Does this look like a cat bite? Photo included

[Shufflebumnessie]

Hi,
Our 13 year old male cat has been a bit out of sorts today. He seems sad, not as hungry as usual, very needy & his front leg seemed a bit stiff/limping when he walked in a few minutes ago.
He's currently sat on my knee & I've just discovered a wound & what looks like a tooth puncture wound.
I'm going to take him to the vet in the morning but was just wondering if you think this injury is likely to be a bite?

Looks like it. Have you got any metacam you could give him?

Looks like it. It might be a good idea to keep him fasting in the morning before his appointment in case he needs any sedation to treat it.

@Toddlerteaplease thank you. Unfortunately the only Metacam I have was opened in July & the use by date was October 2024 (just found it in the back of the cat cupboard).
I'll phone the vet as soon as they open and hopefully they'll get him in early in the day.

@Immavet oh goodness, I just assumed he'd be given antibiotics and metacam. I never thought about possible sedation.
Thanks for the advice. I'll keep the food away until after he's been seen.

Best thing is wash it with salt water. This is always the go to treatment.

Any cuts and bites clean asap with salt water

Is it oozing any puss as that what my cats burst abcess looked like

Agree with the salt water, but it will need antibiotics if it's a bite - all bites do.

Thanks for the advice. I'll see if he'll let me bathe the area.

Poor puss! Yes a bite, salt water and then a call in the morning as you say. Can you make him a cwtchy area to stay with you during the night? Give him a bit of coddling.

No puss that I can see. Maybe it's been there longer than I thought and he's just been very good at hiding the pain 😢

Thank you. I'll see if he'll let me, then off for antibiotics in the morning

Mine was like this, only saw it when his personality got snappy which was so unlike him. You’re doing everything right, cats are so bloody independent, don’t feel bad, they keep it from you! Just lots of salt water and love tonight, and get him seen as soon as you can in the morning. Sending love to you both!

@Arlanymor he's asleep on the sofa at the moment having cuddles with DS, and he'll probably sneak into my room during the night & cuddle in.

Aww, thank you. He's normally quite a cuddly cat but also loves his outdoor independence. However, he's been so clingy for the past couple of days and only going outside for a few minutes at a time & then straight back in.
Hopefully he'll be on the mend very soon.

Use freshly boiled water that's been allowed to cool when you make up the salt water. Poor thing, cat bites are horrid.

Looks like a bite to me. Bet he’s been scrapping. We now keep hibiscrub in exactly for this reason.

Mine was the most cuddly fluffball ever and one night jumped on my lap, and I went to give him a cwtch and he growled - he had never ever done that before. I knew instantly something was wrong, it was so out of character. My ex husband wasn’t convinced but I flipped him over (the cat, not my ex) and he had a bite on his belly (and he was super fluffy so very hard to see - again the cat, not my ex). Spent the night with him in the spare room with salt water and him wrapped in a towel to stop him agitating it. Next morning got a month of antibiotics from the vet. Then he was right as rain and went on to live to a grand old life. He will absolutely be on the mend soon, you are doing everything right. Please update us when he’s been seen, holding your hand in the meantime!

I'm an expert on cat bites !! Not really but my cat was always scrapping and they always turned to abscesses after a few days.The problem is he was always missing, and only came home for some TLC and a visit to the vet.
Hibiscrub, Metacam and antibiotics were the usual order of the day.
It became so frequent during Covid , that I used to send photos to our vet if it had burst, then they allowed me to manage them at home.
Symptoms were going off his food, a bit grumpy and a bald spot developing on the injury site.You could definitely see 2 separate puncture wounds.
Good luck hope your cat is better soon.

Sorry I forgot to say, his mood improved a lot after the abscess burst, the pressure under the wound was eased.
The treatment was to keep bathing it, using a cotton wool pad and Hibiscrub or salt water, discarding and gently squeezing to remove the pus.
This usually left a deep hole which looks alarming.
Takes about a week to heal.

It's good that he's seeing the vet. I don't know what sort of disgusting pathogens our beloved household deities have in their mouths, but abscesses are a very common outcome, even with a wound as clean as this one. The vet will almost certainly want your lad to have antibiotics at the very least - they might be able to give him a long-lasting injection. And don't berate yourself for not seeing it before. It might be new (again, it's very clean) and cats are terrific stoics and very good at hiding illness and injury.

Looks like a relatively new bite to me, probably today at some point. It would probably take 24 hours to start developing an abscess, and 48 before it becomes really horrible. It is because they are puncture wounds - the tooth pushes nasties a long way in, so your cat will need antibiotics.

I learned about deep cat bites the hard way. Got in the way of a cat's jaws late on Friday afternoon - by Monday lunchtime I was in hospital with sepsis.

Thanks to everyone for you advice. Just back from the vet and he is so much happier in himself already, & has eaten!
Once the vet shaved the area around the wound you could really see just how big it was. She thought it was probably about 3-4 days old. She opened the abscess, squeezed it & cleaned it. He's got Metacam but no antibiotics (as they're trying to reduce their usage), so we have to bathe the area twice a day in salt water for the next week.

@Gloriainextremis that sounds horrendous! Hope you made a quick recovery.

Thanks for all the advice and support. I've had strong words with him about his nocturnal activities but I doubt he'll listen!!

Glad to hear that. I'm another one who is more of an expert on treatment of cat wounds than I would like. I've only had a couple needing antibiotics recently but I have supplies of hibiscus and metacalm at home.

Aww thanks for the update, so glad to hear that he is happier and on the mend. Well done for acting so swiftly, bet he’s being extra cuddly now.