Does this require vet attention? (wound around neck)

My cat gets daily sub-q injection of Furosemide for his heart now(been almost a week) and I just noticed last night that he has a small wound around his neck. I know that he had a teeny wound before around the neck as well from my other cat harassing him which scabbed over and fell off days ago, but this is a much bigger wound and I am quite worried if this is from injection irritating the skin or something else? I don't remember having needle pulling at his skin? We are trying to only bring him to the vet if it's a definite necessity because nervousness alone could push him into heart failure or contribute to it. He just had a cardiologist visit last Sunday which with the new meds routine finally puts him back into good shape in so long. I want to get this wound checked out but worry at the same time that the frequency of vet visit will stress him too much. It took him a day of not much but sleep to recover from the cardiologist visit..

Tried my best to get the clearest pictures possible, please help take a look.
It looks mostly like dry blood and scabs which form a thicker outer ring and the middle where it's indented shows reddishness, I haven't clean out the wound yet, should I just dab at it with warm water and paper towel?

Maybe you can email the pictures to the vet?  They are fairly clear, it doesn't look like an abcess.  What isn't clear is the location.  But presumably his injections are in his scruff?  And this is somewhere different?

OrientalSlave said:

Maybe you can email the pictures to the vet?  They are fairly clear, it doesn't look like an abcess.  What isn't clear is the location.  But presumably his injections are in his scruff?  And this is somewhere different?

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It's in the scruff, that's why I'm worried if it could be the injections

Then I feel your vet is the best person to advise - they can check your injection technique as well, because if it is the injections then that needs doing.

OrientalSlave said:

Then I feel your vet is the best person to advise - they can check your injection technique as well, because if it is the injections then that needs doing.

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Sorry, let me correct, it's not in the scruff, it's actually around the end of his neck, above the shoulder bones/blades.

My vet doesn't have an email system but I'm going to bring the pictures in to show him later this afternoon when he's available.

Just curious, what did the Vet say?  Hopefully it's nothing serious

Just curious, what did the Vet say?  Hopefully it's nothing serious

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Both the cardiologist and the vet said this looks like an allergic reaction. The vet can't say from what unless it's cultured and the cardiologist felt it's a lot like a reaction to the Furosemide injection. If it's from the injection, the lesion will scab over and fall off, they tend to be self limiting and not problematic for cats. On the other hand, the vet prescribed some wash and an antibacterial/fungal steroid topical to use on the spot and want me to monitor the wound. If it doesn't improve or if another spot pops up then I will have to bring him in.

Not sure if I should still use the wash and the topical if it's from the injections

My vet is not in until next week

Well. since this doesn't look good at all, I would ask for a sample to be cultured.

spilledmilk said:

Just curious, what did the Vet say?  Hopefully it's nothing serious

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Both the cardiologist and the vet said this looks like an allergic reaction. The vet can't say from what unless it's cultured and the cardiologist felt it's a lot like a reaction to the Furosemide injection. If it's from the injection, the lesion will scab over and fall off, they tend to be self limiting and not problematic for cats. On the other hand, the vet prescribed some wash and an antibacterial/fungal steroid topical to use on the spot and want me to monitor the wound. If it doesn't improve or if another spot pops up then I will have to bring him in.

Not sure if I should still use the wash and the topical if it's from the injections

My vet is not in until next week

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Don't know what it would hurt to go ahead and use the wash and topical on it, at least until you can ask your Vet again next week, unless it gets worse.  What I don't get is if it IS an allergic reaction to the Furosemide, and he's getting that everyday, why wouldn't he have these sores at each injection site?  (I guess that's what "self limiting" means?)
 

I'm not too sure either. The wound appears to be scabbing over and peeling off a little. It's limited to just that spot. I haven't observed any new ones. The thickened red outer ring is from dry blood and not swelling. The vet said it's ok to give the wash and the meds and it looks like it's improving. I was really considering getting it cultured but since it's been improving, we decided not to put him through the stress. Now I'm trying to give injection in different spot everytime, struggling quite a bit because he doesn't have much loose skin and is difficult to scruff. (I don't know if this is normal, going to call up the vet about it) I tried scruffing my other cat and found it extremely easy compare to him. Thanks to everyone who responded.