I discovered a nasty wound on my cat today

First, I'm really glad I found this site. I've posted twice, and you've all been very helpful. I'll try to stop in more often and help you in anyway I can.

Ok, so last week I noticed a bump on Molly's neck, and have tried to see what it is several times, but with her thick hair and getting squirmish, I haven't been able to see what it is. I was worried it could be a tick but thought it more likely that it was probably a briar.

Today, she jumped up on my lap and there's a raw spot where the bump was. The hair's gone and it looks bad. It wasn't there this morning. She sits on my lap several times a day. My vet is out until Friday. The closest hospital is over 50 miles away.

I posted before that she and her mother don't get along, but they don't actually fight - claws and all. My dog plays with her, but I know he couldn't have done this.

What should I do until I get to the vet, and does anyone have any idea what could have caused this?

Thanks in advance. I'm worried sick about this. :cry:

 

could be an abcess that burst open...an abcess is a wound that heals outside but not inside and inside fills with puss. If large enough when they break open they can be nasty. I would cover it with something like neosporin until you can get to a vet. If at all possible shave the fur around the wound and keep it clean and the ointment on it to help it from scabbing over again. Don't use peroxide. Get her to the vet as soon as possible cause if it is infected she can get ill

 

Hi. Just keep an eye on the area. If you start to notice any drainage, (such as green/yellow/brown) wipe the area with a moist, clean wash cloth and some mild soap. Also take her temperature at least twice a day, incase there is an infection of some kind. A normal rectal temperature is around 101.5 F (38.6 C) for an adult cat and . Don't put any ointments like Neosporine on the area. That product is useless and can actually trap more bacteria in. Not to mention it only actually works on a few types of bacteria. If your cat does develops a fever I would advice you drive that long distance to see a vet. I hope your kitty feels better soon.

 

chess....the pet first aid course stated keeping a product such as neosporin in the first aid kit for such things...is there something better to use. I ask cause I do keep the stuff in my foster kit

 

Hi Mary. I thought I was going to be the first poster, so I didn't see your reply until after I posted. So, don't think I was bashing your post, LOL. I've read a lot of medical articles about various products and Neosporine is just one of those really over rated products. I actually mentioned this to my vet and they agreed. What happens is that because it's petroleum jelly based, the bacteria actually end up thriving in this nice soft warm environment. Neosporine (if I recall correctly) only kills about four main bacteria. That's nothing. Also, I believe if you read the label on Neosporine it states that it is never to be used on deep wounds (this would include an abscess, as they can be deep). The best way to clean an area (in my opinion) is with mild soap and water.

 

Does that mean that humans shouldn't use Neosporin as well? My son has eczema and when he scratches, I'd apply neosporin on it.

Sherryg, I hope your baby heals up real soon!

 

Hi Vene. It's not that people/animals should or shouldn't use it, it's just more of a matter of the product actually working. One good thing I do have to say about Neosporine, is that if you have a mild scratch (nothing on deep wounds) the scaring will be reduced. Some people like to use this if they had a pimple/zit that is drying out, so that there won't be as big of a scar. However, 100% pure vitamin E oil will do just the same thing.

 

:qm1:

 

My kitten had a lump on her back a few weeks ago. The vet told me to put a warm, damp cloth on it for a few minutes twice a day. I never found out what it was because it disappeared after a few days. This can't hurt so it's worth a shot.

 

if it is a burst absess or whatever dilute some peroxide with some water usually 2water 1 peroxide and flush the area each day- wiping away and drying the moisture afterwards.

 

well...gee...i dont have any medical advice, because i am not experienced in these kinds of things...but, mary...why not peroxide? they use that on a cat at the shelter who get skin wounds from a possible allergy....

why is peroxide not a good remedy to keep the area clean??

 

I've been reading that peroxide can dry out the skin...I'll see if I can find more info on it cause I hate to type anything and not have info to back it up. But also that might depend on the kind of wound. When my cats used to get abcesses (I had one that abcessed easily) I was told to keep the area clean and slightly moistened cause you wanted to keep it from scabbing cause it was healing outside but not inside (fur issue).

Let me go do a "look see" on the peroxide

 

it can damage the healthy skin around the wound - I found this

Hydrogen peroxide is less used now as a debriding agent than in the past. When hydrogen peroxide is applied to a wound it combines with catalase produced in the tissues and decomposes into oxygen and water, producing effervescence (Potter and Perry, 1993). The rationale was that this helps to loosen materials that might hinder wound recovery and enables them to be washed off more readily. Six-percent w/v hydrogen peroxide (known as ' 20 volume' solution) liberates twenty times its own volume of oxygen upon decomposition (Thomas, 1990a), and is generally diluted 1 in 3 for the irrigation of wounds. The release of oxygen also kills some anaerobic bacteria such as the tetanus bacillus or Escherichia coli that might otherwise infect the wound. This anti-microbial action of hydrogen peroxide can be amplified 100-fold by the addition of L-cysteine (Berglin et al, 1982).

The problem with hydrogen peroxide and some other traditional debriding agents is that they also damage the healthy cells (keratinocytes and fibroblasts) that are needed for wound healing and inhibit their necessary migration into the damaged area (Tatnall, Leigh, and Gibson, 1990; Tatnall, Leigh, and Gibson, 1991; O'Toole, Goel, and Woodley, 1996). In current practice the emphasis has moved away from the use of cytotoxic materials to those which promote healing, including the use of natural signalling molecules such as platelet-derived growth factor (Higgins and Ashry, 1995). In the British National Formulary (1996) hydrogen peroxide is now listed under "Astringents, oxidisers and dyes", and not as a desloughing agent.

The application of hydrogen peroxide has been replaced with the use of saline wash, substances such as Debrisan and Intrasite Gel for the removal of necrotic tissue, and the application of hydrogel dressings such as Granuflex. Varidase is a desloughing agent with wound cleansing properties, and contains streptokinase and streptodornase (Thomas, 1990b).

 

my kitten had a grub in her neck. i found it after noticing sore on her neck. i put bag balm on it and a white head popped out, pull it out with tweezers. took her to the vet and he said they were quite common for cats to get.

 

:-&

btw mary. thank you for that info. i cut and pasted it into an email to one of our higher level staff at rescue, because they were using it on oksana...a kitty that gets sores on her neck for some unknown reason. she said she would pass the info on....

 

Thanks to all who replied.

I told my mom about Molly, and she said it was a "warble". Our rabbits used to get them when we lived on the farm. I looked it up on the net, and she was right. It's a worm essentially - maybe the same as a grub I'm not sure.

I've been using neosporin and it's healing really well, but as a safety measure, I'm going to take her to the vet today.

Thank you again. I'll be back.

 

http://www.bright.net/~bryanvet/Cuterebra.htm

Warbles are gross! Arg!

Good luck on the vet visit!

 

Thats what the vet thought Ritchie had prior to the maggots and thats about how his neck looked too expect with tons of maggots popping out. Yuck.

 

I need a shower

 

has anyone caught that show on animal planet...on parasites???

ugh!!! talk about gross....i mean...its really gross....

just imagine...not even on your cat....they are inside you!!! :-&