Cat's nail missing

evec

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My cat had a fight with one of our other cats and one of his nails on his back paw was completely removed. It bled a little but he seems fine as if there is no pain. Because we are unable to handle him due to his aggressive nature (we think he was abused prior to adopting him), we took him to the vet and they could not treat him either. Since we cannot clean it or apply antibiotic ointment, will he contract an infection and die? We are very worried.  
 

roguethecat

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Rascal  had the same unlucky experience once. The nail grew completely back, but it took a while. I had him confined to a room for 2 weeks, during which he wasn't happy at all because he prefers to be outdoors. I did try ointments/ wrappings, none of which stayed on. The nail itself took longer to grow than two weeks, but the wound healed in that time.

Put your cat in a room of his own so he can't get into any more fights. He'll be depressed because of it all, so shower him with treats and love. He'll clean the wound himself, don't worry. You can try putting some omega-3 into his food (against inflammation, just get some capsules and cut one open). Also helpful against infections is colostrum or lactoferrin (liked by many just sprinkled on food). Best of all of these is, once the cat is healed, you can consume them yourself.

And don't worry. This means your cat is a fighter, like Rascal, who owns the known universe
 
 

mservant

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That sounds like a nasty fight your cats had.  

Worrying that neither you nor the vets were able to handle your cat to clean and examine his paw thoroughly and cover the wound to try and keep it clean, but some cats are so afraid at the vets that they need to be sedated for any handling at all.   I used to have a cat like that and it is hard when they need treatment.   I agree with roguethecat, that the best thing you can do is try to keep this cat separate and in a clean place for now and give the claw area the best chance to heel.   The damaged claw area will be very painful too so might affect how he relates to other cats and to you.  Cats rarely show pain unless it is very severe, but loosing a claw is kind of like us loosing a nail.   Ouch.  

I also suggest you make sure he toilets in litter or earth in a tray that is kept very clean as that will be where the highest risk of infections will be.

How is the other cat?   If one cat has lost a claw is it possible the other cat involved also has an injury?   Claw and bite wounds can be like puncture wounds which can get infected so important to check that the other cat too and make sure they are both OK.   Try to check for a few days in case there are any signs of swelling or anything to suggest puncture wounds which are getting infected  - though this may well be difficult, esp with the cat you  know has the claw injury.

I hope all is well for both of them.
 
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