If your cat gets hurt, it can be stressful for you and your pet. However, knowing how to care for the injury is vital to ensuring that your cat recovers from it as quickly as possible. In this article, we will go through some essential tips on caring for open wounds on cats so that you can ensure yours is back to total health in no time.
How Do Cats Get Wounds?
Cats can sustain wounds in a variety of ways. Some result from accidents, while others are caused by injury or illness. Whether your cat’s wound was a result of an accident or disease, you must know how to care for it properly so that your cat heals quickly and without complications.
The reason for the need for utmost care in your feline friends is their slow healing rate. The University of Ljubljana recently published a paper to understand the difference between dogs’ and cats’ healing. The study found that cats take longer to heal because they gain tensile strength of the wound at a slower rate. Thus, if your cat has an open wound, it is vital to take care of it as soon as possible.
How to Care for Open Wounds in Cats?
If your cat has an open wound and you don’t know what to do, here’s a step-by-step guide on taking care of your feline friend and her injury.
Start by Securing Your Cat
It’s essential to restrain your cat throughout the healing process. You can use a towel or blanket to keep them from moving around, but make sure it isn’t too tight. You don’t want to restrict their breathing.
If you’re using a towel, ensure it isn’t too loose. Otherwise, your cat could slip free and escape. Remember that even if you’re using a blanket, you should keep an eye on your cat if they try to escape.
You can also play some music specifically made for cats. Music can help calm your cat’s nerves. Earlier studies showed that classical music could soothe cats, which was true. However, recent researches show that music made with cats in mind can be more enjoyable for your feline friends.
Stop Bleeding and Clean the Wound
If your cat has a deep wound, you’ll need to apply pressure with a clean cloth, gauze pad, or paper towel for about 10 minutes. This can be done by wrapping the bandage around the area of the wound and pressing against it repeatedly until the bleeding stops.
Use a clean cloth or paper towel to remove debris from the wound’s surface. You may also want to rinse any dirt or debris that remains inside it using warm water and soap applied directly. Make sure no dirt is left behind in case of infection sets in later down your kitty’s road to recovery.
Use another clean cloth or paper towel combo to dry off as much blood as possible before applying ointment or getting ready to bandage up an injury site using gauze pads.
This should take less than five minutes for most cats who are used to having their paws held down during grooming sessions every few weeks, so don’t worry about hurting them too much. Just go slowly when doing this step, so nothing happens accidentally, like cutting off circulation.
Cleaning the wound after bleeding is vital to prevent blood clot formation. Blood clots might look unharmful but can be deadly for your cats. According to an article by the Morris Animal Foundation, arterial thromboembolisms, or ATEs, can be deadly for cats.
Use an Antibiotic Ointment to Prevent Infection
Antibiotic ointments are used to prevent infection. They can be purchased over the counter and applied to the wound once or twice daily. Antibiotic ointments are not toxic to cats, meaning they won’t harm your cat if he licks his wounds after you apply them.
It is important to note that antibiotic ointments do not provide pain relief for wounds, so if your cat is in pain, you will need to give him another medication. One of the best treatment options you can choose is Triple Antibiotic Ointment.
The Triple Antibiotic Ointment for cats works by applying a protective layer to prevent infection around the wound. This can help prevent the spread of bacteria within the wound and ensure quick healing.
Contact Your Vet If Home Remedies Are Not Effective
If you are having trouble stopping your cat’s bleeding and there is a chance the wound has become infected, it’s best to contact your vet. The vets can help go proactive in assisting with the treatment. They can use different methods like negative pressure therapy. Negative pressure therapy is an effective treatment to significantly improve wound healing in small animals like cats.
Contact your veterinarian if your cat’s overall health seems to be suffering or the wound is not improving after a few days of treatment at home. In some cases, it might be wise for him or her to take over care of the wound entirely. If you are unsure how to care for an open wound on a cat’s body, do not hesitate to call professionals who can help.
How to Prevent Your Cat From Licking the Wound?
Cats tend to lick their wounds, which is also beneficial at times. Licking can help remove dirt and debris from the wound. Moreover, cats’ saliva has antibacterial properties. However, excessive licking can be dangerous. Hence, if you do not want your cat to lick the wound, try one of the following:
- Use a cone collar. These collars fit around your pet’s neck and prevent them from being able to reach the wound. If you use a cone collar, check it regularly by a veterinarian so it does not become too tight or chafe against the skin.
- Try topical anti-licking gel, spray, pills, and powder in combination with keeping the wound covered. There is some evidence that these products may help reduce licking behavior, but they will not stop it entirely.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are many things you need to do to care for your cat’s open wounds. You must learn how to handle this situation because it could save your pet’s life. You should contact your veterinarian immediately if any of these symptoms occur, excessive bleeding or swelling, shaking or trembling, pale gums, difficulty breathing, etc.
