Small Wound; what to do?

So... my long-haired kitty Cheshire Cat somehow got a big mat in his fur. He rarely gets them because I brush him so often, but he did get one. I cut the mat out of his hair and all was fine and well.

Until... Mr. Melodrama himself decided he didn't like the fact that his hair was cut, so he, Idunno, bit himself? He did this a few hours after the actual hair cut and I wasn't around to witness it, but he's done the self-harm thing before so I'm sure he must have bitten himself. He IS an inside cat, I can't imagine how else he would have gotten this little boo-boo. Besides that, it was driving him crazy pre-cut and immediately post-cut, but now he's happy as a little clam.

Anyway, there's a small wound there now and I'm not sure what I should do. It doesn't seem worthy of taking him to the vet, but I don't want it to get infected. Should I just keep an eye on it and attempt to keep it clean with some diluted peroxide? How long should this take to heal?

: : never a dull moment with Cheshire Cat.

If it's a puncture bite consider a vet visit, for a small shallow scrape/scratch you can treat that at home. Treat it like you would for yourself, clean and put a bit of antibiotic ointment (no pain reliever) on it. Keep it clean and watch it to make sure it's healing and not getting infected.

Originally Posted by strange_wings

If it's a puncture bite consider a vet visit, for a small shallow scrape/scratch you can treat that at home. Treat it like you would for yourself, clean and put a bit of antibiotic ointment (no pain reliever) on it. Keep it clean and watch it to make sure it's healing and not getting infected.

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Thanks! It's really more of a scrape type of thing. This is kind of gross but... it looks like he bit the skin and then pulled it back a little bit, so there's a little skin flap hanging over an area smaller than the size of my pinky fingernail. Ick. Can you suggest an antibiotic ointment?

There's a skin flap? Yuck. Watch that very very carefully, that can hold in infection and hinder healing a bit.

Years ago, Sho got outside and had an accident with a rose bush . He managed to get a small slice on his ear with a flap of skin. I tried cleaning it up, using ointment and leaving the tiny flap. I didn't like the idea of trimming it off... I should have, it got icky within a few hours. This was a very thin piece that died though, I do not suggest that in your case unless it's tiny and would not harm the cat. For now, treat it and watch the wound.

Are you sure you didn't catch a bit if skin when you were cutting out the mat? It's possible, those mats can be tricky.
While I have removed mats on my own in the past, if at anytime the cat started to wiggle or I couldn't clearly see the skin near the mat, I stopped.

For ointment, any of the kinds made for people. Check the back and make sure it's a pain reliever free kind as the kind with pain reliever is toxic.

Originally Posted by strange_wings

Are you sure you didn't catch a bit if skin when you were cutting out the mat? It's possible, those mats can be tricky.
While I have removed mats on my own in the past, if at anytime the cat started to wiggle or I couldn't clearly see the skin near the mat, I stopped.

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My fiance asked me the same thing, but I'm sure that I didn't. I cut his hair pretty often on his backside because it gets kind of icky, and I'm always very careful. I double checked him after his hair cut to make sure I didn't cut him (I always double check, even though he just wants to run away and hide). The mat was bothering him before the cut, and he really was not pleased about the hair cut. He kept nibbling at the area immediately afterwards, and when I noticed him again a few hours later (no long nibbling), he had his little wound. All the nibbling makes me think he bit himself, plus he kind of has a history of that behavior when he's not happy about something. He's kind of melodramatic and neurotic like htat.

Would neosporin work? I think I'll just do the diluted peroxide thing for a day or two and see how that works out...

I read on a website that I should cut off the skin flap but... I just can't bring myself to do it. I mean, is it really that necessary for me to do that?

Originally Posted by Betty Ann

Would neosporin work? I think I'll just do the diluted peroxide thing for a day or two and see how that works out...

I read on a website that I should cut off the skin flap but... I just can't bring myself to do it. I mean, is it really that necessary for me to do that?

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Only use peroxide once, initial clean up or if it does get infected (if you're providing proper wound care, that won't happen). Peroxide will eat away healthy tissue as well as bad. Check your neosporin, if it doesn't have a pain reliever in it, it's fine. If it does have it, I wouldn't use it more then once tonight and only a small amount in case he licks at it. Get some without later when the stores open if you have to.

It's hard to bring yourself to trim it off, he may even try to nip it off later himself. If it's thicker, I would hesitate.. ok.. so I'd wuss out a very thin small flap should be fine to come off now.
Maybe let it go for now and see how it looks later, if it's dried a little or see if he's taken it off.

This conversation sounds so gross. Sad fact is that I've had to do a lot of first aid on kitties and dogs growing up, parents wouldn't let them go to the vet unless it was very serious. And of course they wouldn't pay for a groomer, so I had to take care of mats.
A little suggestion on that, use your fingers as a guard between the skin and mat, this way if any skin gets cut it's only yours.

Since you have to regularly trim his fur maybe you should look into pet clippers? These would have a guard on them. That or schedule him in with a local groomer.

Yea, this is a pretty gross conversation!! But Cheshire can be kind of gross sometimes. lol I'm probably freaking out over nothing... I used to have outdoor cats who came home with bigger wounds all the time, and they were always fine. I also had parents who refused to take cats to the vet! My current cats are really babied way too much, though.

Thanks for the grooming tips. I've considered getting clippers, but he's sooooo skiddish and he's JUST getting used to the scissors (well, kind of). He doesn't usually get mats, though. Lately his hair has been a little greasy on his back for some reason, which is why he got the darn mat in the first place. I trim the hair on his rear before it gets disgusting, so I'm not generally trimming mats out, just random hair. Since he weighs 27 pounds, it's really a two-person effort. I would take him to a professional groomer, but he is really just... an unstable individual. People don't even believe that I actually have him because no one ever sees him but me and my fiance (he hides from everyone else! - which is kind of impressive for this super-massive beast cat)

You could also try soap and water along with the peroxide mix,I also know that bacetracin(sp?) is safe for cats!

Originally Posted by lechatnoir

You could also try soap and water along with the peroxide mix,I also know that bacetracin(sp?) is safe for cats!

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Thanks for the suggestion!! I dabbed it a little with the water/peroxide mix this morning, but I really think I'm overreacing now. It doesn't seem nearly so bad as it did when I first noticed it!