Vets: what's wrong with this cat?
 

This is one of the strays that we've tamed and have been feeding. Couldn't get good pix because she was squirmy. She's getting around OK, and eating, but she's a little gimpy. The area show is swollen, and she flinches if you touch anywhere around it.

We tried to make her an inside cat several months ago, but she was having none of it. Her brother disappeared one night a few months ago, after we heard a horrific cat-shriek - never saw the poor guy again.

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Obviously an infected bite wound...

Is that on a joint? My cat had that and it was bad news. However, there was other bad news coming at the same vet visit. I won't mention the outcome if you didn't read it or don't know.

I hope the best for your little kitty there.

I'm no vet, but that looks infected from here.

I took her in a few months ago to get her fixed and all her shots, so she's OK there.

Bite or claw wound from a fight which abscessed and opened. Cats unfortunately will often heal the skin over an infected area and then it'll abscess again. Need to keep cleaning it out with peroxide on a Q Tip. Antibiotics oral or injectable should also be done. Cat's lick their claws and in a fight the puncture from a sharp claw will inject the bacteria right under the skin...takes 5-7 days to abscess. They will be gimpy and sore on that spot before it opens and drains. Also likely run a fever. The real mess is when the chest wall gets punctured during a fight and the whole chest cavity gets infected.

Infected bite wound. Just went through that in December with a friend's cat. Take 'em to the vet unless you've got the sedative and tools to open it up, take out what remains of the cyst, clean it out (disinfect) and suture it back together with a drain.

Satellite dish kitty was not happy.
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Been through this many times with my cats....what everbody else said, it's infected & has abscessed. Get that cat to the vet ASAP. He will sedate him, lance, drain & debride/clean out the wound. He will give rabies & feline leukemia shots as well. They now have a long-acting anti-biotic which is ideal for this situation: one shot of Convenia (based on body weight) takes the place of oral anti-biotics 2X a day, and lasts for two weeks. They usually send you home with medicated malaseb pledgets (medicated pads) that you're supposed to wipe the wound with & pick off the scab so that it stays open & oozing. If it closes up, it can abscess again but I've never been successful with my cats in this regard...they won't hold still. If the initial cleaning is thorough & Convenia is given, as long as they're in the house for a couple of days, they'll probably be OK with no re-infection. That looks bad & probably smells bad too. Vet...right away!

I'm a vet and have no idea what's wrong with that cat. ...course, I've never had much experience with wounds as I was in the Air Force. Now, ask me a question about cable tv troubleshooting and we'd be all set. :D

Same kind of thing happened to my cat years ago. However, the wound had opened up and was draining puss by the time I saw it. She had gotten bitten in the neck between her chin & chest. I somehow didn't see it until it started draining. Took her to the vet & he treated it & sent her home with the cone shaped shield and a tube in her neck to further drain it plus antibiotics. She recovered pretty fast and lived on past 20.

Cute cat. Toby wishess her a get well soon.

Ditto...hope she's well soon...

bitewound, if she can lick it, she can probably heal herself.. But to be on the safeside, i'de get the vet to rince the wound, and get some antibiotics in there.

Last year i had a running account at the vet because Boris @ 2 Years was a youngling with more balls then skill.
Bite wounds in his neck, on his head, his jaw, everywhere, from cats, and ferrets and what not...

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Everytime i had to go to the vet, the ordeal became worse, because the vet has to get inside the wound, which hurts... And as it hurts, Boris would struggle, HARD.
struggle made it worse in the pain department, obviously..

I had to put my whole weight on top of Boris, and he would simply push me up.. Incredible power from such a small animal.

Luckily, this year, he seems to have his bravery matched by skill and physical condition.
Boris now owns the lands he patrols.

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One of our cats had a similar wound in the "arm pit". The vet pull the little scab and then proceeded to "pump" the puss out. This was one of the more disgusting sights I've witnessed.

And for the record, cat bites are nasty. I was put in the hospital for 4 days back in 1994. The only thing on TV on day 2 was the friggen OJ Simpson Bronco car chase.

Vet told me that pretty much any bite from a critter with fangs similar to a cat (weasels, ferrets), is guaranteed to infect.

When a Dog bites, he will shake with whatever he's biting..that tears up the wound, so it's wide open , that reduces the risk of an abscess. It's easier to disinfect.

Cat's or other fangs puncture, but leave an otherwise small wound with , it's a nice, round puncture,
But for every bite, dental plaque stays behind carrying germs and bacteria.

Because the wound is small, it closes up in no time and entraps the bacteria, causing an abscess.

We've given her some antibiotics, which were left over from one of her inside cats, but we've made the decision to not go down the rabbit hole (or cat-hole, as it were) with he strays other than getting them fixed and basic shots.

Then I would suggest you turn her over to a no kill shelter...even if you have to pay.

Pets are like kids...if you don't want to care for them, don't have them.

This cat isn't really a pet - she's one of a handful of strays that hang around our house. We have 3 inside cats already, and can't afford to tend to the needs of all of the random cats that come and go. The ones we can catch, we get fixed and get their basic shots, but apart from that and putting out a little bit of food, we let them be.

I understand not wanting to get involved like that...it's not cheap sometimes but, please take that cat to the vet. It rarely gets better on it's own when it's as ugly looking as that. What will eventually happen is that the infection spreads to the bloodstream & when it does, it'll happen rather quickly since it's on the torso & close to the heart. The cat will be so ill, it won't be able to defend itself. If you took that cat to the vet & had the wound cleaned out & got a long-lasting antibiotic like convenia on board, he'll be fine after he sleeps off the sedation. Like this, he's going to suffer for a long time.

+ a lot !

+2! Now off to tell our cats how lucky they are. But the spoiled bums won't care...SmileWavy

Man, I get that ;)

dose it with fish mox for a week.

That same thing happens to my friends cat about every nine months or so. Cat gets into it with another cat then it won't heal and he gets to pay another ~$600 or so in vet bills.

Cats are jerks.

Whaddya think bought my Porsche :D:D

She's definitely doing better after a couple days of antibiotics. The swelling appears to have gone down, and she seems to be in better spirits. The first day she looked tired, dirty and disheveled, and she was easy to catch. It took some patience and cunning to snag her to administer meds this morning.

A sick cat bought your Porsche? Does it even have a driver's license?

Yeah...thanks for the update...and for doing the right thing. :)

Well, I guess you don't realize I am a vet and have treated tons of cats with the same malady over the years. A weak attempt at humor...sorry...SmileWavy

I knew you were a vet, any the only attempt at humor weaker than yours was mine :)

She appears to be doing OK; the area is still a bit swollen but it doesn't seem to slow her down much.

Here's a shot of her paying her rent this morning

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Thanks for the post! They give us much for the little we give them. :)

Seeing these pictures and hearing these stories don't exactly convince me to be a cat person. Yuk.

I'm gonna go pet my dog.