Laceration on stomach likely from another cat

Hi all...

To make a long story short, a cat I have been looking after (little Amber) presumably got in a fight with another cat yesterday. We got home and she was meowing in a very unusual way than her normal vocalizations and I thought something was wrong. Then we noticed her walking funny with a limp so I went to check her paws only to find her bleeding on her tummy and had an open wound.

Immediately took her to the vet and she stayed overnight. Got stitches and antibiotic injections, and she is now home in a cone. They found a couple of other minor scratches on her tummy so they think it was likely from another cat. We did see another cat running away as we rushed her out to the car to take her to the vet, so its likely it was him. They said it was fairly superficial, did not cut through muscle only the skin and outer far, luckily but it is about a 2 inch cut.

My question is does anyone have experience with this and know what to look out for (as far as the stitches, like infection indicate by pus and yellow discharge, swelling and anything else?) and any tips on care? I'm worried mostly about infection of the wound and the wound opening and bleeding again. I've never had an outdoor cat before, so never had to deal with any injuries like this in the past. What other complications can arise from a wound like this?

My other concern is potential exposure to FIV as she has NOT been vaccinated against it as per the vet's advice a few months ago, but I will discuss this with her regular vet.

Some background: Amber is 9, female, spayed, they prescribed her AventiClav (Amoxicillin and clavulanate potassium antibiotic - 1 tablet/62.5mg every 12 hours for 7 days) and Buprenorphine pain med in liquid form squirted on the gums (0.05cc every 8 hours for 3 days). I know to watch for diarrhea and/or vomiting from stomach upset with the antibiotic and she is not on any other medication otherwise. She is coned in the cone from the hospital but my partner is out now looking for a nicer soft cone for her.

First of all, you'll want to keep her inside until she's cleared and had her stitches removed.  Look for the scratch to become angry, red, or swollen and/or weeping for infection.  also, keep an eye on her for lethargy as that can indicate an infection and/or fever.  Other than that, she should be okay.  Give her the meds and, as you mentioned, watch for vomiting or diarrhea as adverse reactions to the antibiotic.  If you can find a general probiotic to give her to offset the antibiotic, that might help her, too.  You can use the kind for humans, but cut the dose in half. 

Thanks, @stephanietx  ! She will DEFINITELY be inside until those stitches are out and she's given the ok from the vet. If it were up to me, she'd be inside ALL the time to prevent stuff like this from happening, but I am her temporary caregiver so I can only voice my support for indoor cats to a certain point. I just feel so bad she got hurt on my watch, it makes me sad.

I will keep a good eye on the scratch and the stitches for any signs of infection as well as her overall well-being. Now, she has certainly not been herself today, very much less energy and moving slow although she was surprisingly able to jump up onto her favorite spot. I wonder if it is the pain meds making her sleepy? She spent a considerable amount of time sort of just sitting and staring at nothing earlier today and being sort of generally a bit spaced out, but responsive to us and our touch and ate food and drank water and used the litter box. She even showed interest in going outside (much to my dismay), walking up to the door and meowing.

I was thinking of getting a probiotic to help with the antibiotics. Unfortunately the pet store we went to today neither carried it nor had any idea what it was so I will try somewhere else or there's always the vet. I will plan to do that for sure now.

I do have a few questions. We have stairs in our place, but she does not need to go up them for any reason. I've blocked them off for now. I'd guess its best for her not to access them and try to go up to keep her from working too hard? I guess I'm really worried about her straining herself and re-opening the wound. We won't do our normal playtime, either. How long do I wait to have a regular playtime with her and allow her to do other activity as normal? I'm just imagining the pain of having a tummy wound that proportionally that size on me and how much it would hurt, and that I would want to rest lots so that's how I am sort of taking it.

If the wound re-opens, will it be fairly obvious she is bleeding again?

Well just to update a bit, we got up and gave her pain meds at 1am last night as she was due and noticed she was acting much more like herself again! This morning when she was due for her pain meds again, we noticed the same. So it seems the meds are what is making her sleepy and a bit zoned out as she has more energy when they start to wear off!

so glad she is doing better. yes the meds make them drowsy. If you use human probiotics (sp?) Make sure it has NO artificial sweetners or anything else. My vet recommends proviable which is sold by the vets or you can get it online on amazon. I should try to get some for my babies. they all suffer from constipation so we use Miralax via my vets recommendation. you may want to talk to the vet about constipation as pain meds slow down the colon. 

if your vet has you try miralax just remember to use HOT water and dissolve the crystals in it first before you add to wet food.. I hope she continues to improve!

We also use Proviable probiotic and I have found that Chewy is the least expensive place to get it.  What pain med is she on?  You might actually be able to do without the pain meds and watch her for signs or discomfort.  Or, work to wean her off it, especially if it's Metacam or Meloxicam.  Both are not good for kitties.

I picked up some My Healthy Pet Holistic Blend Probiotics & Enzyme today which comes in powder form. Hope it works. Yes I am concerned about the potential constipation as she tends to be a less than regular poop-er though its possible she goes outside unbeknownst to me...

She is on Buprenorphine pain medication which is an opiate and is given to her in a needle-less syringe squirted into her cheek to be dissolved/digested through her gums. 

Its funny, the vet did not tell me any potential side effects to look out for for either meds, but I looked them up on my own. Looks like the Bup commonly causes generally slowed bodily functions (slower respiratory rate, slowed digestion, etc.), lethargy, sedation and weakness which are pretty much what I am observing in her. Her pupils have also been more dilated which I guess is from the Bup and she's been less chatty and sort of more chilled out and less energetic than usual for sure.

Just scheduled her in to have her stitches out next Thursday (12 days)! 

I have used Bup. previously and I prefer it over some of the other pain meds.  I also don't like for my kitties to be on pain meds for an extended time, so I generally watch them and only administer when truly needed, not on a set schedule.  Sounds to me that she feels okay after the full effects have worn off so you might try tapering off the pain meds and see how she does.

Ok. Good to know. I prefer myself to have fewer meds as possible. I've held off on her 8-hour due time tonight and she seems to be doing ok. Eating, moving and walking around fine. The only thing that really worries me is she has been purring to herself (as in, not when being patted or touched/when I am across the room from her) which makes me worry she is in pain. I'm continuing to monitor her and see how she is going. My partner and I discussed trying to down the dose to 2x a day every 12 hours and then reduce again from there. The Bup was only prescribed for 3 days and we are on day 2.

Good news update - she is doing really well! We toned down her pain meds to twice a day every 12 hours and she had much more energy. Yesterday, she managed to climb over the baby gate we put up at the bottom of the stairs to go up the stairs so clearly she is feeling better. (took the gate down as now I figure climbing/jumping over that is worse than going up stairs). She's come in to cuddle with us in bed at night again, showing interest in playing and going outside. She's meowed at the door a bit, but I've firmly told her no each time. (I was hoping her will to go out would lessen with this, but I guess not.)

Today is day 4 so we are done with giving her pain meds at all (we were instructed to do it for 3 days) and I have two doses leftover. She has been a really good patient.