abscess on face - prognosis?

[BlackHillsofDakota]

Our boy cat came in this morning and just didn't look right. I fed him and he was eating fine. I had a look and it seemed like he had put his tooth through this lip. He also smelt pretty bad.
We just got back from the vet, he has a hole in his face where the tooth has pierced it and an abscess which is obviously the smell.
It's obviously been like that got a while so I feel really bad but he had shown no signs at all.
He has had some antibiotics and got meta calm but we have to go back on Wednesday and if it's not better the vet talked about surgery which is worrying me!
Does anyone have any experience of abcesses? Is surgery likely? Thanks

[Madbengalmum]

Yes, our old cat has had a few, just bathe in salt solution and it will heal up.

[Madbengalmum]

Our cats burst after bathing in salty water, warm. Keep it clean and it will heal on its own.

[thecatneuterer]

I would never recommend just leaving them. Antibiotics are very important.

The general treatment at our clinic is to do a clean up under general anaesthetic, which would include cutting away any dead matter and washing out, followed by antibiotics. I imagine that's what your vet means by surgery. It's nothing major but it does involve knocking them out of course.

[Madbengalmum]

We were told that antibiotics and flushing with saline would do the trick and it does.

[Madbengalmum]

To add, i wouldnt want to run the risk of anesthetic if it can be flushed out.

[thecatneuterer]

Whether or not they would need an anesthetic would depend on how bad it is. Your vet is in the best position to know this, but if it is recommended then it's nothing major and he would likely only be under for a few minutes.

[Wolpertinger]

My cats' abscesses have always got better with antibiotics alone.

I have sometimes taken a long while to notice them as well - cats are so uncomplaining - so don't feel too bad about it.

[BlackHillsofDakota]

He said he couldn't stitch the hole and was worried the tooth would keep getting caught in it. He also talked about plastic surgery so maybe he meant surgery for the hole rather than the abscess.
He gave him antibiotics but didn't tell me to flush or anything.
To be honest he had a very strong accent and I struggled to understand everything he said.
Poor boy is very much an outside cat, we have been told to keep him in so we locked the cat flap. Unfortunately one of our other cats broke it open and smashed the door so until I can get a replacement door we have to confine him to our bedroom. He also hasn't used a litter tray for about 5 years so that's going to be interesting too!

[BlackHillsofDakota]

Sorry he also said surgery would be between £300-500 so I'm guessing not just a clean up?

[Madbengalmum]

Well if you can catch him i would advise flushing it out with a small syringe and some warm salt water, not hot though. This will heal him quicker and keep it clean and hygienic for him. It certainly wont harm him and may save you a big vets bill.

[Pipbin]

My baby had one on hr face after getting in a fight.
It became so swollen that it closed one eye!
Took her to vets where it was lanced and drained.
We then had antibiotics to give her.

It looked very sore for a few days but healed up quickly enough.