I think my cat has been shot

Has my cat been shot with a pellet air gun or could it be something else?

My cat goes outside in the afternoon. Today after he has come back inside, I have noticed he has several 2mm -3mm circular, very dark, almost black deep scabs on his back legs and his body. He is walking, eating and drinking fine. I will take him to the vets tomorrow when it opens, but I am concerned about him this evening and over night.

Any advice is appreciated.

Thank you x

Call your vet immediately! If your vet is closed, call and listen to see what they tell you to do after hours. Your cat needs to be seen by a vet.

I'm wondering if it could be puncture wounds from an attack by a dog or something.

I've been shot with a BB gun before in the back and leg. They leave rather large areas red from blood vessel damage and are then raised for quite some time as a bump with no or small amounts of skin damage only at the direct point of impact.

The pattern of the marks would also be a good indicator if those are puncture wounds from an animal bite or shots. If there are two or three close together, its probably not a BB gun and could be anything from a feral cat to even a bird (there are some that are REALLY aggressive and stab w/ their beaks if the cat was approaching the nest).

Thanks for the replies. He has 5 random scabs far apart, ( they are not close together, so rules out animal bite, I think). They look very deep and are perfectly round. There is no redness or bruising surrounding the area.

The local vets is open first thing in the morning and I will get him straight there. I really can't afford a emergancy call out vet tonight.

Is your cat walking okay? I hope he will be okay.

Actually, I was shot w/ cup style BBs which tend to tumble and not penetrate. If it was a high velocity round BB, it probably would be way different. That would mean the BB is still in there though... If that is the case, waiting may end up being a much more expensive treatment than going to the e-vet to remove them, clean it, and give some antibiotics.

I know what it's like to not have money for an emergency vet but when it comes to something like this you will probably feel better later thinking "see I didn't have to go!" than "why didn't I go in sooner?"

If it looks deep who knows how much damage it did on the inside.

Oh my! I hope he gets better.

I hope he's ok until you can get him to the vet

Unfortunately cats heal from the inside out so if there is a scab and there is infection underneath it will just get worse. When Bijou had to have an operation to drain a wound from a bite from another animal, they put a tube right through the incision in order to let the infection drain out so he could heal from the inside out.

I don't think waiting until morning is not going to make a huge difference but I would recommend you go no later than tomorrow and maybe try and work out some sort of payment with the vet if possible.

Good luck and hope he is OK.

A few years ago my friend was having bad issues with his neighbor. One day, he heard his little dog screaming in the back yard and went to go see what it was. His neighbor had a BB gun aimed at the pup and kept shooting.


Anyway... the wounds look exact like what you discribe. Perfect little round holes, darkened when the skin scabs over. The vet had to remove the pellets.

Portia is a one year old. Small for a cat. Black with some white patchs. She ate this afternoon at 5 pm. My wife saw her on our deck after eating. I came home about a quarter to 6 and I see Portia leaving my neighbor's back yard limping. When we checked her out she had a single puncture wound to her thigh. The same size as a bb or pellet. It hurt her while I checked her out and really hurt 2 inches back on her hind quarters. I have caught this neighbor before trapping my other cat two years ago. I was able to save his life but not his brother Nicky,who never made it home a few months earlier. Concerned Cat owner. PLEASE HELP US! WHAT CAN AND SHOULD WE DO?

Originally Posted by ChelloCat

Has my cat been shot with a pellet air gun or could it be something else?

My cat goes outside in the afternoon. Today after he has come back inside, I have noticed he has several 2mm -3mm circular, very dark, almost black deep scabs on his back legs and his body. He is walking, eating and drinking fine. I will take him to the vets tomorrow when it opens, but I am concerned about him this evening and over night.

Any advice is appreciated.

Thank you x

Click to expand...

Please look down for our post with a similar situation.

Originally Posted by Ivynruss

Portia is a one year old. Small for a cat. Black with some white patchs. She ate this afternoon at 5 pm. My wife saw her on our deck after eating. I came home about a quarter to 6 and I see Portia leaving my neighbor's back yard limping. When we checked her out she had a single puncture wound to her thigh. The same size as a bb or pellet. It hurt her while I checked her out and really hurt 2 inches back on her hind quarters. I have caught this neighbor before trapping my other cat two years ago. I was able to save his life but not his brother Nicky,who never made it home a few months earlier. Concerned Cat owner. PLEASE HELP US! WHAT CAN AND SHOULD WE DO?

Click to expand...

First step: get Portia to a vet to address the current injury.

Second step: keep Portia - and any other cats you may have - indoors. It is truly the most effective way to protect them and keep them safe.

Welcome to TCS! Hope Portia recovers quickly and without complications!

AC

Originally Posted by ChelloCat

Thanks for the replies. He has 5 random scabs far apart, ( they are not close together, so rules out animal bite, I think). They look very deep and are perfectly round. There is no redness or bruising surrounding the area.

The local vets is open first thing in the morning and I will get him straight there. I really can't afford a emergancy call out vet tonight.

Click to expand...

Welcome to TCS, ChelloCat.

How is your boy today? (And what's his name, BTW?) What did the vet say about his injuries? Hope he received a good diagnosis and is doing well!

AC

Originally Posted by Ivynruss

Portia is a one year old. Small for a cat. Black with some white patchs. She ate this afternoon at 5 pm. My wife saw her on our deck after eating. I came home about a quarter to 6 and I see Portia leaving my neighbor's back yard limping. When we checked her out she had a single puncture wound to her thigh. The same size as a bb or pellet. It hurt her while I checked her out and really hurt 2 inches back on her hind quarters. I have caught this neighbor before trapping my other cat two years ago. I was able to save his life but not his brother Nicky,who never made it home a few months earlier. Concerned Cat owner. PLEASE HELP US! WHAT CAN AND SHOULD WE DO?

Click to expand...

Shoot back.......

About 15 years ago my cat Thomas got shot with a blow dart. I let him hang out on the balcony of my apartment but he managed to get on my neighbors balcony by getting on the roof. Another neighbor told me later that she heard Thomas yell. I didn't notice Thomas was hurt until the next day when I saw dry blood on his hind leg. I got him to the vet right away. I felt so bad but he was not seriously injured and just required antibiotics to prevent an abcess.

The only way to ensure their safety is to keep them inside. They can get lost, trapped in a garage, hit by a car, captured by a wild animal, poisoned by lawn fertilizer, in a cat fight, exposed to bad weather, even stolen and mistreated by other humans to name a few.