Any vets or vet techs or anyone with animal experience..UPDATE post 10

[Disneylover79]

or for that matter anyone that can give me some advice....

I have a 1 year old cat who has a cut on the pad of his left hind leg...he has been hiding under the bed and not being the snuggly cat he is...he was today fine up until around dinner time...then he ate dinner and then went under the bed.... I got him to come out but he is just not acting right....so I am taking him to the vets in the AM...do cats hide when they are hurting? How can I tell if he has a temp? Should I rush him to the emergency vet or wait? I am beyond scared....

 

[DizBelle]

6 cats here. Oldest is 18 years old.

Yes, cats hide when they are hurt. But if you got him out and he ate, my guess is that he is ok.

If you are only concerned about the injury to the paw, if it is not bleeding or serious/deep or infected (oozing pus or smells funny), the baby is probably fine and you will be good just going to the vet tomorrow. Is he favoring the leg or avoiding walking on it? Keep it clean as best you can. Clean it with peroxide and apply a thin layer of neosporin ointment if you have it. Use the kind that does not have the added ingredient for pain.

If you are concerned about a condition other than the injury, there are some things to take note of. Has he eaten? Has he kept it down? Is the litter box behavior normal (normal pee and poop)? Input/output - are they normal?

If you think he may be blocked (can't pee or poop) this would be an emergency situation and you should go to the emergency vet. This can be an extremely serious condition.

 

[DizBelle]

Read your post again - if he went under the bed right after he ate, perhaps what he ate just isn't agreeing with him. Was it new food?

 

[Disneylover79]

No the food is the same....and the input and output are completely normal... I noticed this injury to his paw last night and he was fine all day today until tonight when he was under the bed instead of being with me on the couch.... I think he will be fine till the morning.... he is favoring the paw and won't even let me look at it..he withdraws it and growls at me....

BTW thanks for responding.. I am really sensitive when it comes to my cats (they are my kids)...

 

[DizBelle]

I would really try to get a look at it and clean it if you can. Is there someone else there? Can one of you manhandle the beast while the other looks at the paw? I think it is important to get an idea of how bad it really is.

Go to the vet as early as you can tomorrow. If it is infected, it needs to get treated. You don't want the infection to spread to his bloodstream or his organs.

I'm with you. Mine are my babies too.

We had this type of situation with one of ours one time (the 18 year old as a matter of fact). His paw was smelly and it was pretty obvious it was infected. We cleaned it as best we could and took him to the vet the next day. He got an antibiotic shot.

Do you know how he got the cut?

 

[Disneylover79]

See the funny thing is I can't figure out where he got it from... I just noticed it last night and the part around the pad was scabbed over already..but then he has a spot on his on toe pad that is open and red... I cleaned it pretty good last night.... I will try to get a hold of him again but I don't want to scare him or cause him more pain....

BTW he had one like this before on his front paw about a month ago and I dipped it in peroxied and cleaned it with soap and water and it healed itself but he didn't act anything like this....

 

[Disneylover79]

UPDATE: He is eating this morning like usual....I am going to try and catch a look at his paw, and I think I am still taking him in just to get something for it either pain medication or antibiotics or both. Last night was a little rough... I know that a cat cannot go without eating for to long. Thanks for your help

 

[DizBelle]

Any updates?

 

[pl71]

I know this is from the other day, so hopefully he's doing better now?

One other thing my vet had me do in this type of situation (my cat has just recovered from a bad cut on her paw)...if you are using clay litter, change it out for something like pine or Yesterday's News. The clay will clump and stick to the cut and may cause infection or longer healing time.

 

[Disneylover79]

Update: We went to the vets today...he has a very bad infection in is foot, the lymph node was badly swollen (it was the size of a big grape and should be the size of a peppercorn)....so he got an antibiotic shot today and now he is starting to be himself again.....thanks to all that talked me through my freak out last night...and I found out today that my handsome cat is a flirt at the vets ...

 

[terri01p]

Following this and glad everything is ok...God Bless!

 

[Disneylover79]

I know this is from the other day, so hopefully he's doing better now?

One other thing my vet had me do in this type of situation (my cat has just recovered from a bad cut on her paw)...if you are using clay litter, change it out for something like pine or Yesterday's News. The clay will clump and stick to the cut and may cause infection or longer healing time.

Thanks for the response...you aren't that late.... my vet did say to use torn up newspaper...but believe it or not he doesn't even put that paw in the litter (maybe it hurts to much)...but thanks for the idea....

 

[Disneylover79]

Following this and glad everything is ok...God Bless!

Thank you very much it means a lot to both me and Sunny

 

[locolala]

So glad your baby is ok! My male cat is very snuggly, and a few weeks ago he didn't want to be messed with at all, even growled at me when I touched his tail. We took him to the vet, and it turned out he'd broken his tail! Just the very tip of it, but it had to be painful. He's back to his normal psychotic self (as I speak, he's sleeping on top of the bedroom door.. yes, on top of it) now, and I know now that if he acts like that again, he's going back! Many hugs and kitty treats to your babies!

 

[Sleepy]

I am late responding, but wanted to add my thoughts. Lifelong kitty owner here

An animal hides when they are sick or dying. This is normal behavior from wild instinct. I figure it is because they know they are weak. If too weak to run from predators, they can't stay out in the open. Anytime kitty is exhibiting this prolonged behavior (other than an afternoon of "leave me alone I am sleeping"), take him to the vet.

As far as the cut, you got great advice. Always use newspaper instead of litter. We have even used lentils on top of sheeted newspaper liner. It gives the kitty something to scratch at that is somewhat like litter (small and smooth edges).

Happy to hear he is doing better.