name that wound
March 28, 2013 7:38 PM Subscribe
Cat wound question inside....
My 13-year old spayed female cat had a large warty thing on her chest. It seems to have fallen off and left a 1-inch diameter crater-like wound. It is moist in the middle and has raised edges. It does not seem to bother her. It is "loose" and can be pinched behind it moved around a bit.
I brought her to the vet. Cat had swollen neck lymph glands. Vet said it is probably an infection and gave me clindamycin for her. The wound is slowly clearing up.
I asked the vet what was and he said he was not sure, some kind of infection. I would have loved to have probed him for more information, but he was off like a flash. So anyone have any idea what it is? Google is not helping me.
My 13-year old spayed female cat had a large warty thing on her chest. It seems to have fallen off and left a 1-inch diameter crater-like wound. It is moist in the middle and has raised edges. It does not seem to bother her. It is "loose" and can be pinched behind it moved around a bit.
I brought her to the vet. Cat had swollen neck lymph glands. Vet said it is probably an infection and gave me clindamycin for her. The wound is slowly clearing up.
I asked the vet what was and he said he was not sure, some kind of infection. I would have loved to have probed him for more information, but he was off like a flash. So anyone have any idea what it is? Google is not helping me.
Response by poster: I have a feeling it is a staph infection, but it does not hurt her, it can be squeezed a bit and she does not react.
posted by fifilaru at 7:55 PM on March 28, 2013
posted by fifilaru at 7:55 PM on March 28, 2013
Best answer: OhOhOh! My cat just had something similar about six months ago. We thought it was kitty cancer. Actually it had a hard warty growth that was shaped in such a way we thought it was her nipple, but all deformed and enlarged. And was horrified when the vet pulled it off until she explained it wasn't the nipple. It was . . . Sebaceous Cyst. That's it! Was that what the doctor said?
posted by [insert clever name here] at 9:57 PM on March 28, 2013
posted by [insert clever name here] at 9:57 PM on March 28, 2013
Best answer: So, after a lifetime of working in a pet ER I have never seen a sebaceous cyst in a cat, only dogs. In dogs, they are pretty much a warty (but not always) raised lump filled with icky-looking grossness sorta like pus but not exactly (usually chunkier and also not stinky, which pus tends to do). Sometimes they break open and ooze the grossness. Sometimes they look suspicious enough to suspect a tumor and subsequent removal/biopsy and eval. But anyway, cats most certainly do have sebaceous glands, so I guess these are most often caught at the non-ER vet, as any kind of lump on a kitty is considered very concerning.
The other thing that immediately springs to mind is a cat-bite abscess. This would only be possible if she were exposed to another cat, for some kind of scuffle to have occurred and a bite wound inflicted. The bite does not have to be serious, it just has to break the skin. But kitty tends to heal pretty fast at the skin, while underneath, havoc ensues with the oral bacteria of the biter multiplying willy-nilly until a good amount of pus has formed. Sometimes these break open at the necrotic spot that tends to form on the surface (or we lance them), the pus drains, and if it then remains open, sometimes will heal without further intervention (at the ER we put them on antibiotics, even if it is open, because they don't always heal well without). What I'm getting at is that these open but drained pus-pockets can look like the crater you described, especially 24+ hr or so post-drainage, and they hardly hurt at all (intact pus-pockets hurt like a son-of-a-bitch), but they are pretty leaky with blood-tinged fluid for a day or two, even with the pus gone.
All that without knowing if another cat was involved ...
So: I'm torn.
Infection v cyst v some remote other possible thing ... hmmm
Swollen lymph glands + vet saying the word infection, likely infection.
Non-leaky non-painful crater, likely cyst.
Wish I could see it! (BTW, where is your obligatory cat picture, hmm?)
Another thing: FWIW most people understand that the Vet's got Stuff To Do and can't spend half a day with one patient for something like this but I very much think you deserve to have all your questions answered by them, and your follow-up questions too, until you are satisfied with it. I mean, sometimes we just don't know what happened/what it is, but then, you need to be told that, and the possible things that can happen when its X or when its Y. If they are really that busy I think they should send in a technician/other knowledgeable staff member to answer your questions. Just one old vet tech warhorse's opinion.
posted by bebrave! at 8:16 AM on March 29, 2013 [2 favorites]
The other thing that immediately springs to mind is a cat-bite abscess. This would only be possible if she were exposed to another cat, for some kind of scuffle to have occurred and a bite wound inflicted. The bite does not have to be serious, it just has to break the skin. But kitty tends to heal pretty fast at the skin, while underneath, havoc ensues with the oral bacteria of the biter multiplying willy-nilly until a good amount of pus has formed. Sometimes these break open at the necrotic spot that tends to form on the surface (or we lance them), the pus drains, and if it then remains open, sometimes will heal without further intervention (at the ER we put them on antibiotics, even if it is open, because they don't always heal well without). What I'm getting at is that these open but drained pus-pockets can look like the crater you described, especially 24+ hr or so post-drainage, and they hardly hurt at all (intact pus-pockets hurt like a son-of-a-bitch), but they are pretty leaky with blood-tinged fluid for a day or two, even with the pus gone.
All that without knowing if another cat was involved ...
So: I'm torn.
Infection v cyst v some remote other possible thing ... hmmm
Swollen lymph glands + vet saying the word infection, likely infection.
Non-leaky non-painful crater, likely cyst.
Wish I could see it! (BTW, where is your obligatory cat picture, hmm?)
Another thing: FWIW most people understand that the Vet's got Stuff To Do and can't spend half a day with one patient for something like this but I very much think you deserve to have all your questions answered by them, and your follow-up questions too, until you are satisfied with it. I mean, sometimes we just don't know what happened/what it is, but then, you need to be told that, and the possible things that can happen when its X or when its Y. If they are really that busy I think they should send in a technician/other knowledgeable staff member to answer your questions. Just one old vet tech warhorse's opinion.
posted by bebrave! at 8:16 AM on March 29, 2013 [2 favorites]
Best answer: I'm working at a vet ER right now, and I want to second all of bebrave!'s idea. Those are all good rule outs.
posted by OsoMeaty at 10:46 AM on March 29, 2013
posted by OsoMeaty at 10:46 AM on March 29, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by lollusc at 7:53 PM on March 28, 2013