My cat has an absess and may be dying.?

Question

Can anyone help? My cat had a bad limp last week. He then went outside and didnt come back for about 4 days. When he came back his leg was even worse and he has a sack of fluid (possibly and absess) by his leg. I called the vet and it will cost close to $400 to fix him if its not to late. I really cannot afford that. I feel horrible and am losing sleep because my poor cat is in pain. How can I make him more comftorable or what can I do for him to help? I think he may be dying. I applied a warm pack to it in hopes it will drain. Any help would be great. Thanks you.

Answer 1

Either you find care or you provide care for your cat. You MUST locate a resource to assist you. An abscess is an abscess in a cat or in a human. If you cannot call around and locate a vet, see if you or someone you know has a friend who is a physician, a physician's assistant, an osteopath or a nurse or even a someone who used to be a medic in the service or an EMT. You need to lance the abscess and drain it, dress it, and give your cat antibiotics and maybe analgesia.

If you can't afford the care from your usual vet, and you can't locate a vet you can afford, and you can't find anybody trained to lance the thing for you, you will have to lance and drain it yourself. You CAN do this, and if you choose to do it, call the vet and let him know what you are doing and ask him if he will just give you a course of antibiotics and some kitty pain pills. You should be able to afford that. Just tell him the truth.

Bring your cat inside and lock him in the bathroom so he doesn't go off to recuperate or die. If the vet is going to be helpful, go get the medications from him. You will need: a couple of clean towels or towel-sized rags; a very sharp knife or razor; alcohol; cotton balls; 10 volume hydrogen peroxide; gauze patches; Neosporin, Bacitracin, or triple antibiotic ointment; winding gauze; adhesive tape or some kind of tape to seal the bandage when it is applied; an Elizabethan collar (purchased or homemade, but you have to have this to keep the cat from picking at the bandage).

If you are able to get the kitty antibiotics and pain killers, give your cat his first dose of these, then wait for about an hour so they are in his bloodstream. You probably won't be able to do this alone. If you haven't found a trained person to help, and you are going to do it, you will need a helper.

Wrap your kitty in a towel so that only his head and the abscessed leg are out. The assistant will have to hold the cat in place. In my mind, I see this being done on a kitchen sink draining board draped with a towel. But maybe you see it being done on your lap. Whatever works. But the assistant should immobilize the cat, so the person doing the lancing can concentrate on the abscess.

The knife or razor should have been sterilized in advance by holding it in a flame for a minute and letting it cool or by soaking it in alcohol until you actually are ready to use it. Examine the blister (the sack, you called it) that has formed. You will want to cut right into the center of it and make an incision deep enough to get into the pus, and long enough to drain all the pus out.

A vet would shave the area first, and you may want to do this. Hairs carry microorganisms and are hard to clean entirely. It is critical that the area be clean and disinfected. So, shave if you are so inclined. Then scrub the entire blister and about an inch all around it really well with soap and water. Rinse well, get rid of all the soap, Then slather the area with a good disinfectant: alcohol hand cleaner; alcohol; Betadine (which is what physicians use), and let it dry or blot it dry with a sterile gauze. Then make your incision, and drain the abscess. Apply warm compresses to draw the pus out, once the initial flow has slowed, and starting a few inches "upstream" from the blister, work your fingertips in a palpating/stoking way down toward the blister, to work out more fluid, but also to try an locate anything that your cat may have gotten in his leg.

The thing that probably would have cost you all the money had the vet done this is an x-ray, because the vet would want to rule out that your cat hadn't picked up some foreign body. And indeed, if there isn't an external wound that got infected and then abscessed, this is still a possibility. So see if you can find anything by touch. If you do find something, it is going to have to come out, or the leg will just abscess again.
Even if you don't find anything, there may be a foreign body in his leg. But at this point, the thing you are doing is the best you can do, so just proceed and hope you've nipped it.

I personally would lance an abscess, but I would not probe around to remove a foreign body unless it was mobile to the touch and removing it would be easy. If you find something, then you need a professional to remove it.

In any event, after you have manually worked out the pus, and the skin is back flush with the underlying tissues, pour hydrogen peroxide over the wound, and let it foam up for a few seconds, blot with sterile gauze, and pour again. Really cover the area with hydrogen peroxide. Then blot good with another sterile gauze.

Then get your tube of Neosporin, Bacitracin or triple antibiotic ointment, and squeeze some onto the incision. Lightly massage it over the entire area of the blister, and work a little into the incision, lightly. Then squeeze a generous amount on the incision, grab a gauze, and apply it over the wound. Then dress the wound with more gauze and wind gauze around it, then tape the dressing in place. Put the Elizabethan collar on the cat, and move him into the bathroom or some other room where you have arranged a bed, food and water bowls for him. Give him a litter pan with shredded newspaper (which is sterile - just shred it in a paper shredder) and keep him in there. Don't let him go out.

