Cuts/gash on a Cat

[Noah]

My big old grumpy cat just came in from outside looking like he had grease on him. I gave him a bath, and it turns out it was blood, with a few pretty good cuts/gashes.

He doesn't seem like he's in much pain, though pissed from the bath. (22lbs of mad cat...)

Is this the type of thing that will heal, or should I bring him in to a vet? Again, he seems happy enough, and I would rather not have a huge vet bill, but at the same timeI want him to be healthy.

[Noah]

Is this topic still screwed up?

[Keith Wilson]

I'd think it probably will heal OK by itself, although putting some antibiotic ointment on the cuts might be a good idea. The vet would probably just do the same thing. The cuts aren't deep enough to need stitches, are they? Keep an eye on him for the next week or so. Generally if a cat's wound gets infected, it heals over on the outside and forms an abcess, rather than turning red and festering like it would on a human. Sometimes an abcess will need a vet's attention to drain it, but often they clear up on their own too. I tend toward benign neglect with my cats, and the one that just died lived to 19; they're pretty resilient.

[ 09-21-2005, 11:17 AM: Message edited by: Keith Wilson ]

[Noah]

Thanks for the note Keith. I also tend to think they do fine on their own, but my girlfriend just called (she's out of town) and told me he was going to the vet right now!

[JimD]

Kitty needs a vet. The skin will heal quickly on the outside but abcess on the inside. A vet will likely flush the wound with disinfectant and give you several doses to flush the wound repeatedly as it heals.

[Katherine]

Take him to the Vet, and keep him inside until he heals. If he has to wear one of those lamp shade collars, you may need to rearrange his food and water bowls so that he can eat and drink.

[Hwyl]

Originally posted by Noah:
Thanks for the note Keith. I also tend to think they do fine on their own, but my girlfriend just called (she's out of town) and told me he was going to the vet right now!Your choices are limited.

[Tristan]

Yeah, vet is a good idea. ABCESSES! Cats are great at generating abcesses!

[John of Phoenix]

What Keith said. I had big marshmallow who thought he was a tough guy. He got into a scrap with another cat and took a bite in a shoulder. I cleaned it up, treated it with antibiotic cream and of course it sealed up and abscessed. To my surprise, he let me clean it up again and didn’t seem to have much pain despite the size – two inch diameter. I drained a couple of ounces of puss, flushed it several times with peroxide in a syringe (no needle) and treated it with an antibiotic cream. I was worried there might be a secondary infection, so off to the vet. Vet says that I did exactly what he would have done but still charged me a hundred bucks for checking him over. Ah well.

[ 09-21-2005, 12:16 PM: Message edited by: John Teetsel ]

[Noah]

$400 later he will be fine. Yeah, it's a good thing we took him. The gash was much bigger than what I could see, so they are putting him under and operating on the poor guy.

BTW, this is him on his Pink Couch: (his name is Rufus)

http://www.morebutter.com/images/Rufus.jpg

And this is him with his little girlfriend, Poppy:
http://www.morebutter.com/images/Rufus_Poppy.jpg

[ 09-21-2005, 01:04 PM: Message edited by: Noah ]

[Ken Hutchins]

Grease, gashes, sure sounds like he climmed up under the hood of a car to sleep in a warm place. That works until the car is started then the fan cuts up kitty. Most cats that do that don't survive the initial trashing to get repaired.

[Noah]

This happened around 11 today, when it was already warm, and climbing up into things is very much unlike Rufus. He is more of a "roll on my back in the middle of the floor so you walk over me" kinda guy. The vet thought maybe hit by a car, maybe a dog. (Rufus really likes dogs)

I have a feeling that the grease was actually just blood.

[Meerkat]

Rufus urgently needs to go on a diet! :eek:

[Noah]

Yes, Rufus knows how to throw is weight around...he has pulverized every other cat in the neighborhood pretty badly. The picture doesn't really do him justice. He is a big strong dude. He has lost a few pounds since then as well. Funny story, we had a dog visiting, and Rufus tried to steal the dog's food. Picture a stand off with a 110lb dog and a 22lb cat both going for the same bowl of food. Lots of groweling from both...The dog had no idea what was going on.

I talked to the vet tonight, and they said he was doing ok. A bit shocked, and lots of stitches, but still wanting food.

The pink couch was just a bedspread we put down over it to keep the cat hair off.

Other than the vet bill we all will be just fine. I don't really know what happened to him though.

[huisjen]

The grey menace (19.4 pounds) sends his regards and condolances.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/huisjen/IMG_0068.jpg

Dan