Posted on: 19 March, 2015
Author: Angela Tempest
Cats are as prone to getting injured as humans or dogs and similarly, treating small wounds can be done at home without the need for a vet's visit. Here are some tips to deal with small injuries and advice about when to go and see the vet. Cats are very active animals and can easily run themselves into trouble that ends up with a physical injury. Cuts, bruises and scrapes are not always serious enough to warrant a trip to the vets if you know a few basic care tips but also recognising when professional help is needed is also important. Most cats receive wounds from bumping or hitting hard or sharp objects as well as impacts from cats, attacks by other animals or other dangers when outside. If a cat has a fresh wound, there are a number of signs that one or more of which may show up. These include: Wounds can easily become infected if they aren’t cleaned and any swelling or tenderness can be accompanied by signs such as a discharge of pus from the wound, an abscess where the pus accumulates under the skin or even symptoms of fever. Your cat may be the deciding factor in whether you treat the wound yourself or take them to a vet. Sometimes it is just best to wrap them up in a towel and take them to see a professional, because either the wound is too bad to try to treat or their reaction is so bad that you cannot treat them. If you can treat them then there are a few basic steps to start with. These will help you decided if a vet’s trip is needed or not. Firstly, if there is bleeding, get direct pressure onto the wound using a sterile gauze or clean cloth to avoid infection. It can take 5-10 minutes to stop this and once the bleeding has stopped, strap the gauze in place. Don’t take the gauze away as this is likely to start the bleeding once more. If there is no bleeding then cleaning the wound is the next step. Use an antiseptic solution or even plain water if you don’t have something suitable with a gauze pad or clean cloth, not cotton, to clean the wound. You can also use a syringe or similar device to flush the wound if there seems to be any debris in it. Most antiseptic solutions will be based on either povidone iodine or chlorhexidine diacetate – don’t use anything containing alcohol or hydrogen peroxide as this can cause tissue damage. If the laceration is a long one or deep, don’t flush the whole of the wound but clean around the edges. The cat should then be taken to the vet to deal with the problem comprehensively. If you are unable to treat the wound or aren’t confident it is the right thing to do, take the cat to the vets. The vet will then evaluate the wounds to see what is best to be done. Sometimes this may involve shaving patches of fur to gain access to the wound and occasionally an x-ray may be needed. Most cuts and scrapes will be treated in a similar way to mentioned above. If there is a puncture wound, particularly from another animal, there could be damage under the skin that isn’t immediately visible. After the wound has been cleaned, vets will often probe the wound to ensure no further problems are present, occasionally leading to surgical treatment to deal with deep tissue problems. Should a wound be showing signs of infection after 12 hours or large amounts of skin are missing, the vet will normally bandage them to allow the infection to come out. Occasionally a drain may be used to remove contamination. Most cats when visiting the vet for this type of injury are home within 24 hours of the incident. Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com For more information about cats, breeds and health issues, please see my other articles at The Best Cat Litter Box