Happy Pets

Wounds are injuries which disrupt or destroy tissues, usually the skin. Severe wounds may also affect underlying structures such as bones or internal organs and gun shot wounds, in particular, can cause massive damage to adjacent structures.

Wounds vary enormously, from small and superficial to extensive and deep, and can sometimes be very deceptive in appearance. For example, bite puncture wounds are often much more serious than large but superficial skin tears, yet a puncture wound may be so small as to be hardly noticeable on the cat’s hairy body. Initial impressions might be that the gaping shallow skin wound is the worse injury, it certainly looks more dramatic. However it is often the small but deep bite injury, combined with the crushing effect on surrounding tissue that causes the most pain and carries most risk of serious complications.

Wounds are usually associated with some degree of bleeding and if a major blood vessel is damaged, bleeding can be severe and even life-threatening. Fortunately, this is not as common as more minor bleeding — though even this, for the inexperienced owner, can be alarming.

Some wounds (like bite punctures as mentioned above) can be very difficult to locate. The only sign may be a limp or resentment whenever you try to touch part of the cat’s body. Or perhaps the cat is simply very irritable, grumpy and off his food. Often, careful examination and parting of the hair can reveal an injury but you should not try this if in doing so you risk injury from the cat.

It is surprisingly easy to cause skin wounds when combing or trimming long haired cats, especially since many of the matts occur close to the skin surface.

These wounds are treated as below, for first aid, and if large (more than 1 cm) usually heal quicker if stitched.

Pet Medication Urgency

This depends on the size and type of the wound, its location, the response of the cat and your ability to assess the situation objectively. Some general pointers can be given, but if in doubt phone the vet for advice.

• Small, shallow wounds can be treated with first aid until a routine veterinary appointment is possible.
• Bite punctures in a cat that seems reasonably comfortable can also be given first aid; but arrange an early routine appointment as these are unpleasant injuries with some potential for complications.
• Severe bleeding requires emergency first aid measures and rapid veterinary attention.
• Any interference with breathing or wounds to the chest require emergency veterinary attention.
• Deteriorating condition requires veterinary attention even if the injury initially appears minor. Signs of deterioration could be lethargy and poor responsiveness, reluctance to move, rapid or forceful breathing, vocalising of pain, etc.

Remember that the nature and location of a wound is as important as its size, sometimes even more important. Cats have large quantities of loose and mobile skin and superficial injuries often ’sag’ open somewhat. Cats with this type of injury, usually to their owner’s extreme surprise, often seem relatively unconcerned — the reason is that the injury is not deep, no major blood loss has occurred and the cat is not in significant discomfort. However, a tiny puncture entry wound can cause excruciating pain that radiates out over a wide area, so that touching anywhere near the wound may provoke a severe pain or aggressive response. In these cases the small wound on the surface is only the `tip of the iceberg’.

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This entry was posted on Friday, July 25th, 2008 at 6:15 am and is filed under Birds, Cages, Cats, Collars, Deworm, Drinking Fountains, Foods, Kennels, Pet Medication, Pets, Puppies, Supplements. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.