Injured Cat - advice required

melon_collie

the other night i was lying in bed half asleep and i thought i heard cats fighting outside. i fell back asleep almost immmediately.

the following morning i let the cat in and i noticed immmediately that he was walking with a limp. i also noticed a tiny bit of blood left on my white tiles that seemed to be coming from his sore paw. i tried to get a look at it but he wouldn't let me. i said to myself that he'd be grand in a couple of days.

three days on now and he still has a limp and about half an hour ago he was lying stretched out on the sofa. i went over to him to rub his tummy and i noticed a large lump where his limpy leg enters his torso. i squeezed the lump and it started oozing yellow puss. i squeezed out as much puss as i could. to me it appears as if his skin could have been punctured by the nail from another cat.

would it be advisable to bring him to the vet or Will he be fine?? he hasn't been himself.

johndoe99

if there's puss in the wound, then its infected. It won't heal on its own, he will need antibiotics to fight it off. Vet time. If he starts to get lethargic, its getting serious.

SillyMangoX

Definitely bring him to a vet, that sounds very much like an abcess. They can be easily treated with a clean out and a course of antibiotic but can get very painful and possibly life threatening if nothing is done!

jimf

would agree with the others above my guy used to be a fecker for coming back battle scarred until one day I noticed quite a large lump on his neck and very hot to the touch

straight to the vet for a clean out and antis as silly says above he was fine 2 days later and back to his grumpy demanding self

morgana

Just adding my voice, get him to vet, sounds like cat bite abcess, he needs antibiotics and he'll be right as rain again. Don't wait till he gets all quiet and lethargic.

Pumpkinseeds

How is your cat doing OP?

melon_collie

Hi everyone. An update on the situation. Brought the cat to the vet last night and as expected (following your advice that is!!) the cat has a suspected bite wound. The vet said that we were right to bring him in. He said that sometimes squeezing out the puss can solve the problem but some times not. Anyway he gave him an injection of antibiotic and a course of antibiotics.

I felt around the cats arm pit this morning and there is still quite a substantial lump on it but I would imagine that this is just the bruised muscle tissue that got squeezed together in the other cats jaws. I am tempted to see if I can get any more puss out of it but I don't want to cause him any more pain. He is still limping quite badly and when he is sitting upright on his back legs he is holding up the sore paw off the ground. He seems reluctant to put any kind of weight on it if at all possible.

I am wondering now should I do something with the cat that did this. He is a ferrell cat who is terrorising not only my cats but my neighbours cats also. I have caught him a few times squaring up to my cats and swiping at them. He is really rough looking and from the looks of it has been in plenty of fights. I wouldn't dream of killing it or anything like that but would it be over the top to try trapping him and releasing him elsewhere. I am fully sure he doesn't belong to anyone.

sive1281

You could speak to your vet about who in your area offers free neutering to wild cats. Most practices or some animal charities will provide you with a humane trap, and will neuter the cat free of charge, then you generally realise it back to where it came from. He may settle and not be as aggressive after neutering, or some of the organisations may be able to advise you where he could be released to.

loveisdivine

melon_collie wrote: »

Hi everyone. An update on the situation. Brought the cat to the vet last night and as expected (following your advice that is!!) the cat has a suspected bite wound. The vet said that we were right to bring him in. He said that sometimes squeezing out the puss can solve the problem but some times not. Anyway he gave him an injection of antibiotic and a course of antibiotics.

I felt around the cats arm pit this morning and there is still quite a substantial lump on it but I would imagine that this is just the bruised muscle tissue that got squeezed together in the other cats jaws. I am tempted to see if I can get any more puss out of it but I don't want to cause him any more pain. He is still limping quite badly and when he is sitting upright on his back legs he is holding up the sore paw off the ground. He seems reluctant to put any kind of weight on it if at all possible.

I am wondering now should I do something with the cat that did this. He is a ferrell cat who is terrorising not only my cats but my neighbours cats also. I have caught him a few times squaring up to my cats and swiping at them. He is really rough looking and from the looks of it has been in plenty of fights. I wouldn't dream of killing it or anything like that but would it be over the top to try trapping him and releasing him elsewhere. I am fully sure he doesn't belong to anyone.

You could trap him and get him neutered. That would probably help with the fighting.

If you just trap him and move him elsewhere, its likely another feral will take his place and you will have the same problem again.

Pumpkinseeds

Glad to hear he's doing well OP, we've had plenty of trips to the vet for abcesses to be treated. There may be someone on this forum who knows of an organisation doing TNR in your area. The feral would be a lot happier and healthier after being neutered and won't be contributing to the kitten population. It'll also settle tensions with your own and the neigbhours cats once he's neutered. I'd return him to where he is if I were you. If you move him somewhere else you'd be doing him no favours at all unfortunately and another feral is just as likely to replace him.

Our own cats were always uncomfortable with each new arrival until they'd been neutered.

boomerang

It would be cruel to release him elsewhere. If you do that, there is no guarantee he will find food or shelter. You'd also be taking him away from the place he knows (cats are extremely bonded to their home turf) and where he has learned how to be safe from the dangers specific to your area. For instance, if you live in a quiet cul de sac, he wouldn't know how to protect himself on a busy road, and so on.

Nine times out of ten neutering the feral tom solves the aggressive disputes. It's also guaranteed to improve the poor cat's life. He probably gets bite wounds himself and has to suffer on without vet treatment. Neutering might also save him from a horrible death from FIV or FeLV. And of course he won't be impregnating the neighbourhood! The toms clean up beautifully once neutered - he'll be a different cat.

All this for I would say max. €50 - probably less if you explain to your vet that he's a feral.

Practice a random act of kindness.