Help! (cat related)

[CymaticPrincess88]

We have discovered a wound on my cats ear, we thought she had just got food on her ear, but a scab of sorts just fell off revealing a very sore and weepy looking wound.

I haven't got a penny to my name till end of month, and its startlingly obvious she needs help now. PLEASE SOMEONE HELP!!

Bathe it with warm water with salt in it and try and stop her licking it - hopefully it will soon scab over again until it heals

Salt water 2-3 times a day.

Wipe gently with cotton bud & saline solution (salt & boiled, then cooled water). Keep clean & bathe twice daily with saline. How big is it? If its not deep or wide/long it'll prob heal on its own if left to get some air to it.

Yep as PP says, a mildish salt water solution and it should sort itself out xx

clean it, as suggested - get pet insurance asap for the future

If you think it needs a vet then see if yours will let you pay later - or try PDSA

Thank you guys, we have just cleaned it and can see it better now, its like shes skinned her ear a bit, i reckon our older cat must have got carried away with her. We will keep up with the salt water cleaning
I was so panicked, I was stroking her and the scab sort of just came away on my hand,

Could be an abscess and need draining. Ours had one a year or two ago looked like nothing. The vet used a scalpel and the largest amount of puss possible came out of it. Ring for advice tomorrow and as others have said in the meantime keep it clean

Whatever you do, don't give her any medication or painkillers, unless they are prescribed for your cat by your vet. Cats don't tolerate many common medicines that are completely safe for people and dogs.

www.bluecross.org.uk/pet-advice/basic-first-aid-cats

Salt water (look online how to make it with the right levels) will help as PP suggested.

If it’s causing serious issues maybe contact your local PDSA as I know they can offer treatment if you’re in a difficult financial position - I had to do this for my youngest cat after he decided to start a fight with the big mean local tomcat, I told them no money until payday and took proof of wages for them, we arranged a repayment scheme for 3 months from the next available date. Then we sorted our insurance as we had thought it covered the youngest of our 4 cats as well (we were paying for 4 anyway!) but some admin cock up meant he wasn’t on the details D:

She doesn't seem to be too bothered by it at all really! Even when I was bathing it she wasn't fussed.

Pet insurance excess doesn't normally cover abcesses like this anyway. She's been bitten I think and it could form an abcess, you need to get the pus out if you can. The vet just bursts the abcess and gives my cat antibiotics which I don't think are always necessary, if there is a big pus filled lump you must burst it and gently express the pus then salt and water. I nearly always do it at home.

Salt water is good. Don’t use anything else on it eg Savlon etc as many antiseptic creams can be toxic to cats.

My vet prescribed a tube of honey when my cat has had her ear bitten in a fight, hecsaid it would draw out the infection. it certainly didn't do any harm and it healed very well. Though it was in a special veterinary tube, i don't think it had anything much added - and afaik honey is naturally sterile because sugar is a preservative. Not suggesting you just stick honey on without finding out more, but might be worth a google?

We did bathe it first, too

Another vote for salty warm water! Ive done this on my cats head and on my dogs nose

My cat has had two abscesses. Both from an infected cat bite.

Needed anti biotics and painkillers.

End of month isn’t that far away. Is she registered with a vet, could you at least rung them for advice? Ask if you can bring her in and pay at the end of the week.

Another vote here for salt water! you could also ask your vet for hibiscrub (needs to be really watered down but it lasts absolutely ages). We got given some for free to help treat our cats recurrent chin acne

We swear by this stuff:

www.vetuk.co.uk/veterinary-supplies-dressings-and-wound-care-c-141_169/johnson-s-antibacterial

You should be able to get it in Pets at Home or similar. It really helps bites etc to heal up nicely and dries them out so they’re not weepy.

Are you able to get free treatment from the pdsa at all? (Sorry not sure how it works but am sure some wiser poster can advise?)

Also maybe post on he cat chat area of petsforum.co.uk

Brilliant advice there, and often vets or vet nurses about to chat things through.

Cats are expensive little buggers, mine is insured and I have still forked out hundred on ‘little’ things that are excess.

Check gently also to see if there is a foreign body on the surface maybe?

My cat had two incidents of another cats claw lodged in his ear and scalp after being attacked. (removal with sterile tweezers aided the wound healing)

The vet used a scalpel and the largest amount of puss possible came out of it.

Perfect typo!

If there's a weeping round circle with a black speck in the middle, it could be a tick bite, and the speck is the head left behind after the body has been knocked off. Try to remove it with a sterile pin. then see if it heals. If its no better in 7 days then see your vet.

If there's a pus filled abscess its probably a cat bite, and that needs to see a vet asap for cleaning and antibiotics. They can become lethal very quickly.

The PDSA used to be free but they now get you to register online and pay up front. You can only register if you are in receipt of certain benefits.
www.pdsa.org.uk/taking-care-of-your-pet/eligibility