) I have seen this attack my cats, and have seen it try to get in through our cat flap. I am pretty sure that this is where Fletchers wound is from (his brother took a puncture wound to the leg, which the vet treated with antibiotics and Hibiscrub the last time the large tabby was seen around). I am trying to remember that this is "cats just being cats" and resist the urge to buy a super soaker.
Thanks again for the advice,
R.
If it were me I would watch the cat for any signs of illness but would not take it to the vets yet - many of our cats have come back with this kind of injury. However I find it very easy to tell when our cats are 'off' and now use this as a guide (just my experience).
Our 'old man cat' (16+) used to be taken to the vet when he came back with such an injury, and each year for a checkup but now I'm more concerned that the stress of the dreaded box is more harmful to him (and the vet told us so!). I wouldn't take him unless I was very concerned.
Our young female cat actually loves the box and car (she went for an MOT with our local mechanic, has been in the TESCO van...) so i'd be more inclined to take her.
Our 'old man cat' (16+) used to be taken to the vet when he came back with such an injury, and each year for a checkup but now I'm more concerned that the stress of the dreaded box is more harmful to him (and the vet told us so!). I wouldn't take him unless I was very concerned.
Our young female cat actually loves the box and car (she went for an MOT with our local mechanic, has been in the TESCO van...) so i'd be more inclined to take her.
One of ours had an abscess which we didn't spot until I thought his head looked a funny shape.
It did burst on its own - what a mess! Poor ting wondered what on earth was going on.
Anyway quick trip to the vet, cleaned and treated and he was fine.
It it wasn't for all that damned fur it would be much easier to see!
It did burst on its own - what a mess! Poor ting wondered what on earth was going on.
Anyway quick trip to the vet, cleaned and treated and he was fine.
It it wasn't for all that damned fur it would be much easier to see!
Just adding that could have been a tick.
One of mine gets them all the time, the other (the country cat) doesn't.
If you don't find them within a few days they grow to the size shown of the wound.
Our Harry just had one under his collar - too big to remove with tweezers so we just 'frontlined' it and it was gone within 24 hrs. Still left a bloody great hole. He gets over scabs well tho'.
I may be wrong, but living on a farm, and lots of deer around, it happens a lot around here.
One of mine gets them all the time, the other (the country cat) doesn't.
If you don't find them within a few days they grow to the size shown of the wound.
Our Harry just had one under his collar - too big to remove with tweezers so we just 'frontlined' it and it was gone within 24 hrs. Still left a bloody great hole. He gets over scabs well tho'.
I may be wrong, but living on a farm, and lots of deer around, it happens a lot around here.
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