Abcess on cats flank - won't wear collar

[ThisFenceIsComfy]

So my cat was really poorly on Tuesday, took her to vets, they couldn't find anything so gave her antibiotics and anti-inflammatories. Went back for a check up today and this vet found a big abcess on her right flank. They landed it, shaved it and cleaned it.

Cat will not keep collar on now though, was going mental, kept getting it off, couldn't walk, eat or drink with it on. So vet said we could take it off when we were with her.

Fine, we took it off, the big hole is still weeping a bit but she isn't trying to wash it at all. Not bothered now by it.

I need to sleep. I've been up since 0545. Should I put collar back on or just leave it?

Sorry for long essay, all advice really really welcome. My eyes are bleeding through exhaustion.

Lanced not landed

I'd put the collar back on and go to bed. If she does lick the area, it will get infected and that's not worth the risk. I understand she doesn't like the collar but it's probably best to put it on so long as she has eaten and drank while it was off. You both need to sleep.

How long will she need to wear the collar do you think?

If you can't get collar on don't fret too much. I have never had success with the awful things. Cats are amazing at finding ways to get them off. One of my cats withdrew into such a depression I thought she was checking out of life til I removed the collar. Infections have been nil. Only once in 30yrs have I had to march a cat back to vet for another dealing with.

Talk sternly, and I mean sternly, with cat. S/he understands "no" i assume? Think it in pictures about "don't touch the wound" as well as verbalising. Sounds crazy, huh? Try it. Cat is full up on painkillers atm so unlikely to feel anything around the wound to draw attention to it. This should last overnight. Long lasting antibiotic will also have been given. Good luck!

If you're around at the w/e, as opposed to working or out and about, you might see the wound starting to heal fast over the next couple of days. It's when she's alone while you're out for the day that's trickier to judge. Plus you need to see if she's going to leave the wound alone according to your instructions. It's one of those how long is a piece of string questions. As long as you can get away with inflicting it on cat. Or not at all inflicting it on cat and telling her to leave it alone or else collared. Still, days rather than weeks.

My cat used to go frantic with a big collar on, he would run backwards to try to get out of it. After he nearly fell down the stairs doing this we decided the collar was probably doing more harm than than good, plus we were all exhausted from trying to keep the collar on. Collar came off & we had to keep a close eye on cat to ensure no damaging of wound but it all went well.

Thanks for all the advice. I put it back on and she went crazy most of the night but was more resigned to her fate today. Abcess is still leaking pus though. Hard to tell if she is feeling better as she is so miserable about her collar.

Did she get a course of antibiotics? Maybe once she's had a few more days of them, she'll feel a bit better. If you are with her during the day, take the collar off and just watch she leaves the abscess alone. At night when you go to bed, best to have the collar on.
Our pyjamacat HATES anything round his neck so I do sympathise but it is honestly worth a few days of grumpy cat if it means she heals.

Yes she has antibiotic tablets to take twice daily.

Trouble is she hates my toddler so hides away from him upstairs during the day. He is nothing but lovely to her but he is very loud and she is very antisocial. I can't keep an eye on her very much because of that.

We've been going upstairs for a half hour here and there to sit with her and let her have some cone free time during the day and once he's in bed, she comes downstairs and I take the cone off.

She has got sneaky though and tries to hide under the dining room table so she can have a surreptitious wash of the wound. Sigh.

Cone of shame it is then for a few more days.

It's awful, that cone of shame. That she allows you to re-install it is a mark of her love and respect for you and for her

Hi op. Leaking pus is a good sign as it shows the abscess is emptying. Keep bathing it with saltwater and try and keep the wound open until it has drained. One of my cats had an abscess that didn't drain fully and although she had several lots of antibiotics, eventually had to be operated on. She was in a mess with dying tissue inside that had to be cut away - all because of a small cat bite.

We had a soft cone, sort of like this but we turned it the other way so it laid flat down his body iyswim. Much more comfortable.

I would give the abscess a good squeeze to get all the pus out, clean it and leave the collar off.