Need Help: Deep cut on cat's nose!

Hello everyone!

Here's my cat Einstein, he's a domestic short hair and he's been having some issues arising over the last 5 days and I'm not exactly sure from what. I'm hoping I can get some help here .

First of all, for the first 2-3 days he had symptoms that sounded as if he was "Gagging" a couple times every hour or so. Someone suggested it might've been a hairball and recommended I use mineral oil. I did this on day 2 and eventually the gagging died down and is no longer present today (day 5). Yay!

On day 3; however, something very unusual happened. I left my apartment at 8am and came back at 5pm after school to notice him with a deep cut on his nose. I'm not sure how he got cut so bad since I don't have very many sharp corners in my apartment.

The vet suggested it might have been my new kitten who was in another room who might've scratched him from under the door. I thought it might've been Calici virus but the vet doesn't think so. He checked for any sort of ulcers present on his tongue or in his mouth but didn't see any. He suggested I use a tiny layer of Neosporin ointment on his nose to prevent infection.

Currently his behavior is normal, he eats and drinks just fine, his nose is not sensitive to touch. Some thing that kind of stuck out to me is that his feces has a light yellow coloring (moving too fast through digestive track?).

I just figured I'd ask to see if anyone else has seen anything like this before? Any help or tips would be appreciated.

Thank you for your time.

Ray

I agree with your vet.

Keeping a thin film of neosporin/antibiotic ointment on it, several times a day will heal it fast.

I also think you are dealing with several issues.

A hairball, a nose cut very likely from kitten snagging his claw and your cat pulling back, and a poop issue.

Keep an eye on his poop while his nose heals, and if it's not firm and normal looking he likely should have a fecal float done for possible coccidia or other issue.

Nothing to be upset about, just need to get him squared away and he will be just fine

Thank you Catwoman!

I've been putting a thin layer of Neosporin ointment like you said. So you as well think it is a cut from the kitten? I've only been a cat owner for one year so forgive me but can a tiny kitten claw really do all that damage?

Also noticed that he had a bowel movement this morning and had a stool with a good brown hue to it. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping his nose gets back to normal as well .

Thanks again!

You're very welcome!

I certainly do, have you taken the kittens little paw and gently squeezed between your thumb on top of paw and your first finger on the bottom so it's claws come out?

They are like tiny needles with curved hooks at the end and easily snag anything they go after, and surely would be putting his paw and swiping under the door at your curious adult cat sniffing around.

Easy to have happen. Just by accident though, it's nothing behavioral at all!

Good sounding poop too!

Was this ever resolved? my cat is having the exact same issue right now. he started "gagging" and shaking his head a lot and now has a cut on his nose. he has been licking it and it appears to be getting worse, but the first 2 days looked exactly like the pictures you have posted. it seems to be a little wider now, so just wondering what ended up happening.

Thank you

I know this post is old, but it came up in my searches so I'll add my experience in case it helps anyone else. My cat had exactly the same thing - split nose that appeared instantly, with no obvious cause. My vet also did not think it was calicivirus and suggested perhaps it was a burn. Well, I pushed them to test for calicivirus, because my other cat had mouth ulcers and was not eating, and surprise - they both tested positive. My boy was the one that had this split nose, no other symptoms except a slight limp that I only noticed once or twice. With ointment (and perhaps antibiotics - I can't recall) his nose healed after a week, and after a month or two there was no scar.

My other cat (with the mouth ulcers) treatment was a bit more complicated though, and involving syringe feeding and administering fluids daily, and many, many medications, as the few days of not eating caused - still ongoing - liver and kidney issues. Sadly I did not know that cat's bodies don't cope well without food even for just a few days, I assumed she was just stressed from our move before I became aware of the ulcers and that she would settle in and eat in her own time. If your cat stops eating, do NOT wait and see! 8 months later and she's doing well but there were some scary moments when we did not know if she would make it. We've spent many hours (and euros) at the vet, and she still takes daily medication.

OP, did Einstein end up having calicivirus? I'm glad I found this post, my boy is going through the same thing right now. Vet didn't seem to be concerned, but I'm very worried considering his other symptoms (lethargy, lack of appetite, withdrawn, not drinking water so likely dehydrated). Thanks for your help.

BecN, I'm so glad you posted this. I may push my vet to test for calicivirus now. My boy is not having the common symptoms, but it sounds like neither did one of your cats. Do you remember if they both needed antibiotics to treat it? Or would it have cleared up on its own? Are they both doing well now?

Neither of the two members have been back to TCS for a while so I don't think you will receive a reply. However, you definitely did the right thing to get your cat to the vet and get some testing done as his nose, poor guy, does look like both of those pics.

fionasmom said:

Neither of the two members have been back to TCS for a while so I don't think you will receive a reply. However, you definitely did the right thing to get your cat to the vet and get some testing done as his nose, poor guy, does look like both of those pics.

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Thank you! This thread was still very helpful. I'm glad I came across it.

Update: We got the PCR results yesterday, and sadly, it is Calicivirus. Our new kitten must be a dormant carrier. It's very upsetting but fortunately, he seems to be feeling much better. He's still on the Clavamox and has vomited hairballs a couple times this week, but other than that, he's back to himself. If anyone else sees this thread whose cat has a similar wound out of nowhere on their nose, please push your vet for the PCR swab and to test for Calicivirus! I'm thankful I found this thread and it convinced me to get him tested.

