Cat abscess

[bethy15]

OK, so in this area there are a lot of strays. It's a bit of a long story as to why, but they've been bred and then dumped/neglected.
My dog brings a lot of them back to the house (don't ask) and as an animal lover I do take pity on them and try to feed or help them where I can.

This one little one, he's come to us tonight and he has quite a swollen leg, it looks like an abscess.

I'm thinking he needs the vet tomorrow, but can they go with antibiotics alone with painkillers, or do they need to be drained and operated on?

It's not burst at present, no blood or puss or anything at all like it. I'm worried about him, so he's staying in our house tonight.

Thanks for any help.

Anyone with any ideas on abscess treatments?

Personally I'd take him to the vet and get their advice. I know some here have home-treated abscesses but with one that hasn't burst I would prefer to leave it to the professionals.

Oh sure. I'm trying to book him in now for an appointment.
Just got a walk in appointment at a local vet.

I was just wondering what to expect really going forwards, if I'll have a wound or if it can go down on it's own with antibiotics without having an open wound.

My previous experience would suggest the vet is likely to lance the wound and provide antibiotics.

So the vet lanced it and he'll be on antibiotics.

Can't help but feel I've been a bit ripped off though.

I got help from the RSPCA for some of the treatment, the vet said it would cost a certain amount if it's an abscess (which it is) and more if it needed to be sampled and sent off.

He's phoned and said it was the abscess, no biopsy needed, but it'll still cost the same amount. He said he didn't factor in the antibiotics.

It's quite a sum of money.

Well done for taking it for treatment and sorry it cost so much, not really sure what else to suggest, other than maybe getting in touch with THE RSPCA or cats protection and say it's an unwell stray cat you've managed to trap. Be upfront if you can't afford the treatment and hopefully they can take the cat on to be treated then rehomed?

Maybe I'm expecting too much from them though!

Well, it ended up costing a bit, but a LOT less then they were trying to charge me.

It was insane, thank the lord it's not my normal vet, they seemed to be out for what they could get. It ended up being significantly more then the estimate for the worst case scenario involving a biopsy!
I wasn't allowing them to change it by so much for doing exactly what they said at first. After a long time they came back with a completely different price, which made me feel they were pushing it. I won't be using them for my dog!

Anyway, I've got to keep this little one in and treat him with antibiotics. I'm not sure what to do with his wound.

They said keep the dressing on for three days, and no bathing, everything tells me to bathe it in a salt water solution to promote healing. To have this bandage, which is covered in blood already, on for three days seems completely wrong to me.

The more you wash a wound and disturb it the slower it heals.

I’d leave it be for 3 days.