Swelling between my cat’s left paw + wound

[CasperTheKitten]

Hi,

This is my first time posting here in years but I thought getting advice from others would be best to see if anyone else has had this issue. I’m not sure if pictures are visible at the top or bottom but just a warning for a slightly mangled looking paw towards the bottom.

My cat is called Casper and is 3 years old. Last week I noticed one of his toes was swollen on his left foot/paw and he was limping. We waited a day to see if it was just a sprain or he had been too active as he loves staying outdoors for most of the day. However, the next day we noticed a lump/swollen area of his paw which was causing one of his nails to move position slightly and was probably what was causing the swelling. I wasn’t sure how this swollen tissue/lump had occurred but I assumed he must have caught himself on something outside. The next day, whilst we were applying vetericym anti microbial spray (we were applying it from the first day), Casper wriggled around a lot and must have knocked/out pressure on his paw and blood started dripping out of his paw which was of course very worrying. However, upon closer inspection it seemed that the part of his foot that was swollen had burst?

We took him to the vets on the following Monday to see if after it had burst, if it would dry up and get better. It did seem to be getting better and the swelling has gone down, despite not all of it reducing. The vets gave him some antibacterial hibiscrub to apply twice a day for 5 days and a bust collar which they assured would be big enough to prevent him from licking, however unfortunately it is not effective so I’ve got to stop him every few minutes TT

Yesterday was the 5th day, however his paw does not seem to be healing and also started bleeding when we put a dressing on him (because he hated it and started flicking his foot so I think the pressure caused bleeding). He also growled at me for the first time (
I understand that’s normal if he’s in pain but I just want him to get better quickly

However, that’s not the only problem!! Casper was perfectly fine and asleep for a few hours and all of a sudden when he walks into my room I see blood dripping from his leg, not even his wounded paw. This stressed me out so much because he had been staying inside for the past week for the first time in 2 and a half years and he suddenly gets another injury. I inspected the place he was sleeping in but there was no blood whatsoever and nothing he could have hurt himself on. My mum thinks he must have had a spot or something which we couldn’t see as it’s the back of his leg/thigh which started to bleed. Thankfully the bleeding had stopped and we applied the antibacterial there too, much to Casper’s displeasure.

We are going to be taking him to the vets again on Monday so we can check to see if what has happened to his leg is serious, if there is anything else they can give us to make him feel better and also to get an Elizabethan collar so he can’t lick his wounds (now in 2 places).

I will attach images here, they’re not too gruesome but in some his paw does look a bit mangled so a bit of warning for the faint of heart. His paw started off with the swelling and the pink lump/tissue you can see between his toe beans. From what the vet said on the last visit, it looked like an abrasion which wasn’t too serious but isn’t great as it’s on his foot, however I worry with his licking and the bleeding happening on occasion it will get worse and not better

 

[di and bob]

He needs an oral antibiotic. Preferably liquid and you can put it in some lickable cat treats like Delectable Licakables in the stew flavors, or tuna juice. it looks like an abscess to me. is the drainage watery, or pure blood? Usually, when they burst, the pain subsides and it will begin to heal, which takes a long time, sometimes months. But I have had cats that have healed perfectly fine with much bigger ones than that. Licking is actually good for an abscess, it needs to be kept open to drain. See what the vet thinks. I have never put an E collar on any of my cats and they have healed fine.

 

[CasperTheKitten]

He needs an oral antibiotic. Preferably liquid and you can put it in some lickable cat treats like Delectable Licakables in the stew flavors, or tuna juice. it looks like an abscess to me. is the drainage watery, or pure blood? Usually, when they burst, the pain subsides and it will begin to heal, which takes a long time, sometimes months. But I have had cats that have healed perfectly fine with much bigger ones than that. Licking is actually good for an abscess, it needs to be kept open to drain. See what the vet thinks. I have never put an E collar on any of my cats and they have healed fine.

Thank you so much for your response, it’s given me some reassurance as I was really worried about him since it’s the first time something like this has happened to him.

I think at first the drainage was watery and sometimes I’ve seen a few drops of a light reddish/pink liquid which didn’t seem to be pure blood but other times I think when he’s accidentally put pressure on/reopened the wound, it’s just been blood.

I think the reason the vets gave him a cone was to prevent excess licking which could agitate the damaged skin and to hopefully allow him to heal faster but I’ll give it some time as you said it could take months.

I’m hoping to get some antibiotics for him if necessary tomorrow. Do you recommend he stays inside during his recovery process and is there a reason cats get abscesses/a way I could prevent him from getting them in the future or is it just random?

Thanks again for your reply : )

 

[di and bob]

Most of the time, 99%, it is from a cat bite. Could have also been some prey he captured that bit his foot, the one on his hind end is most likely a bite while he was trying to escape. That world outside is a dangerous place! I keep all my cats inside now, they are much healthier. Building a 'catico', or getting one of those ready-made chicken coops, could let yoru boy still get some outside time. that watery, bloody discharge reinforces my thoughts on it being abscesses. The blood later means the infection has drained and now it is blood. Licking keeps it open to drain, if he can't lick you would have to open it, or put a drain tube in, both harder on the cat. I had one cat with drain tubes, I told him never again! Much easier to let them do it.

 

[silent meowlook]

Hi. Just speculation. He probably had the leg wound when he had the toe wound. The leg looks like an abscess that ruptured.He definitely needs the vet again to take care of that. One of the reasons for the cone is to keep him from licking off the topical things you are putting on his paw. If you can’t keep the cone on or if he can reach the paw don’t put anything on it.

Most topical medications are not going to work in cats.

 

[CasperTheKitten]

Most of the time, 99%, it is from a cat bite. Could have also been some prey he captured that bit his foot, the one on his hind end is most likely a bite while he was trying to escape. That world outside is a dangerous place! I keep all my cats inside now, they are much healthier. Building a 'catico', or getting one of those ready-made chicken coops, could let yoru boy still get some outside time. that watery, bloody discharge reinforces my thoughts on it being abscesses. The blood later means the infection has drained and now it is blood. Licking keeps it open to drain, if he can't lick you would have to open it, or put a drain tube in, both harder on the cat. I had one cat with drain tubes, I told him never again! Much easier to let them do it.

Thank you again, and for the information you’ve provided. I’m taking him to the vets as soon I can get an appointment today. And honestly after him being inside for a week where I can see him all day, I’m too anxious about letting him outside again/letting him out unsupervised. But since he does love going outside I’ll definitely try and sort something out for him so he can enjoy the nature safely!