This entry was posted on Friday, May 4th, 2007 at 5:34 am and is filed under Cats. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
read comments (0)
Cats are territorial animals and will fight with other cats to establish territory or to defend their existing territory. As a result fight wounds occur commonly in cats. These wounds often result in an infection that can be quite nasty, especially if left untreated.
Fight wounds occur more in male than female cats. Un-neutered males are especially prone to fighting.
Bacteria trapped under the skin following a bite wound can multiply for several days before any signs of infection become visible. Swelling and pain at the puncture site are the most common signs of infection.
Fever is not rare. If loose skin is present around the puncture sites, a pocket of pus will form an abscess. If the skin is not loose, such as on a foot or the tail, infection spreads throughout the tissues, but the swelling may be less visible than with an abscess. This particular infection is called cellulitis. With both an abscess and cellulitis, trapped pus can made the cat quite toxic and extremely ill.
When a cat bites, its teeth go through the skin, and then it releases quickly which results in small puncture wounds in the skin, with holes about the same diameter as the cat's teeth. These holes seal and virtually disappear within hours, trapping bacteria from the cat's mouth under the skin of the victim. The types of bacteria which live in the cat's mouth grow in an environment where the oxygen concentration is low. Once the wound seals shut, bacteria can begin to multiply at a rapid rate.
The organisms most commonly involved with cat bites are Pasteurella multocida and Streptococcus; as previously stated, bacteria which can survive with little or no oxygen are often involved.
Treatment
Treatment of cat bite wounds varies. If you know that your cat has bite wounds from a fight, antibiotics given within 24 hours will usually stop spread of the infection and prevent the development of an abscess. If several days have elapsed since the fight, an abscess will usually form. The abscess must be drained through the bite wound holes or by incising the skin over the abscess. Occasionally, a latex drain tube must be placed to keep the wound open and allow pus to drain out completely.
Antibiotics given by injection and/or by mouth complete the treatment. The abscess usually heals within 2-5 days. If cellulitis occurs instead of an abscess, drainage is not possible because the infection is not confined to a local area. In this case, antibiotics are the sole treatment. Cellulitis is slower to heal than an abscess but will usually take place within 3-7 days.
Neutering the male cat can make a huge difference in decreasing or even eliminating the problem of bite wounds. If their territory is invaded by another cat, however, they will defend it by fighting. Female cats, whether intact or spayed, will also defend their territory.
Keeping cats indoors and away from other cats can also help in management of this problem.
This article has been submitted by Joseph Read. Joseph is also one of the primary writer for Smuge and has been quoted often concerning Cosmetic non surgical treatments UK
.