cat abscess?

Question

My 2 year old cat has not had anythin to eat or drink since Saturday morning, she is sleeping all the time and looks very ill, i noticed a very hard lump on her neck. She wont let me touch it, she growles and hisses at me. I telephoned the Vet this morning on emergency for help. She thinks that its an abscess, i was told that i could bring her in on emergancy today but before she even looks at her it woul be a £65 fee. The vet made me an appointment for tomorrow afternoon and told me to keep an eye on her. She said that my cat would be running a very high tempreture and that the abscess could burst and that i was not to worry. Has anyone had an abcess experience before? an when i tke her to the vets what will they do?

Answer 1

do a web search, because an abscess can run from not too bad to a chronic serious problem. Abscess usually occurs when cat gets scratched or bitten (but could be anything). The wound (usually small or puncture, so you wouldn't even see it) heals up with BACTERIA TRAPPED INSIDE. The healed over wound gets infected or festers, and the pus is trapped under the skin. This can cause a very bad odor (often the first sign for the pet owner). It can burst on it's own, or sometimes the cat will chew through the skin (otherwise the pus will be trapped and could kill the cat). Otherwise, the vet will lance it.

Normally, antibiotics (penicillin pills) are administered and if the abscess has ruptured, neosporin or other topical antibiotics are applied to the open wound.

Anyway, there is a LOT more, so learn how to feed you cat pills (pill pocket treats!) and about abscesses by doing a web search on "cat + first aid". here are a few good sites :
learn about this, and a lot of interesting things at these GREAT sites:

http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?ac... (go to the library of articles!)

http://www.cattraining.com/

http://www.perfectpaws.com/

hope these are helpful

P.S. my cat ate the pills right out of my hand when I mixed it in with some tartar control treats.

Answer 2

An abscess is just like having a huge pus-filled cut on your leg or arm. It's painful, it causes fever, and sometimes systemic infection, but is actually pretty easily fixed.

What your vet will do is the following: After putting the cat under general anesthesia, the abscess will be lanced (or if it has burst, the hole will be enlarged) and all the offending yuck inside will be drained, and then flushed with an antiseptic solution. Usually the wound is left open so any remaining infection will drain. If the would is sealed prematurely, the abscess will return and will have to be treated again.

Your cat will need oral antibiotics for 10-14 days, depending on the severity of the infection, but will be able to come home the same day (usually). As the wound continues to drain, it will be messy, but as long as you keep the cat inside where it can't get into anything, and as long as you give her her medicine, she will heal up in no time!

Answer 3

If the cat has a bot fly, then they may be able remove the larvae. I think bot fly larvae can make an abscess. But it could be a puncture wound. I've heard of people in third world countries who get them on their own bodies and they put a bit of pork over the wound, and use gauze and tape to cover the wound. The larvae is supposed to migrate from the cat or human (which it settled in) to the pork (which it prefers over cat or human). I've never tried this trick before on a cat, and I am not sure how you'd keep the cat from ripping the bandage off and eating the pork. It is worth a try, if it has a larvae in there, though. It couldn't hurt to try it. I don't know how long it would take the larvae to migrate. But it couldn't hurt to try I guess.

I've had a cat before with an abscess and the vet had to lance it for it to drain. Well they were going to lance it, but they tried squeezing it first, and the cat didn't fight. They said he was calm enough they didn't have to lance it.
It is probably better to let the vet look at the cat if it is very aggressive towards you.
If the wound drains on it's own, then you can put hydrogen peroxide in it or some other kinds of medication safe for cats.

I've put hydrogen peroxide on a cat before after it was in a fight, and alcohol gel, but that's all. It's leg healed and the wound is closed, and the hair is finally growing back. It took a lot of time to heal though!

But this was just an outside cat that was a stray we started feeding. We didn't want to take it to the vet.

Answer 4

If it is truly an abscess, there are a couple of ways as going at it. Sometimes, the vet can simply pick of a scab (if there is one) release all of the purulent discharge, flush it well, and send the kitty home with antibiotics. However, the longer that the abscess is full, the more tissue is eaten away inside. If this is the case, the vet will likely recommend surgery to place a drain to keep the pocket from filling up again and again. However, there is no way to know unless you take the cat to the vet....remember, if you are short on cash, the vet can present you with all of the different treatment options and you can decide which one you can handle!

Answer 5

I had a cat with an abcess before. It was right on the top of her head. Cats seem to be prone to them for some reason - probably because when they fight they claw each other and get puncture wounds with bacteria from dirty claws and then they heal fast, but there may still be dirt left inside their body. An abcess is usually a scratch or puncture that gets healed over but has bacteria left inside and then gets infected and full of pus. If it bursts, it will be like a big pimple popping, with lots of gross oozing pus and junk coming out and you should clean it off with some kind of disinfectant. That's a good sign though, because at least the infection is outside of the cat's body instead of festering on the inside then!

The vet will probably lance it (like a boil or big infected pimple on a person) and then drain out all the pus. They will likely give the cat an antibiotic, either an injection or a topical cream. You will probably have to either give the cat a pill every day or rub some cream on the open sore left by the lancing or both. When my cat had her abcess, the vet lanced it and drained a lot of pus and then there was what looked like a big open hole on her head. I had to clean it off every morning and evening with a disinfectant (I used hydrogen peroxide) so that it wouldn't heal over or scab up, and then smear antibiotic ointment into the hole. It was not fun - my cat HATED the whole procedure. Depending on where the abcess is, your cat may have to wear one of those cone things so that it can't lick or scratch at the spot.

Answer 6

yes but where I live if you don't provide immediate care it can be a charge of cruelty to animals.
More than likely at teh vets at least where I live would examine the lump ( if teh cat is that upset they may need to tranquilize her.) if it's an abcess that hasn't popped they may lance it to drain it.
Oh and of course they will do a general exam and take her temperature.
then if it's an abcess they will probably send you and the cat home with antibiotice and maybe an ointment.

Answer 7

Not to sound pessimistic, but you won't know if it is an abscess or a tumor until it is looked at by a professional. Spend the money, it's worth the peace of mind.

Answer 8

check for other vets and if running a fever get liquid baby aspirin and give one half dropper, vets do that and tell you it is a antibiotic, seeing your pet needs help instantly, all so use proxide on infected areas, these things are used in the back woods emg. care.