Is my vet under-concerned, or am I overly-concerned?

May 22, 2007 9:40 AM

KittyFilter: My 4-year-old cat had an abscess (about golf ball sized, between his shoulders) and it burst. The (brand new) vet kept him for five days, cleaned the wounds and sent him home with antibiotics, but the wounds are still open. I asked the vet about the stitches, and she said it would close on its own. This can't be right - please help.

Before we went to the vet, Basil didn't seem to be in pain, he was very lethargic and there was lots of icky stuff. There's no more pus, but there are three open wounds and they're slowly oozing blood. He's eating and drinking somewhat normally, and he's sleeping almost all of the time.

I've checked some of the other posts regarding cats with abscesses and everyone seems to mention stitches. Has anyone out there had kitties with abscesses that closed on their own, without stitches? Or is my gut feeling right, and am I dealing with a shady vet?

Additional info: two of the openings are about an inch long and a half-inch wide. The last is smaller, about the size of a USB port. We have two young children in the house, one toddler with autism and one under two. They haven't touched Basil's cuts yet, but I'm concerned that this might happen soon.

posted by mitzyjalapeno to pets & animals (16 comments total)

My previous cat had abscesses twice. Each time he was stitched up but had drains put in. My thought is that maybe your vet left them open rather than putting in drains.

Was your cat given an E-collar so he can't lick the wounds? If he can't get to it, and you keep him away from the kids, I would just watch him for a couple days. Cats are pretty tough.

If after a couple days you are still concerned, then you can either bring him back to the same vet, or go to a different clinic to get a second opinion.

Hope your little guy feels better soon!
posted by tastybrains at 9:45 AM on May 22, 2007

The wound should be left open to drain. Stitching it closed will just create the same situation as before: a build-up of fluids/pus which bursts through the skin. On really large abscesses, the vet might stitch a section closed and insert tubing as a drain but the abscess your cat got sounds relatively small.
posted by jamaro at 9:46 AM on May 22, 2007

My mom's cat had an abscess when I was home for Christmas and I was horrified that she didn't take him to the vet (she is a very good cat mommy). She said it would drain and heal and she was right. (We did put an antibiotic ointment on it twice a day.)
posted by Mavri at 9:47 AM on May 22, 2007

Much thanks to everyone! You put my nervous heart to rest.
posted by mitzyjalapeno at 10:03 AM on May 22, 2007

I have an iguana that had a grape-sized abscess which the vet lanced and cleaned. They sent her home with antibiotics and no stitches.

You might want to keep kitty in his own room, if possible, just to keep him away from babies and other dirty hazards. :) But it's probably not a requirement.
posted by iguanapolitico at 10:06 AM on May 22, 2007

We've been through this with our kitty. Her's was just over her tail. Our vet drained it. Eventually the skin over the area died and fell off. Antibiotics were prescribed and administered for about 10 days. After a couple of months you'd never know anything had happened. It looked oozy and icky for almost a week.

I think you have nothing to worry about. Check the wound daily for any sign of infection, just in case.
posted by kc0dxh at 11:05 AM on May 22, 2007

My family's first cat got an abscess in his jaw late in life. He was already very frail, and the vet recommended against any surgical treatment. It never closed over the 2 years or so until he died.
posted by gsteff at 11:35 AM on May 22, 2007

Relax. Kitty will be fine. He's young.

These darn animals get these all the time. Our 17-year old cat had one in his jaw a few years ago. I lanced the thing myself (*YUCK*). Yes, they look nasty, but he recovered just fine.

Best thing to do, though, is to tackle them as soon as you notice. You can try drawing salve if it's early on or lance it with a sterile exacto if it's big. Be prepared for a big mess that smells *BAD LIKE DEATH*. Have a few throw away towels on hand and some saline for cleaning the new wound.

