my cat had a fight with a stray cat. he seems ok. do i have to take him to a vet?

Answer 1

First of all, I am a vet tech so I'll give you the best advice I can. If there is any evidence at all of the skin being broken anywhere on his body he needs to go to the vet! The stray cat has a good chance of not being vaccinated, and can pass a number of different things on to your cat. Rabies is one of them. Cats do not get distemper, this is something many people don't know. The vaccine for "feline distemper" is not a distemper vaccine at all. The vaccine is FVRCP which stands for Feline Viral Rhinotracheitis, Calicivirus, and Panleukopenia. (Distemper is part of a vaccine given to dogs, not cats. People just use the name interchangeably because they are not educated about it.) At any rate, those are three nasty things you don't want to mess with, and can be fatal to your cat if left untreated. Another thing--I wouldn't be worried so much about your cat getting FeLV (Feline Leukemia Virus) because this virus is transmitted through saliva when cats groom one another. It is also called the Cat Lover's Disease. Since I doubt your cat was out licking the stray cat before they started to fight, this isn't a big concern. What I would be mored worried about is what is commonly referred to as the Cat Fighter's Disease, or FIV. This is Feline Immunodeficiency Virus, or the feline version of HIV. It is very important to take your cat to the vet and have them tested for this. There is no cure, unfortunately. Most tests that the vet will do for this are a combination FeLV/FIV test that they will use to rule out both of those at the same time. Also, any scratches or cuts on your cat have a great chance of getting infected. I'm sure the stray cat probably has all sorts of bacteria living in his claws from scratching at himself and other things outside. If his nail scratches your cat, the bacteria will infect your cat. Cats also naturally have a lot of bacteria in their mouths and if your cat was bitten this bacteria could be transmitted to your cat and cause an infection also. A good antibiotic to ask your vet for would be Clavamox. It's a pretty well rounded one that gets rid of a lot of things and works really well with results in a day or two. Good luck!

Answer 2

My concern would be if you cat is vaccinated for everything. This includes rabies and distemper, obviously. However, feline leukemia is easily transmitted and a lot of people don't vaccinate. There is also something called "kitty AIDS" (I'm not being funny, it's true!) but I don't know the scientific term but a lot of strays carry it as well. Call you vet and see what your cat has been vaccinated against and if you should test him for anything. Also, I hope he is neutered. If not, neuter him or he'll keep getting into fights and will enventually, lose one. If you take good care of your cat and it is neutered and has all its vaccinations, I wouldn't worry. I keep my cats outdoors as well. A lot of people say kitties should only be kept indoors but I live in a rural area where they are safe from the roads and our dogs keep predators away. They are all vaccinated, de-wormed and receive Frontline regularly. And of course, they are spayed and neutered. All of our cats have well past 15 and currently, we have a 12,13, and 18 yr. old. and 2 Shelties under a year who terrorize them. Good luck with your kitty and follow my advice if you want it to live a long and healthy life! And don't forget to de-worm it and apply Frontline regulary if it is outdoors like I'm guessing it is.

Answer 3

YES I would absolutely take your cat to the vet you don't know if the other cat is sick in anyway Rabies, feline lukemeia there are all types of diseases that cats carry. Just have the vet check your kitty over just incase because you wouldn't want to lose him would you? I know if that happened to my kitty I would be at the vet in a heartbeat or at least on the phone with them pronto

Good Luck

Answer 4

if he seems ok, he should be alright just check him over to see if there are any open wounds, if there are you might want to consider having him checked out if you haven't had his rabies shots, if you have just clean the wounds and put some anitbiotic on the sores and watch him close for awhile. if you see the third eyelid showing you need to take him in right away, thats a serious health condition if the third eyelid starts to show. if the inside of his ears are warm he has a fever which can mean an infection so you would want to take him to the vet then too.

Answer 5

Yes, I would recommend you take him to the vet just to be sure he's OK. We had a bad experience with our cats, and still aren't sure what exactly happened to them. But they both had very nasty abscesses which had to be surgically opened to drain, several courses of oral antibiotics, ointment, disinfectant powder...you name it. The whole process with both cats took over 2 months and cost over $1000. We almost lost one of our cats and he is now an indoor cat.

Our vet told us that cats tend to abscess easily because their skin is thin and the surface of the wound seals up quickly after an injury, while underneath the bacteria are breeding rapidly. If you take your cat in now you may be able to avoid a major problem.

Good luck!

Answer 6

If your cat is still behaving the same as before the fight no. Is he still going outside, if hes eating, ect. Hes fine. Cats are tough.

Answer 7

I would definitely take my cat to get checked out. Is your cat up to date on it's vaccinations? You never know about the other cat's history. Get her checked out for your own peace of mind

Answer 8

You do if your cat has not had the proper vaccinations. However, a good pet owner that I am sure you are, should monitor and cuts, scrapes, or injuries. If anything worsens do NOT hesitate to do so. Good Luck :)

Answer 9

yes! your cat might have rabies that can infect all of you at home, remember that through saliva you can acquire rabies... just to be sure you must visit your near vet for your cat to be checked.. and cat likes to lick any thing that it sees, like your kitchen utensils..

Answer 10

u should, just in case the cat bit it and it might had rabies, or got a scratch, that got infected from the filthy cat