No vet around and it might be infected.

Hi all,

I have a kitten (a female) which is just over 3 months old now, we are currently holidaying in a small remote area by the coast and there are no veternarians here (but there is an internet cafe for some reason), we are only getting back next week.

The kitten was attacked by and older cat (sex unknown) that somehow managed to scale our balcony wall (about 10metres) and intimidate the kitten. The only visible damage was a gouge just below the eye and a very distraught kitten. I have tried to bathe the wound in salt water relying on the disinfectant properties and put a plaster over the wound, it seems that the wound is getting worse because kitty keeps scractching it with it's foot

There is a slight smell coming off the wound i can say that it smells infected although it does smell better after bathing in salt water.

What else can i do? There is a small shop here but nothing big and i'd like to know how i can disinfect it properly and close it up so that the kitten doesnt bother it too much.

Any help appreciated.
Thanks

Marko Jakovljevic
South Africa

The only thing I can think of that might work is if you got some polysporin ointment, or some other antibiotic ointment and put that on (after cleaning the wound) a couple times a day. It's worked well for our cats when they've had run in's with other kitties in the neighboroughood. If there isn't infection in there, it will help it heal faster and keep it clean; and if there is, it should help keep it at bay until you can get the kitten to a vet, or perhaps it might even clear the infection up.
Just try not to get it in her eye....a Q-tip helps with application for those close areas.
Hope that helps a bit,
Jess

My vet told me to use diluted iodine/saline solution to keep Persil's abscess clean. You might be able to buy iodine locally, and dab it on with cotton wool or fasten it with tape. But do dilute it or it will burn the kitten.

Hi Marko, welcome to TCS.

Are you able to travel to a bigger town? It's just that if she were mine, I would worry that the infection could get worse without treatment and antibiotics and she may also have bite wounds that you can't see under her fur. Bite wounds can be nasty as that can easily become very badly infected and abcess. I'd also worry about diseases that this unknown cat may have passed onto your kitten. A week might be too long for her to wait for treatment.

If you could tell us what types of medicines you have on hand that fights bacteria? Here, we simply need to either go down the road to the vet, or to the drugstore to get some special creams for abscesses. But where you are located- you do not sound like that luxury is yours? Your cat may need internal medicine as well as topical, or some nasty bad things could happen to her. The slight smell is worrisome.

I would take a rag and get it wet with warm (not too hot) water and do a warm compress twice or more per day. That will help it to drain. Keep up the salt water solution. If you can find something to form a cone around your kitty's head to keep her from being able to scratch or lick the wound, that may help keep it from getting worse. As soon as you can, take her to the vet. She will probably need antibiotics to prevent the infection from getting worse. My cat had an abscess that took a couple of months to heal, and we still don't know what caused it for sure. The important things are to keep the area open (no scabs) and clean.

I agree with everyone above. My cat Ox tangled with an unknown cat about 1 1/2 yrs ago. I didn't know this until I felt a squoosy lump under his neck. It was an infected abcess that I pierced (really gross)-he ended up with three of them that with antibiotic took about 2 months to return to his normal self. They can get infected quite quickly.