What on earth is this?

August 18, 2005 7:50 AM

My cat has a mystery wound...

So, I've seen cats scratch themselves until they get a cut. I've seen the little cuts that my cats inflict on each other (nothing ever hostile, just playing around). My folks also had a cat that would clean itself bald. But this, I've never seen. I was away for about 10 days, and a buddy of mine fed them every day, etc. I got home this evening and noticed that one of my cats has this strange wound on it. The other cat is unscathed.
The wound is between his shoulderblades and I'm having a hard time imagining how he would have done this to himself. I also don't think that it's a contagous skin problem because the other cat is totally fine. That fact also rules out some sort of insect or mite infestation.
It doesn't look like bites or scratches, either.
He's not showing any other symptoms. He's not any more lethargic than usual, he's not trying to paw, scratch, or lick at his wound, and it didn't seem to bother him too much if I touched it. It also does not appear on any other part of his body.
Here's a picture of the problem, if anyone can recognize it.
As much as I'd like a professional vet's opinion on this, I'm not going to be able to get him to one untill at least Monday, unfortunately.
So, has anyone seen this before? Is it a big deal? Is there anything I can do for him? Like, can I put neosporin or bactine on my cat (if he can't reach it to lick it off)?
Thanks, folks...

posted by Jon-o to Pets & Animals (16 answers total)

Looks like he may have been lightly bitten by something small and rodent like. Does he go outside where a squirrel could have nipped him?
posted by Pollomacho at 8:07 AM on August 18, 2005

IANAV, but mysterious skin conditions like that are often "hot spots," and although they are a lot more common in dogs than cats, I've known cats who had them. They are small areas of inflammation and sometimes infection, and are more troublesome than life-threatening. Of course, you should see your vet ASAP, especially after we have had sad stories like this one :(

And I'm sure your cat could find a way to ingest that Neosporin wherever you put it on his body.
posted by emyd at 8:14 AM on August 18, 2005

Do you cats play-fight? Mine very occasionally wound each other in scraps, though that is an odd location. Could be a back bite.

Could he have scraped his shoulder running under something? Panicked cats will often hurt themselves running away. The double-play of being unused to your friend and a disrupted routine could easily scare a cat.

Also, while the one cat may not be able to lick his wound, if his co-habitant grooms him your other cat may ingest any cream you may apply. I would not worry too much. Cats heal this sort of scrape quickly, and as long as it doesn't abscess, with few complications.
posted by bonehead at 8:35 AM on August 18, 2005

It may be that his playmate bit him there, and he developed a little abcess. My mom's cat gets into a lot of rough-and-tumble trouble and these are not uncommon. We just pour peroxide over it and make sure it's not getting infected. Worst case scenario he might need a shot of penicillin or something if it gets icky.
posted by Medieval Maven at 8:53 AM on August 18, 2005

Yuck, that looks nasty. Could be a staph infection or ringworm (which is infectious and can be transmitted to people). Or it could be something far more benign.

My advice would be to go to the vet sooner rather than later. You're in Philly, so surely there are some 24-hour or emergency vets in your area. I hate to take my cats anywhere except to their usual vet but there have been times when one has gotten sick in the off-hours and I've had to take him to the emergency vet. My experience is that emergency vet offices don't charge any more than your regular vet would.

If you can't get him in until Monday, just monitor him closely. If he seems feverish (one way to tell is by feeling the ears; if they're hot, he prolly has a fever) or sluggish, get him to the emergency vet.

Have you spoken with your vet yet? Did they have any ideas?
posted by Sully6 at 9:07 AM on August 18, 2005

I'll second the vote for an abscess. Google "cat abscess" and take a look at the images, and you'll see some very similar looking wounds. I've had two cats and they both managed to get abscessed wounds.

In both cases, they had to go to the vet. The vet will flush out the wound and sew them up, and give you some oral or topical antibiotics. My advice would be not to wait unless you absolutely have to--or what Sully6 said.
posted by zueod at 10:09 AM on August 18, 2005

Our next-door-neighbor's outdoor cat is just getting over having something that looks incredibly similar, and in the same spot (also also in another spot on his chest)--the owner said he was being treated for a fungal infection--could be ringworm or something else.
posted by fabesfaves at 10:39 AM on August 18, 2005

My cat is prone to "rodent ulcers". (Has nothing to do with rodents, by the way.) They tend to appear on the lip, but your cat may have something similar. Shot of antibiotics clears it right up.

