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Original poster

Cat just come in - has been bitten.

15 replies

Lubyloo · 01/01/2008 00:28

My poor cat has just come in and I noticed he has a clump of hair missing. Looking closer he has two patches and two puncture wounds so I think he has been in a fight with another cat and got bitten. I know cat bites can be quite nasty and easily get infected. He doesn't seem to bothered by it but I'm wondering if I need to try and find a vet on New Years Day or can I leave it until Wednesday?

OP posts:
LyraSilvertinsel · 01/01/2008 00:31

I'd try to keep it clean for a couple of days and see what happens. Unless it's particularly nasty I wouldn't be trying to find a vet on New Year's Day.

ChristmasShinySnowflakes · 01/01/2008 00:32

Have you got any savlon?

winestein · 01/01/2008 00:32

Leave it - it will be a while until it's actually infected to the point of needing treatment.
Not a great start to your cat's year!

winestein · 01/01/2008 00:34

NO NO NO NOT savlon! Cat's lick their wounds. Use salt water if you feel the need, but as cat's teeth produce puncture wounds it is very difficult to keep them clean. Please don't use antiseptic stuff though.

ChristmasShinySnowflakes · 01/01/2008 00:35

Oh really?

My vet once told me to use savlon after my cat was in a fight......

winestein · 01/01/2008 00:37

Really? I could be really wrong here (obviously!) but I was told never to put our antiseptic products on a cat?

NutterlyUts · 01/01/2008 00:37

Bathe it 3 times a day in a salt water solution (1 tsp in 1/2 pint of warm water) and pop into the vets if the cat goes off his/her food, or if the bite becomes red and/or swollen. Where is the bite?

Original poster
Lubyloo · 01/01/2008 00:39

Thank you for tips. Will see if he'll let me bathe it in salt water. My friend had a cat who was very seriously ill after being bitten because they hadn't realised until it had a huge abcess. I was in a bit of a flap because of this and thinking I needed to get him straight to the vets!

OP posts:
Original poster
Lubyloo · 01/01/2008 00:40

The bite is on his neck.

OP posts:
winestein · 01/01/2008 00:43

Yes, cat bites can get really nasty so you have to watch out - I would just do as Nutterly says - bathe in salt water and keep an eye out. One of my cats used to get biten all the time and needed no vetinary treatment and another used to get bitten infrequently but always neded intervention! Some open up and heal on their own. Have googled and found a vetinary site which says savlon and tcp are toxic to cats btw. Hope your cat is ok

Original poster
Lubyloo · 01/01/2008 00:56

Thanks Winestein - I will stay away from TCP and Savlon, use saltwater and keep a close eye on him.

OP posts:
Amandoh · 01/01/2008 03:16

Hi Lubyloo,

Definitely keep it as clean as you can by bathing in boiled then cooled salty water. You're lucky that you spotted the bite straight away as quite often it's not noticed until infection sets in.

One of my cats has had four ops due to bites. He was bitten on the tail and the vet thought he might have to amputate then he was bitten in the ear and the infection spread to his brain causing him to lose balance. Two surgeries on the tail and two on the head. Not nice for our cat and not nice for our bank balance.

Hope he recovers soon.

ChristmasShinySnowflakes · 01/01/2008 03:25

Goodness me- thanks for telling me that, will have a word with my vet next time I see her!

Original poster
Lubyloo · 05/01/2008 22:57

Well I've been keeping a careful eye on my cat. He has been fine; active, eating and spending a lot of time outdoors as usual. DH checked him this morning and said it looked fine and I commented how it looked like nothing nasty was happening.

He has just come in and he has a gaping open wound on his neck where the bite was. It looks like a huge hole. I felt sick when I saw it. Does this sound like an abscess which has burst? He is fine and is eating at the moment but I will see if I can get him to the vets tomorrow. They only do urgent cases on a Sunday but I'm hoping they will think he sounds urgent.

I am going to keep him indoors until he sees the vet. DH threw out his litter tray a couple of months ago so is now trying to find an old paint tray we can adapt (luckily he didn't throw out the cat litter!) He keeps trying to lick the wound though and I'm trying to figure out how I can stop him!

OP posts:
beautifulgirls · 06/01/2008 10:08

Yep - sounds like an abscess burst. Clean it with salty water and see the vet this morning for antibiotics. Depends where in the neck it is, but the vet can give you one of the lampshade collars to stop him licking it if it is not going to sit ontop of the wound. If it does sit on the wound mind you I'm not sure how easily he would really be able to lick at it though so he probably wouldn't be able to do much damage himself, especially once on antibiotics

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