Cat has a bite wound on his tail that won’t heal

[Fizzle52]

3 months ago my poor 13 year old kitty got attacked by our younger cat. He got him on his tail and there was blood everywhere — we took him to the vet immediately and they prescribed antibiotics and drained the pus out of the wound. He was on a cone but not for long and he started licking again, causing it to be reinfected. He’s been in and out of the vet 3 times since because the wound just won’t heal, but we have been super strict about the cone 24/7 for the last 2 months and he’s really miserable. Today he started bleeding a little again, but there’s no way he could have licked it, so I’m getting worried. The 2 cats are separated now and have no contact at all. The last vet visit we found that he had fur mites so he’s been on medication for that since. The vets keep saying the tail wound looks superficial and should heal in a week, but this wound just doesn’t seem to go away and it’s been so long. We clean it daily with saline solution and antibiotic cream. Feels pointless bringing him in again. He’s eating and pooping normally. Can anyone help?

 

[verna davies]

Could it be irritating him and he's rubbing it. The only thing I can suggest is to bandage it after cleaning it although it looks like it is high up on the tail and could be difficult. If he doesn't like the cone maybe a body stocking would be better, easy to make at home and plenty of demos on the internet to help.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Any chance the fur mites are having an impact on that wound? Regardless, I just can't imagine how the vet(s) can keep repeating that it will heal within a week, and it's been 3 months. A skin scraping/analysis may be one way to find out if there is something else going on.

It might be time to find a second opinion - any neighbors/family/friends/co-workers who can recommend someone? Maybe they can help you secure an appt. earlier than might otherwise be possible? Telling a new vet what is going on and even asking to be placed on a list for cancellations might also help. If nothing else, I suppose you could go to an ER vet and have them check it out.

 

[Cat McCannon]

Keep in mind I’m not a vet.

Two things that keep humans from healing are diabetes and cancer. Get your cat checked for an underlying condition.

 

[furmonster mom]

Are you using human antibiotic cream? or vet prescribed cream?
Human antibiotic creams often have other ingredients that won’t work for cats and in some cases can make things worse.