What is the evolutionary advantage of cat abcesses, and why do we have to have them removed by the vet?

Question

Our cat has just had an abcess. Understand how this happens, but do not understand from an evolutionary point of view why they do not clear themselves. These are common, yet dangerous and require treatment.

Answer 1

It is an attempt by the body to localize and clear a bacterial infection, not always successful in the wild if a feline cannot be treated with antibiotic medicine. Humans get them too of course and many people died before the introduction of penicillin in the 1940's.

It is certainly not too bright to do it yourself in this instance. Infection can quickly spread to the blood stream and damage kidney tissue which will harm the cat over its lifetime. You can only get antibiotics through a licensed physician or vet.

Answer 2

There's no evolutionary advantage really - it's just what happens when something gets infected. I suppose if an abscess didn't form, the animal might just die from blood poisoning right away.

The common practice of treating abscesses is a reflection of how we've advanced beyond what nature can provide - this is how we've manage to get such long life expectancies out of domestic animals. In the wild, if an animal gets an infected wound that never heals up, it just dies, period. Or lives in great pain for a long time.That's how nature works. But because we're able to fix this problem, we do.

Understand that many infections DO clear themselves up - these are the wounds that don't become abscesses, and the areas of potential infection that we are otherwise never aware of. The skin itself is part of the body's natural immunity - if we didn't have it's protection, we'd get a lot worse than abscesses!

Hope this answers your question - I knew what I wanted to say but I'm not particularly happy about how I phrased it! Think I'd've got a 'C' in an exam :-)

Chalice

Answer 3

dont burst an absess unless you know what you are doing!! an abscess is an infection under the skin if you dont treat it properly later it will come back up again let your vet treat your cat they know what they are doing and im speaking as a vet nurse i have seen these things go wrong when an owner takes things into their own hands. ive seen amputation of limbs because owners try to take a short cut with their animals cuz its cheaper would you want that if it was your child or someone you loved dearly?? abscesses are painful so please let your vet do their job that is why they are there to help you and treat your beloved pet

Answer 4

When our cats get them we just pierce, drain, and apply antibiotic cream. Takes care of them pretty well. You can also use iodine.

I know we took our cat to the vet once for an abcess... after being charged $25 for them to poke and drain it I decided I can do that myself!

Answer 5

Here is an interesting article on abscesses http://www.vetinfo4cats.com/cabscess.html#Abcesses
Hope it helps.