Thank you for letting us know the outcome. Hopefully your kitty will be back to good health very soon.

tsxdriver90 said:

Hello everyone!

Here's my cat Einstein, he's a domestic short hair and he's been having some issues arising over the last 5 days and I'm not exactly sure from what. I'm hoping I can get some help here .

First of all, for the first 2-3 days he had symptoms that sounded as if he was "Gagging" a couple times every hour or so. Someone suggested it might've been a hairball and recommended I use mineral oil. I did this on day 2 and eventually the gagging died down and is no longer present today (day 5). Yay!

On day 3; however, something very unusual happened. I left my apartment at 8am and came back at 5pm after school to notice him with a deep cut on his nose. I'm not sure how he got cut so bad since I don't have very many sharp corners in my apartment.

The vet suggested it might have been my new kitten who was in another room who might've scratched him from under the door. I thought it might've been Calici virus but the vet doesn't think so. He checked for any sort of ulcers present on his tongue or in his mouth but didn't see any. He suggested I use a tiny layer of Neosporin ointment on his nose to prevent infection.

Currently his behavior is normal, he eats and drinks just fine, his nose is not sensitive to touch. Some thing that kind of stuck out to me is that his feces has a light yellow coloring (moving too fast through digestive track?).

I just figured I'd ask to see if anyone else has seen anything like this before? Any help or tips would be appreciated.

Thank you for your time.

Ray

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• tsxdriver90
• Aug 14, 2014

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• tsxdriver90
• Aug 14, 2014

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Awww bless this little fellow..

evian238 said:

Update: We got the PCR results yesterday, and sadly, it is Calicivirus. Our new kitten must be a dormant carrier. It's very upsetting but fortunately, he seems to be feeling much better. He's still on the Clavamox and has vomited hairballs a couple times this week, but other than that, he's back to himself. If anyone else sees this thread whose cat has a similar wound out of nowhere on their nose, please push your vet for the PCR swab and to test for Calicivirus! I'm thankful I found this thread and it convinced me to get him tested.

Click to expand...

You got me worried now!! A week ago I got a second cat. He is sneezing and has many fungi lesions. He takes oral medicine and local too. Two days ago my older cat got the wound of the photo on his nose. The vet did not know what it is. It looks like a scratch from the new cat but I have no idea how to treat it...he is licking everything I put on his nose

This does not look like a scratch to me; it is too open and wide and, at least from what I see in the pic, not necessarily bloody. He will absolutely lick anything that you put there as it is a natural reaction, even something that can be used to make cats take certain kinds of medications like hairball treatment. I would try to get the vet to do more than say that he does not know what it is.

fionasmom said:

This does not look like a scratch to me; it is too open and wide and, at least from what I see in the pic, not necessarily bloody. He will absolutely lick anything that you put there as it is a natural reaction, even something that can be used to make cats take certain kinds of medications like hairball treatment. I would try to get the vet to do more than say that he does not know what it is.

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Thank you so much!!! I will call and go to the vet on Monday. I am reading so much on internet I drive myself crazy.

Please let us know what the vet says. Try to push for some clarification from him.....you said this is making you crazy, which all of us here on TCS completely understand, so make sure that the vet knows that you want some help.

Bram and Bruce said:

You got me worried now!! A week ago I got a second cat. He is sneezing and has many fungi lesions. He takes oral medicine and local too. Two days ago my older cat got the wound of the photo on his nose. The vet did not know what it is. It looks like a scratch from the new cat but I have no idea how to treat it...he is licking everything I put on his nose

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I'm sorry, that looks very similar to my older cat's. My vet also said something similar, they hadn't seen anything like it before and asked if he was burned by a candle or the new kitten scratched his nose. I would request a PCR swab. There is a chance it won't show up as positive even if he did have Calicivirus since it's now been a few weeks since your post. I would ask about that, as well. Good luck!

I know this is an older post, but I was so thankful to find this thread as it helped me tremendously with our 6-month old cat, Hanso. He jumped up on the bed about a week ago and we noticed a very similar type wound on his nose which came out of nowhere as he didn't have it the night before. We initially didn't think anything of it as we have 5 other cats so we just assumed that he got caught by a claw during one of their play sessions (2 of our other cats are his littermates so they are always rough housing and playing all the time). I initially was just researching treatment of a nose wound, when I discovered this post/thread and saw the photos that looks exactly like the wound he had. We immediately took him to the vet and asked them to do a PCR test, though he did receive his FCRVP vaccine about a month prior. The vet told me that it just looked like a trauma wound from another cat or he might have run into something and wasn't worried at all, but I insisted for the PCR test after reading through this post.

The results came back just as suspected, positive for calicivirus. The vet told us there really isn't much we can do to treat it, but recommended that we start antibiotics (doxycycline) and also gave us Enisyl-F oral paste. He isn't showing any other symptoms, just the nose wound a little bit of nasal discharge. He is still acting like his playful self and eating and drinking, but I'm so glad that we pushed for the PCR test so we can treat accordingly and monitor the other cats. We are still unsure how he could have contracted it as he was born in our house (under our bed) after we rescued the pregnant mama cat, but my only thought is that mama cat may have been an FCV carrier.

I just wanted to share my experience and pictures for anyone else that may see this and have a similar out-of-nowhere nose wound on their cat.