Cats heal quickly, which is the reason they get so many abcesses. If a piece of claw gets broken off under the skin, say in a fight, the puncture will close up fast. Then the infection starts and has no where to go, until you open it up. If you close it up before the natural healing process is completed, the abcess will re-grow, only bigger since now the wound is much larger than the original.
posted by valentinepig at 12:05 PM on May 22, 2007

While abcesses are common they can be quite dangerous. Ruptured abcesses that are near fatty tissue can spread seriously difficult infections throughout their entire system. Sorry to be such a scary downer but I lost a very sweet 3 year old cat this way.
posted by dog food sugar at 12:36 PM on May 22, 2007

Thanks, dog food sugar. I'm going to keep my eyes on him and continue with the antibiotics (of course) and hope for the best.
posted by mitzyjalapeno at 12:56 PM on May 22, 2007

My cat had this, too, recently. It's on his tail and they cut it open after they had groomed him. They just let it drain, wide open, which creeped me out. He deposited some of the stuff and blood on our floor. But I asked about it and they assured me it would take care of itself now that it was open. They gave us a 10-day course of antibiotics and suggested holding a warm wet washcloth on it once in a while to keep it clean and keep the blood flowing or something. It's lost all its girth now, and has closed up. Now he just needs to regrow the hair. So, keep an eye out for signs of infection and keep it clean, and hopefully it will work out as smoothly as most others do.
posted by aimless at 3:45 PM on May 22, 2007

Last time my cat had an abscess blow up, it was late Saturday afternoon and all the vets were booked. Rather than spend Saturday evening in the waiting room at the 24-hour clinic, we went the home surgery route.

We fed him some valerian, shaved the spot, held him down, and used a sterile scalpel to open a half-inch incision. The abscess drained (spurted is more like it, pee-yew!), and we cleaned the wound but left it unbandaged. (When released, he jumped down and immediately had a snack -- apparently valerian gives cats the munchies.)

I took him to the vet on Monday for antibiotics just to be on the safe side. The vet assistant gave me a high five and told me we had done a good job, and saved ourselves a couple hundred bucks.

I used warm salt compresses for several days to help the wound stay open and draining. Healing was rapid and successful.

So -- drainage is your friend; you can wash any crusties off with warm water; and make sure your cat takes the whole course of antibiotics.

Also, if you can't trust what your vet tells you, you need to find a different vet.
posted by ottereroticist at 5:12 PM on May 22, 2007

Augh, ottereroticist, you've a stronger stomach than mine! I had to witness that once and that was enough.

My grandmother had a cat split her gut from stem to stern on a wrought-iron fence - literally spilled her guts. She had surgery and survived. One of my 'chores' at the time was to clean and debried the bit that had been left open (two inches) to make sure that the edges would come together. She had a few stitches at each end of the wound, but that was it.

I've had cats come home with holes literally chewed in them, and like others here, I put ointment on it and they got better.

Yeah, so much for dessert. You're a good cat-mama, but remember they have nine lives. Yours probably has 8.5 left.
posted by lysdexic at 8:42 PM on May 22, 2007

Yeah, cats are amazing. I've seen several cats through abscesses (including one on Ricky's head that looked like a second head, it was so big) and once they've burst (Worst. Smell. Ever.), the cat is usually (a) hungry (b) alert and (c) fine again within a couple of days, as long as the wound is kept clean. I used to boil up water with salt in the microwave, let it cool, and use that to bathe the wound (vet recommended it).
posted by essexjan at 4:37 AM on May 23, 2007

Thanks everybody! Basil has seemed to perk up a little, and we haven't seen any more pus. Thanks for seeing me through a minor freak-out.
posted by mitzyjalapeno at 8:41 AM on May 23, 2007

Abscesses are when crap is healed in instead of inside out. Am I making sense? (sorry if not) Basically if your vet had put stitches in your kitty then you would be back where you started, with all the nasties sealed inside the wound where they can't be cleaned away.
posted by mu~ha~ha~ha~har at 8:46 AM on May 23, 2007