Cat Abscess

[restroom]

So,

Our old cat died a year and a half ago after being hit by a car at the age of 9. We got a new cat the same day (thanks to my parents who thought it was the best thing to do!).

 

Our "new" cat is about a year and a half old now and is very loving. We started letting him out early this year for the first time and within a couple of months he came home with an abscess. We thought it was a sting at first, but once it burst, we realised what it was and got him to the vet. £300 later he was shaven, cleaned and injected. Although by that point it was pretty healed and he was already happier in himself, so im not sure he really needed the treatment!

 

Fast forward to today and he came home yesterday morning with another abscess on the other side of his cheek. I read online and spoke to a friend who is cat crazy and they said as well as a few online forums, that just deal with it yourself and if the cat gets ill then take it to the vet. However with it being Christmas and we are going away, we thought it best we get him sorted now.

 

So, £220 later, he is being kept in today to have it drained, injected with various things and a week of antibiotics. So now we have to take him with us to my in laws, as he cant go outside for a week and we need to give him the antibiotics!

 

The vet checked him all over and found that he also has cuts everywhere, so we have confirmed our suspicions that he is fighting local cats. My old cat had a walking field of my garden and the two next door, so barely ever met another cat, however this cat goes across the road, in all the gardens up there and all the houses the other side of the road, so has a huge area to protect. So this is likely why he is fighting as there are too many cats in the vicinity for him to have such a large area to protect.

 

Keeping him in is not possible in our house sadly and i dont want to keep him locked in a single room permanently.

 

He is also apparently well underweight, which i hadn't realised. He eats like a horse, but i guess maybe due to his activity levels and possibly stress of protecting such a large area, he may be not eating as much as we thought.

 

Anyone else had issues like this? How did you end up dealing with it?

 

As much as hate to say it, i really dont want him, as i cant handle the stress, but i have two children to think of, so need weigh up options here. I would be happy to give him away to a farm or somewhere that has a large land, as he obviously requires a larger area than some cats.

[Izlude]

Oh man, I've owned a million cats in my lifetime... These days I have a modest 4 that are all fixed. Whew.... (so glad the drama is over)....

 

We've treated about 10 cases of abscess from between 1998 - 2015. Mom would press a warm rag to kitty's cheek, clean it, give it fishmox, they turn out fine. Most consider it risky because you don't want it to pop internally, however these were always topical abscess (not the kind INSIDE the mouth). But yeah, since this is a public posting, I wouldn't advise doing it yourself...

As to how they got abscesses, it wasn't really from fighting. They play rough. They'll chase each other, latch on, cat-kick each other, then sleep together. So it can really come from anything, even their own foot claw while trying to scratch their ear. The fact that your kitty IS getting it from fighting means it could happen more often, so kitty must find a way to be inside...

Do you have yard space? Can you build an outdoor kennel? You can use lumber and some sturdy wire (not like chicken wire, but the stronger kind that comes in rolls from hardware stores). Then cover it with tarp to protect from the weather. Otherwise yeah, I think someone else might have to take kitty in, friend or fam who can keep them indoor.

[restroom]

On 12/28/2019 at 9:03 PM, Izlude said:

Oh man, I've owned a million cats in my lifetime... These days I have a modest 4 that are all fixed. Whew.... (so glad the drama is over)....

 

We've treated about 10 cases of abscess from between 1998 - 2015. Mom would press a warm rag to kitty's cheek, clean it, give it fishmox, they turn out fine. Most consider it risky because you don't want it to pop internally, however these were always topical abscess (not the kind INSIDE the mouth). But yeah, since this is a public posting, I wouldn't advise doing it yourself...

As to how they got abscesses, it wasn't really from fighting. They play rough. They'll chase each other, latch on, cat-kick each other, then sleep together. So it can really come from anything, even their own foot claw while trying to scratch their ear. The fact that your kitty IS getting it from fighting means it could happen more often, so kitty must find a way to be inside...

Do you have yard space? Can you build an outdoor kennel? You can use lumber and some sturdy wire (not like chicken wire, but the stronger kind that comes in rolls from hardware stores). Then cover it with tarp to protect from the weather. Otherwise yeah, I think someone else might have to take kitty in, friend or fam who can keep them indoor.

Heh, with Christmas i forgot about this post.

 

So to update - he is "done", however we are a little concerned that he wasn't done properly. He stayed in a friends secure cat run over Christmas, so he could be monitored whilst we were away. She said he sat outside calling her female cats as though he still had his "bits", so asked me if im planning to get him snipped. So i think we need to go back and check if something was missed.

 

He is the most loving cat you could meet, but it appears toward other cats, he is aggressive. Another cat was outside our house at the weekend and he went crazy. The poor other cat didn't know what to do. First time i heard my cat growl and hiss. He was ready to tear the other cat apart.

 

Keeping him, at least in this house, is not possible as my wife works from home with children, so needs the doors open, especially in the summer. We are also trying to sell, so investing time and money in to cat proofing the garden isn't worth it at the moment.

 

We are feeding him a lot more and he seems to be going less further afield and coming back more often now, so i think maybe we where not feeding him enough. Our old cat had urine issues, so was on a special diet, so its been hard for us to gauge how much to feed him. But he is putting on weight now and seems more happy to be at home.

 

I wonder though, the fact he was born on a farm and his mum was a proper hunter, if he is like that and needs a more open space that what we can offer in the city. If thats the case, sadly we will have to sell him on, but im reluctant to do that until i know for sure. If we do come to this, i will be making sure he goes to a good home and will visit the home before handing him over!

 

We also now think we know the cat he was fighting with, which happens to be a friend of ours. She has agreed to get her cat done too and keep hers in whilst ours is out etc. so they dont cross each others boundaries. So far it seems to be working. She is also a retired vet and has said she has treated two abscesses on her cat in the past year herself, so will show us how to do this too, as, even with insurance, its damn expensive!

[Brandon H Supervisor]

4 hours ago, restroom said:

She said he sat outside calling her female cats as though he still had his "bits", so asked me if im planning to get him snipped. So i think we need to go back and check if something was missed.

I've been told by a vet before that once they develop the need/habits as they get old enough then snipping won't always make a difference; they're continuing the developed instinct. This is for both dogs/cats.

 

I'm not sure if it's true or not but this is not the first I've heard of behavior continuing so I tend to believe what that vet had told us.

[restroom]

17 hours ago, Brandon H said:

I've been told by a vet before that once they develop the need/habits as they get old enough then snipping won't always make a difference; they're continuing the developed instinct. This is for both dogs/cats.

 

I'm not sure if it's true or not but this is not the first I've heard of behavior continuing so I tend to believe what that vet had told us.

I think thats likely.

 

I was reading up and apparently some cats are "super alphas", so once snipped, they simply become strong Alphas and still assert their authority and do everything a non snipped cat would do. Im guessing my cat is just a bit of a lad!

 

Although, if he carries on this way, he will regret it as ill be drop kicking him out the window! (im joking for anyone that might think for a moment i would do this).

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