staples, blood, elizabethen collar..advise needed

Hi! I'm a long time reader/vistitor, but just registered for advise on help with my poor Dave..

David is my almost-10yr. old all-white cat who is a such a shy, loving friend. Two weeks ago today, I tried to cut a horrible mat out from the side of his back, and inadvertantly cut a chunk of skin off! It was not bleeding at all, was less than half of the diameter of a penny, just pink flesh exposed..I IMMEDIATELY called the emergency clinic, explained and asked what to do, if I should bring him in. They told me it was not necessary, that I probably just cut the first couple layers of skin off (no blood), and just to WATCH it, and not to put ANYTHING on it, just make sure he wasn't licking it (he hadn't in this whole 2 weeks licked it).

So the next day, it looked like it was healing, as the fur was covering most of it, and it was not bloody, oozing, etc. I checked it everyday, NEVER any moisture, never smelled funny, the only thing was, it was very hard and felt crusty underneath his fur, which after a few days, completly covered it. I thought the hard crusty feel was just the scab forming, as we humans have scabs.

Today I came home, and he was acting funny (running, hiding) which he does once in a while because I'm treating (very effectively with Lactulose and an all-wet diet) his chronic constipation problem he's had for 3 yrs. But when he ran past me, I saw the side of him all bloody and puss..I immediately called the emergency clinic and told them I was coming in.

So, they shaved his wound, gave him shot of antibiotics, and put 2 or 3 staples in, placed a soft elizabethan collar on, gave me some Clavamox, and sent us home, but I was hoping for some advise on the following:

1. Can I leave the collar on for the whole 2 weeks his staples are in? Has anyone else left one on this long? He's miserable with it, but I live alone and fear I won't be able to put it back on. They said I can take it off when I'm home with him, just to make sure he doesn't lick it..but is it ok just to leave it on for 2 weeks? Will he use the litterbox with it on? What about his grooming?

2. He has some blood oozing out now, I called the vet, they said that's normal, but not to flush it with hydrogen peroxide..? I'm not sure why I'm not supposed to put something on the wound daily, but they said not to (?)

3. Will he be ok? He's just been laying on my bed since I brought him home, not coming downstairs with me..I just have a bad feeling about this whole thing, don't know if I'm being paranoid or not and am requesting some advise from maybe some of you who have gone through something similar with their cat companions..

Thanks so much..

Steph

Originally Posted by David's Steph

1. Can I leave the collar on for the whole 2 weeks his staples are in? Has anyone else left one on this long? He's miserable with it, but I live alone and fear I won't be able to put it back on. They said I can take it off when I'm home with him, just to make sure he doesn't lick it..but is it ok just to leave it on for 2 weeks? Will he use the litterbox with it on? What about his grooming?

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When my cats needed to wear an E-collar, I would take it off long enough to clean it. They eat a lot of wet food and it would get pretty gross daily.

Originally Posted by David's Steph

2. He has some blood oozing out now, I called the vet, they said that's normal, but not to flush it with hydrogen peroxide..? I'm not sure why I'm not supposed to put something on the wound daily, but they said not to (?)

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I would check with the vet before doing anything like that. I only put anything on a wound if the vet said to.

Originally Posted by David's Steph

3. Will he be ok? He's just been laying on my bed since I brought him home, not coming downstairs with me..I just have a bad feeling about this whole thing, don't know if I'm being paranoid or not and am requesting some advise from maybe some of you who have gone through something similar with their cat companions..

Thanks so much..

Steph

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I think he will be ok. My cats had stitches from mole removals, and my dearly departed Raven had stitches from a biopsy. They were unhappy and sore initially. Then annoyed with the E-collar. If you have a covered litter box, you will have to take the hood off--My cats had problems getting into their Rubbermaid tubs with cut down sides while wearing E-collars so we actually bought a regular box for that time.

Sending vibes for quick healing.

Thanks Laureen and Littleraven,
Laureen: I checked out that neat foam collar, and it looks great, but I think it would be the same as the soft one Dave is wearing now..they did not give him the hard plastic, but one that is crinkly, almost like fabric, but plastic..I described it to my mom as like a cover for a swimming pool lol, if that makes sense..but if it is bothering him in a few days, I will order that nice foam one..

Littleraven, I just called the animal hospital (again), and asked WHY would I not put some kind of topical like hydrogen peroxide or ointment on the wound. I was told because that hinders the scabing over/coagulating of the blood, which is needed in the healing process..but that's what they told me when this initally happened (when I cut him ), and it got infected anyways! But my sister brought up a good point, in that THIS time, the oral antibiotics I will start giving him tommorow will be fighting any infection from the inside out. Oh, they also told me on the phone, that even though his stiches site now is oozing blood, that's normal for a day or so, that that is the body ridding itself of the "funk" as they put it. They said something like this will get worse looking before it gets better

Anyways, they reassured me that cats have such a fantastic "bounce back" from things like this, so I will hope and pray for them to be right..(& p.s. I'm so sorry about your little Raven passing..)

Thanks so much guys

They probably had you use the hydrogen peroxide at first to kill off any germs. Topicals on cats and dogs are iffy due to grooming.
Years ago, when I went to nuring school, we learned to use hydrogen peroxide to clean wounds. But studies since then have shown that the hydrogen peroxide kills off the top layer of cells - the granulation or scabing/healing layer. Though it will heal underneath the top layer, it is just slowed way down.

Positive vibes for you and Dave.