My cat just got a fish hook removed from her paw?

Question

My cat was playing with my fiances fishing rod this morning and she got the hook in her paw. My fiance has a week stomach and he couldn't get the hook out and our Vets office is closed untill wednesday. Our friend came up and removed the hook, but it was dirty. It had already been in dirty water and had fish caught on it. I put some rubbing alcohol on the wound but, i want to know if there is anything else i should do to make sure it doesn't get infected.

Answer 1

She'll probably keep it clean by licking it but DO see the vet ASAP as there could be an infection brewing, then he can get her on oral antibiotics.
I don't think she would leave anything topical (like triple antibiotic or neosporin) on it, she would lick it off in a flash and I don't know how it would affect her internally. Also a bandage is just going to be something she needs to chew off in order to get at the foot and lick it.
Litter box is going to be a problem, I'd wash the foot with soap and water after she uses the box.
One thing you could possibly do, is wrap the cat SNUGLY in a towel (except for the affected leg/paw) and soak the foot in warm (about the temp of a nice hot bath) water and epsom salts, 2-3 times a day. Do this until you can get her in to the vet. Put the mixture in something like a jar or glass. May take two people to do this however, one to hold the cat and one to hold the foot in the jar...
Epsom salts are an old standard; they help draw infection / pus out.

Answer 2

Firstly, I recommend just letting your new cat chill out at its new home for awhile before you decide to do something that may ultimately frighten the cat and alter its personality. Going from the shelter to a home is already a huge life change. Cats aren't like dogs. They don't handle change well. Your shelter should have recommended a 10 day quarantine period to where the cat does not come into contact with any other animals in the house and is basically left alone to calm down and figure out that death isn't upon it. After the cat is used to its new home, I would then suggest getting in touch with a local vetrinary hospital concerning the clipping or declawing (though the declaw really should be a last ditch effort- especially taking into consideration if the cat is older than a year.) By declawing, they basically remove the first knuckle on the cats paw. If you do it too soon after adoption, or after the cat is no longer a kitten, sometimes behavioral issues can occur, such as peeing outside of the litter box and is non reversible. And then you would want to get in touch with a professional groomers. Though many do not take cats because cats groom themselves daily and generally don't require baths. For shedding, you will want to brush your cat. Good luck.

Answer 3

put some triple antibiotic ointment on it and wrap it in gauze until you can have the vet take a look at it.

Personally, I would just let my cat deal with it and keep an eye on it. If there seemed to be a problem (like she was limping on that foot, or the wound didn't heal or inflammed) then I would go to the vet. But, I don't like docs much, so I stay away if I can.

Answer 4

Ouch! This is a puncture wound, and they are the most likely to get infected because they go deep with only a small exit area for bacteria.

Try to stop the cat licking the wound - animals do this for comfort but it does NOT keep the wound clean, it only transfers bacteria from their mouths to the wound. I would keep the cat inside, wipe the wound regularly with cotton wool soaked in salty water (only one teaspoon of salt to a pint of water) and get her to a vet asap, there will be others in your area that can see you before wednesday. I wouldn't wait until then because if it's going to get infected it will have by then.

Chalice

Answer 5

Neosporin or a Triple Antibiotic Ointment of some kind would be good. You might also take her to the vet and get some oral antibiotics for her. If it was in very deep, topical antibiotics might not be enough.

Answer 6

Make sure that you wrap it up and put gauze on it and change the bandage everyday... maybe you should go to a different vet or an emergency vet as it may be serious.

Answer 7

Hydrogen peroxide , also if your cat uses a litter box you might want to get the pellet type litter for a week or so. It's not so great for odor and doesn't clump but it wont get stuck in the wound like regular clumping litter might.

Answer 8

get some neosporin and put some on the wound, and try to wrap it with a bandage of some kind, so as not to get any dirt in it until you can take her to the vet.

Answer 9

Neosporean it isint animal tested but it will fight infeciton