Advice For Keeping A Cat From Scratching A Wound?

[Grillby]

My one cat has an allergy to fleas. I've treated all of my cats and the fleas are gone, but he still has some scabbing areas. None of them are too bad and I've been putting Neosporin on them to help them heal up better.

He has this one though right below his ear that he keeps digging at. Every time it starts to heal and scab over he digs and irritates it. It's gotten to the point where the fur around the area is gone from the irritation and it looks pretty.. raw? But isn't infected at all.

I've talked to my vet and they recommended and gave me a plastic cone for him. But wearing it really, really stresses him out and he's constantly getting it off.. Which is worrisome as he rips it off it's probably irritating the area more as it scrapes against the sore.

I tried putting like make-shift mittens on his paws out of gauze and tape and he chews them off in a matter of hours. I'm wondering if I put like cloth around it with some gauze it'd work? Or perhaps maybe cutting up the end of a sock to create a band for it.

But I know for wounds to heal properly they usually need to have air to breathe and dry up. So I'm worried maybe keeping it enclosed in gauze and cloth it might end up getting infected? Does anyone have any experience with this? Will keeping the wound wrapped up make it worse if it can't get air to dry up?

 

[Leomc123]

What about a cone collar, you can make one from paper plates or carboard from cereal boxes ?

 

[LTS3]

Pet stores sell soft donut-type collars that cats might tolerate better than the plastic ones.

 

[silkenpaw]

I second the doughnut idea.

Actually, dermatologists say that wounds heal better and with less scaring when they are covered and kept moist, as long as they don’t get infected. I personally believe in covered and dry as moist is too easy to infect if you don’t keep it scrupulously clean.

I had a similar problem with a wound caused by a collar rubbing. I finally made a “turtleneck” from some stiff spongy material. Then I sewed the turtleneck into a tube bandage with holes cut for the legs. The cat had to wear this for a month or two but the wound healed beautifully. I put Neosporin on the wound as long as it was wet but once it dried up, I left it alone.

Good luck with your kitty. Let us know how he does.

 

[Grillby]

I didn't know they made softer material 'doughnuts' or cones for pets. I've only seen the plastic ones. I'll have to look into maybe trying to get one of those.

I looked at it today and it looks like it's starting to scab up again, so I think I'm going to try cutting a sock to make a makeshift little band for around it. If that doesn't work I'll def be taking a trip to PetsMart to try and find a cloth cone thing for it.

Thank you for the advice. I'll definitely keep that in mind to only use Neosporin on it while it's wet before it scabs over.

 

[silkenpaw]

Sounds like a plan. I hope the sock works.

 

[Grillby]

The sock actually worked! I was super surprised. It doesn't stay covering the wound fully, but it's just enough to the point where when he tried to scratch it his claws instead get caught up on the fuzzy sock material. It's helping with a few of the smaller scabs he had under his chin too that are also healing up better now.

It's finally fully scabbed over and I'm super excited and hope it'll heal up fully soon.

If anyone gets in a similar problem definitely try cutting a sock to use. I think it helped that it was one of those super fuzzy material socks, not the normal ones. I used some medical tape to wrap around the sock to help keep it in place so he won't get it off easily.

Working like a charm so far. Poor guy looks absolutely ridiculous though in it, but we're not in it to win any sort of fashion statement. Lol

 

[silkenpaw]

I’m so glad you found something that works! Yay! Yes, it may look ridiculous but who cares! Good work!