cat wound and first aid

hello,
my cat pepto is an indoor and outdoor cat. we live in the UK in a fairly peaceful neighbourhood ( no wild animals) and she stays in the back gardens. usually we lock the cat flap at about 6-7pm but at times we forget and she's out until about 9.

today we thought someone was breaking in around the area of the cat flap. there was a huge commotion and banging going on for 15 seconds. we ran downstairs to see pepto running in, hair all fluffy. she does this sometimes but not with the huge banging. the last time she did it was when i heard weird screeching noises outside, i think it was from a white cat whom i see around who is extremely viscious/bold and intimidates pepto in her own garden with her screeching.

today we didn't hear any screeching-pepto just ran in. i went to her and noticed a huge chunk of fur missing. it was about 10 cm wide, and the skin with fur was ripped so you could see her inner skin with 2 parallel scratches. she wasn't bleeding thankfully. she was acting kind of normal, laying out like a princess and washing herself :wink:

to cut it short: we immediately took her to the vet, although it's out of hours. she is getting stitched up and the vet said it looked like she got her self stuck on a nail and got her fur ripped off rather than an attack.

i was wondering if there were any good links by people who are vets here about cat first aid? as in what if she was bleeding a lot, what do i do? i want to be prepared for this if it happens again. i am looking things up myself but was wondering if anyone could recommend me anything?

thanks a lot! i am picking her up tomorrow morning.

 

http://animalpetdoctor.homestead.com/Injuries.html
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/poin ... links.html

 

Hi. Just wanted to say that I'm glad your cat is fine and that you went to the vet.

 

thanks i hope this won't happen again but i think i'm going to organise a first aid box for her just in case

 

I found these links (all from the same site), they should help you.

http://www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/firstaid.html

http://www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/emergencies.html

http://www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/howto13.html

Theres a few things that are mentioned in there but I just thought Id mention them here as well.

Things to keep in mind with an injured cat, stay calm and keep yourself protected, cats that are injured, painful or having difficulty breathing can cause some serious damage to anyone that approaches or tries to handle it (I know...I have the scars ), this includes cats that know you well and are usually very sweet....keep a towel and pillowcase (if you dont have a cat container to transport your cat to the vet it) with your first aid kit. I know a few people that have actually lost nerve function in their fingers/hands or even ended up in intensive care after being bitten by their own cats when the cats were injured, one woman whos cat had got impaled on a broken wooden fence, she tried to take the cat off the wood and was bitten severely, she ended up in intensive care due to infection and permanently lost all feeling in one of her hands (not the cats fault but its their natural reaction when they are in pain).

If you think the cat needs bandaging, a temporary one is okay if your trying to stop bleeding but they should then be taken immediately to the vet, a bandage placed too tightly can cause further damage, sometimes there is swelling to take into account which means that when the swelling comes down the bandage will be loose. If you are trying to stop bleeding and place a small towel or gauze over the area and the blood comes through, dont take that gauze off but add more to it and apply a bit more pressure, by removing the gauze already placed you could be breaking small clots.

A newspaper folded and some tape can make a good temporary splint for a broken leg while you get the cat to the hospital, the idea is not to have it tight but rather to keep in straight and limit further damage, also thick cardboard (a flattened box) or a large dinner tray can make a good emergency 'stretcher' and can limit further injury to the spine, neck and internal damage, you have to be careful though that the cat can not scramble off when you lift it up.

Never give your cat over the counter meds without checking with a vet first....some human meds, especially pain killers like acetomoniphen are deadly to cats.

hope that helps.

 

Glad Pepto is ok. :m10: Good thread with tons of good info! :qm1: