I'm a horrible, bad fostermama - hurt my kitty!

I feel so, so bad and so stupid. I injured one of my foster cats by accident and I feel horrible about it. The cat, Mama, is a long haired cat and she gets knots in her fur behind her ears and by her "armpit". She had a pretty big knot in her armpit and it's too knotted to comb it out so I picked up a pair of scissors to cut it off like I always do. Well, it was really close to the skin and I tried to cut close without cutting her. I failed. She didn't make a sound and I didn't notice that I cut her until I looked at the knotted fur I had in my hand and saw that a piece of skin was attached to it!
I can't believe I did that. I knew I was cutting close and that there was a risk that I could cut her and I still did it. I didn't notice it at all though and I didn't think I was cutting that close. She didn't even flinch. It had to hurt though. I just can't believe that I could be so stupid to do that. I should have been more careful, obviously.

Now she has a skinless patch about 3/4 inch long and a bit less than 1/2 an inch wide. It's not bleeding, oddly enough and I don't think it needs stiches. It's not deep at all. I'm not sure what is the best way to treat the wound so if anyone is knowledgeable about cat wound care I'd really appreciate if you could tell me.
What I did was to spray the area with some Lanacane spray, put a sterile compress on and wrapped a bandage around her chest to keep the compress in place. I'm wondering if it would be better to leave it open though. I'm afraid that the compress would stick to the wound. Should I keep the compress on or not? I'm calling my vet to ask how best to deal with it tomorrow morning but I don't want to screw it up before then.

It's funny, I've dealt with seriously ill cats, giving shots and fluids and the whole deal and handled it just fine, but I freak out over a wound, especially since I caused it. I just don't want to make it any worse than I already have.

Thanks for the help!

I had to trim Maggies hair as she was always a mess. Got her as a semi feral and never tamed up(came from a house with cats breeding left and right and very dirty smelling)
I trimmed her in a carrier(her choice) and I did get her 2 times. days later she got injured and had to be euthanized and I felt so horrible her last days were spent getting clipped.

As long as this cat is indoors I would leave it open. Apply a thin layer of antibiotic cream if needed and watch her with that. I use biocaine (can get in petsmart) on any place cat needs to not lick as its bitter tasting(more like soap bubbles imo...hey i had to make sure it wasn't to bad!!!)

Stuff happen you were trying to help and its accident

The thing about cat skin is that it's very fragile. Once it's cut it can rip even further. I would take her to the vet and have them look at it and decide what to do. They may want to staple it closed to prevent ripping, the arm pit is a prime spot for the skin to rip even more. If this was my cat I would go to the vet.

What worries me is the part about "not bleeding". I made the same mistake when I was learning how to groom, on a dog. I cut a matt out the same way you described from behind a border's collie's ear and it didn't bleed, but skin was missing.. the vet ended up having to close it, but with a tube so it could drain and it was horrible. I definitely learned not to do that again! I was told by the vets that if an injury is not bleeding it is way worse than if it bleeds some. (Which is why I recommend having the vet take a look)


Edited to add ~ You don't ever want to pull a matt up and cut it, it's better to stick the scissors in and up away from the skin and split the matt into several pieced then brush it out. You may want to get a pet clipper and a #10 blade for shaving matts out, scissors should never go anywhere near the armpits or behind the ears.


I've been a pet groomer for 8 years.

Yikes! I hope she is doing ok. It can happen so easily. When I worked as a vet tech we saw it frequently. Don't beat yourself up, it's not like you meant to do it. My Chester has long hair and sometimes has knots that need worked out. I would keep a close eye on it and definitely check in with the vet.

Good luck and healing vibes being sent your way.

Ouch!
Rule of thumb: Only the vet should cover wounds... It can trap bacteria on the wound/dressing, and you will actually make it worse.
I treat cuts in the kitties one of two ways:
1- clean with bactine, and put a fine layer of neosporin.
or, apply Colloidal Silver on it and a few times throughout the day. Both ways work fine, I like Colloidal Silver better, but sometimes I run out of it (I also realize most people wouldn't have it home )

Mats: I remove it either with an eyebrow razor (the blade is protected with a wire, so it doesn't cut the skin), or I put a grooming comb underneath the mat, in between the mat and the skin and then cut the mat with scissors - thin way you are making sure you are only getting hair, as the skin is protected by the metal comb

Thanks. I will take her to the vet tomorrow to make sure it's all okay. I didn't think about that it can rip more. I certainly will not attempt to cut a matt like this again. It's probably better to just shave it off like you said. I wanted to make it quick which is why I cut it but it clearly was not worth it.

The wound is bleeding some. I mean, the area is a bit bloody but not enough to run.

I'm a bit worried about leaving the wound uncovered. All my cats are indoor cats but Mama digs in the litterbox like it's going out of style and I'm afraid that she'd get litter in her wound, although it is covered by the fur around it. The cats also make a mess with the litter on the floor in the cat room and she could lay down somewhere where there is litter on the floor. I do vacuum and sweep in there all the time but they can make a mess in no time.
Should I remove the bandage or leave it covered until I get to the vet tomorrow?

Originally Posted by Ziggy'smom

Thanks. I will take her to the vet tomorrow to make sure it's all okay. I didn't think about that it can rip more. I certainly will not attempt to cut a matt like this again. It's probably better to just shave it off like you said. I wanted to make it quick which is why I cut it but it clearly was not worth it.

The wound is bleeding some. I mean, the area is a bit bloody but not enough to run.

I'm a bit worried about leaving the wound uncovered. All my cats are indoor cats but Mama digs in the litterbox like it's going out of style and I'm afraid that she'd get litter in her wound, although it is covered by the fur around it. The cats also make a mess with the litter on the floor in the cat room and she could lay down somewhere where there is litter on the floor. I do vacuum and sweep in there all the time but they can make a mess in no time.
Should I remove the bandage or leave it covered until I get to the vet tomorrow?

Click to expand...

Remove it now.
Once My Bugsy got a pretty bad wound on his feet, and I was worried just like you - especially because of the litterbox. Even with a wound on the feet the vet said to leave it open - only a vet would close it safely. So yes, leave it open.
Put a fine layer of neosporin on it (original, NOT the one with pain control.

Originally Posted by Ziggy'smom

I wanted to make it quick which is why I cut it but it clearly was not worth it.

I'm a bit worried about leaving the wound uncovered. All my cats are indoor cats but Mama digs in the litterbox like it's going out of style and I'm afraid that she'd get litter in her wound, although it is covered by the fur around it. The cats also make a mess with the litter on the floor in the cat room and she could lay down somewhere where there is litter on the floor. I do vacuum and sweep in there all the time but they can make a mess in no time.
Should I remove the bandage or leave it covered until I get to the vet tomorrow?

Click to expand...

That's exactly what I was thinking when it happened to me with the border collie. I was trying to make it quick, too.

I would loosely bandage it until the vet can take a look tomorrow. A loose bandage with a sterile cotton pad won't hurt her.

I did the same thing to Boo one time, it was a very small cut though and I never used scissors in hard to reach areas from them on, and did like another poster said and cut up and away from the skin if I did use them. He was so wiggly though that I bought a buzz clipper from PetCo and it worked like a charm and he actually loved it (the first 15 minutes anyway) I learned then to take my time and not try to rush, and if Boo had enough I quit (sometimes it was so hard to quit, like picking at a scab, I wanted to get those mats off sooooo bad!) but when Boo said 'nuff I said ok!! We'll try again tomorrow!

Is she really still when you groom her like that? If so that is pretty cool. I haven't ever given my Chickster a bath and don't plan to unless there's some really good reason but I can't imagine trying to groom her/de-mat her... (shivers at the thought)

Don't beat yourself up, you didn't mean to do it and at least you are aware of it and get a vet to look at it and make sure it's ok.

I don't know if this will make you feel better, not being the only one feeling like a bad mommy, I've spent the last week apologizing to Soleste - she loves to go outside and can make it to the back door in a flash, sometimes so quietly I don't even know she's there. I opened the sliding glass door (heavy, so closing needs a good push) and didn't realize she had her little head poking out there (I had just checked and she was under the bed asleep at least 100 feet away) - I closed the door vigorously and she hadn't quite fully removed her head. I caught the side of her head, she screamed I screamed, it was chaos. She was groggy - prolly had a bad headache for a day, but no blood, bumps, and just kept her quiet and watched her. There are far worse "bad mommy" things than snipping a bit of of kitty cellophane-like skin :-O She's back to her old self, climbing trees, chasing rabbits, she eats, drinks, walks fine, her balance is fine, her eyes are clear and equal... her hearing is excellent... and now for the icing on the cake.

... yesterday while she was laying at my feet outside on her leash, quietly for once, I leaned over to pet her, "good girl" and my open bottle of water flooded her little body. I scooped her in my arms with great remorse and in my rush to get back into the house to dry her, I bumped her head on the gate (not badly at all) - the way she looked at me, like "Mommy, what did I doooo?!"

Ziggy'smom;

I did the exact.same.thing 2 years ago with my David. I called the ER vet, and they said not to put anything on it, but just to "watch it". I wish I had not taken their advise, but to instead have taken him into the vet to look at it. Because what eventually happened like 10 days later, was that it had abcessed without me knowing. The hair had covered the wound (it did not bleed at the time at all) the next day, and daily I looked at it, felt it, even smelled it (to see if there was a funny odor of infection). I thought it had healed nicely, I did feel a hard scabby "crust" under the fur, but I thought it was like a scab that formed like we humans have. But I came home one day (this was going on 2 weeks after it happened). and David's side was covered in blood and puss (He was hiding from me, he did not want me to see it ) I right there took him to the ER vet, they were like, "what the heck happened to him??" So I told them, but they had to shave him, put a staple in him, put him on antibiotics for a while, and he had to wear one of those elizabethan collars..it was awful..

Good luck with your Mama, I don't have any advise except to have the vet look at it now, before it gets infected, and don't feel bad, she knows you did not intentionally hurt her on purpose..

How is Mama doing?

Oh! I like the eyebrow razor idea!

Don't feel too bad. You were trying to help! I'd even venture to guess that it doesn't hurt as badly as that nasty mat rubbing the skin did!