Sully6's right, if the cat's not feverish or sluggish (and is still eating and drinking and using the litterbox) you can probably wait until Monday if you must. I'm in Philly and love my vet -- e-mail me for more info if you like.
posted by desuetude at 10:52 AM on August 18, 2005

About two weeks ago we noticed that our cat had almost exactly this wound in three different places on her back, and I just happened to have a vet appointment for her already. Same thing: no change in attitude, no other symptoms, but she did try to clean them a little bit. They didn't know exactly what it was (they were leaning towards some skin condition that I don't remember), but they said it was almost certainly not dangerous and they gave me some cortizone pills to give to her in halves (Zeniquin). It's cleared right up. So I wouldn't worry too much, just get to the vet on Monday to get the pills and it should be fine.
As an afterthought, they did ask me a lot of questions about whether she goes outdoors (she doesn't) and whether she had been around outdoor cats or cats who may not have had all their shots (she hadn't). If yours has, that may affect the diagnosis.
And abcesses look way worse than what your cat has.
posted by Who_Am_I at 11:24 AM on August 18, 2005

Response by poster: Well, both cats have had all of their shots and neither go outdoors or are in any contact with cats who go outdoors. After some more examination, it looks like the one cat probably bit the other one (they're pretty competitive about their catnip).
It's also totally possible that he found something in my studio to hurt himself with. He's not the brightest beast.
It looks superficial and it's scabbing just fine.
Sully6, his ears are the normal temperature, thankfully. There's no vomiting, no loss of appetite (the chubby bastard that he is), and he's not avoiding the litterbox.
I'm just finding it a little difficult to assess because anything scabby with that much fur tends to look much worse than it probably is.
I went ahead and applied a little neosporin/antibacterial stuff to it. He definitely couldn't reach it to lick it (as hard as he tried) and the other cat didn't try to groom him. I figure, if he can't clean it himself, it might be a good idea to disinfect it on my own.
Getting to a vet before Monday is impossible, unfortunately. But, thanks to all of these responses, I'm not quite as worried as I was yesterday.
posted by Jon-o at 12:07 PM on August 18, 2005

Response by poster: PS:
If anything, the appearance of the wound has improved over the past 24 hours.
posted by Jon-o at 12:25 PM on August 18, 2005

A wild theory: It almost looks like a burn. If your cats are prone to crawling under recently-running cars, they may have come up under a hot exhaust pipe and the highest part of their body near that part, the shoulders, may have been burned. How's that for a conspiracy theory?
posted by catkins at 2:41 PM on August 18, 2005

Well, screw that, you actually wrote they stay indoors.

Any hot pipes or places with things that could burn them inside?
posted by catkins at 2:41 PM on August 18, 2005

My cats get those a lot, but usually on their back ends 'cause they've been running away from their attackers. They get a scratch, it gets infected, then it explodes. I say "explode" because one minute we're petting the kitty, we get up and leave the room, and the next minute we hear this horrible screaming and the cat is tearing around the house with a gaping hole on its butt. How big is that? The size of a dime? A quarter? Your cat is pretty hardcore--after my cats finish screaming they hide under the bed and we have to fight them to drag them out and get them to the vet.

Until you can get him to the vet keep it clean with hydrogen peroxide and/or alcohol and keep applying Neosporin. Make sure you have an emergency vet number handy--our kitties have gotten fevers from the infection.

You can't do much to prevent them unless you keep the cats from fighting each other and anything else, or disinfect any wounds (no matter how small) as soon as you see them.
posted by Anonymous at 5:36 PM on August 18, 2005

Cats' skin heals quickly - too quickly. Cats get abscesses easily because the surface heals over but the underlying wound doesn't get a chance to drain. My old cat had a wound in just that place. It didn't look like much at first, but by a few days later she needed minor surgery and a couple of stitches.
posted by zadcat at 5:39 PM on August 18, 2005

Response by poster: Before this thread gets archived, I'd like to update and say that, after a trip to the vet and a few doses of topical antibiotic/steroid, my cat is fine and back to normal.
Thanks again to everyone who posted.
posted by Jon-o at 4:16 PM on September 3, 2005