Advice needed cat abscess

[meala]

Hi
My rescue cat has been with us for two months. He was at the vet this week as I noticed a lump in his side. Turns out it's an abscess and he was given an antibiotic injection and told to take him back if it gets worse.
I've come home tonight and the abscess has burst. Unfortunately he's licking at the wound which is quite large. The vet isn't open until Monday. I'll was thinking that I could clean the wound gently with salt water and keep him in until I can get back to the vet. Is there anything else I can do in the meantime? I don't have a cone so not sure how to stop him licking it other than putting a teddy jumper on him!
Thanks in advance for any advice!

It can get infected and then becomes a bigger problem... Your vet should have out of hours cover (usually at a different location), the details are usually on their answerphone message if you call. Then you can at least ask for advice from them whether your cat needs to be seen tomorrow or can wait until Monday.

It's all cleaned out, he was great and just sat purring while I cleaned it out with a saline solution. I'll try call the vet in the morning and see what they say. Poor wee boy 😞

Hoping that the abs he got earlier on in the week will be protecting him from infection meanwhile

If they gave him just one antibiotic injection I think it must have been Convenia, which lasts for two weeks. So with that, and the cleaning it out, I would think it could wait until Monday, but certainly speak to the vet if you can.

My old boy used to be susceptible to abscesses. The vet would generally give antibiotics as a precaution because of his age but the advice was to keep it clean and it would heal by itself. We never had any issue once it had burst.

Have you got a babygro handy? Sounds bonkers but can be turned into a medivest to prevent him licking the wound in the interim.

TCP!

If you can get hold of a Cone Of Shame, that'd be worthwhile for the rest of the weekend - supermarkets often have them.

Pets at Home sell “lampshades”. Hope he is OK.

@Lila99 TCP and other disinfectants are toxic to cats. Salt water only.

Well I never knew that! My mum always used it on ours no problems!

It's already infected. That's what the abscess is a focus of infection. Bathe it in warm salt water. Teaspoon of salt in a pint. Do this three or four times a day. This is to keep the hole open and the contents draining. Now air is getting in it will start to shrink down of it's own accord and will heal if it can drain properly. Keep up the abios and it will be fine.

Some abscesses definitely do need vet treatment. They need proper cleaning under sedation, the cutting away of necrotic tissue and partial stitching up (leaving a drain hole). As well as antibiotics of course.

And some aren't that bad. So it's not wise to tell people that abscesses never need any treatment other than cleaning as, while that might be true in some cases, it certainly isn't in others.

No experience of cat abscesses but we used to have pet rats who can be quite prone to them in old age. We were given antibiotics and once it burst we cleaned it gently with salt water. They were absolutely fine. I think if he seems ok in himself he'll be ok until Monday.

Thanks so much for everyone's advice. Going to phone the vet or if hours number in a minute and see what they suggest.
I've cleaned everything out with salt water solution again. Poor boy seems OK, not quite himself but happy to sit getting stroked and purring away.