Change the dressing the next day, and the day after that. Keep the Elizabethan collar on the cat. Keep an eye on the wound. See if it begins to abscess again. If it does, there is probably something in his leg, and you need a vet. If it does not, you got it. On the fourth day, if there is no recurrence, remove the bandage, but keep the Elizabethan collar in place. On the fifth day, if everything looks good, you can remove the Elizabethan collar. If you got antibiotics from your vet, keep your cat in until he has taken the entire course. Do not let him miss a dose; this is very important. Once the antibiotics are gone and the leg looks good, the cat can go back outside.

I hope it is just a simple abscess and not some foreign body lodged in his leg. And I hope you are able to help him, that this helped some.

Answer 2

!! One of the replies (from Yasd) suggests giving your cat asprin for the pain....DON'T!! Asprin is FATAL to cats!! Don't ever self-medicate when you are not educated to do so - for that very reason.
Check with your vet the possibility of him putting a drain into the abscess (sounds like that's what it is) and then packing it. Afterwards, you should be able to apply dressings/hot packs yourself at home. I dont' think there's a kind or effective way of treating this completely by yourself, but the biggest factor in healing an abscess, is draining it. I wouldn't think it would cost $400 for that - the cat may not even need an anaesthetic to do it depending on the severity of the abscess. Please take him to the vet, explain your concerns with the cost, and ask for the vet to do the very minimum, leaving it up to you to do the rest. The $400 may have been the cost of doing all of the work at the clinic - where as you'll be quite capable of doing some yourself. It's important that you take action as soon as you can, as abscesses are VERY painful, and if the infection gets into the cat's bloodstream, he's going to be in for a truly terrible, probably fatal experience.

Answer 3

It shouldn't cost $400 for a veterinarian to lance an abscess and drain it and give you a supply of antibiotics. You can also try soaking the cat's leg in epsom salt water to help drain the infection (good luck, I'm sure cat's love it:). Call another veterinarian and see if it can't be treated, and ask how much an office visit costs. A good veterinarian will ask you if you want to treat it as well as estimate the cost for you. An office visit is inexpensive and the Vet can look at it in person, instead of diagnosing it over the phone, AND, if the cat is suffering too much, he can mercifully put it to sleep.

The $400 price is likely a worst-case scenario if they would have to amputate the leg to save the cat's life. Some veterinarians are so new-age in their treatments that that stuff can cost a lot more than it would if you go to an old fashioned veterinarian who is more realistic about animals. Make sure you ask a veterinarian who has been in business for years, instead of someone just out of school.

Bottom line is this: All animals get sick and die. When they run off for 4 days and get so sick you can't treat them, it is not "your fault" that you can't afford to fix them. Pets are special and it is great to take care of them, but don't feel bad when it is too expensive to keep them alive. In the big scheme of things, there are lots of animals who are sitting in shelters needing a home, that are going to be put to sleep that are perfectly healthy.

Answer 4

If it is an abscess, it will more than likely burst and drain. But the infection can get into the bloodstream and that can make him sick.

The cat should be seen by the vet. $400 sounds like a lot of money for an office visit, drainage and medication. What did the $400 include? You may have to do like we all do at one time or another....put it on a charge card. Or ask the vet you can pay a percentage now and pay the rest later.

There is also something called carecredit. Although I've never used it, I have read about it and it seems like a good plan and definitely something I wouldn't hesitate to use if I needed to. You can look into that and then you'd be able to bring him in to the vet.

Answer 5

$400 seems a bit excessive to lance an abscess and antibiotic treatment. Perhaps try a different vet. Meanwhile, the warm compresses should help.
So sorry for your dilema and hope your cat gets better.

Answer 6

An abcess should not cost that much to treat. I am a vet tech and advise you to get a second opinion at another vet. You need to get the pus out and get your kitty on antibiotics such as clavamox drops. Trypzyme needs to be put into the would. Your kitty probably has a fever so you should check it or take it to the vet b/c cats with abcesses aren't very happy!

Answer 7

1. Why did you leave your cat out for 4 days?
2. Why did you let your limping cat outside in the first place?
3. If you think your cat is dying why are you not taking it to the vet?
4. Do you really think I care if you are not sleeping well?


If you care one bit about this cat , take him or her to the vet today. Next time take better care of your animals!

Answer 8

sound's like your cat had a broken bone...the abases could be where the bone is irritating the tissue surrounding it. You need to make sure the infection hasn't attacked his heart. The humane society may be able to help at a lower cost.

Answer 9

Awww! poor thing! :(
You never know it could clear up naturaly... if he is still eating and drinking it's a good sign. My cat recently showed few symtoms and stopped eating and drinking and refused to come near me.. he had to be put down in the end.. had cancer. SO if your cat is still eating and drinking take it as a good sign.. because cats know when they are dying.
best of luck.. keep hoping!

Answer 10

If you cannot afford to care for your cat at this time, please do it the favor of surrendering it to the Humane Society. They may be able to give it the care it needs, or at least put it out of its misery. I am sorry you and your cat are going through this.