Story of the cat.

I know this place is geared more for birds but I was wondering if I could get any advise on a cat.

The story get's a bit convoluted. This cat is an outdoor cat and belonged to a neighbor. That neighbor moved away and left the cat in the care of another neighbor. That neighbor also had to move and couldn't take the cat wit her, so she tried giving the cat to someone. That person ended up not being able to take her and returned the cat to my neighbor. With only a few days before she had to move she asked if I would take that cat. Due to financial situation I was hesitant but agreed.

The cat recently got into a fight (I think with another cat) and got badly bit. Not really having money we got in contact with an organization who took the cat, gave it her shots, antibiotics, etc. and returned her to my care.

The first problem is I was told during the time they had her they microchipped her. That's a good thing but I have no idea what information is on the chip. She may be registered to the organization. (I'm currently trying to find out) If she is I will need to have the information on it changed. The reason for the uncertainty of how they have the cat registered on this chip is because it appears the way they treated her was not as a pet cat but as a feral cat.

The second problem has cropped to tonight The bite wound is beginning to look different and I'm not sure if it' a good thing or a bad thing. Here is a picture of the cat (Clare) and the wound on her hip (how it currently looks as of this posting).

You don't say where you are, so I don't know if it is the same over there, but here any vet will have a microchip scanner and can run it over her chip and tell you the details. I would have expected them to treat the cat and then register him to you. I don't see why they'd want it registered to them when you are responsible for her.

As for the wound, nobody can really tell you anything over the internet from a photo. How has it changed? Is it red, weeping, hot? If so, you should get her some more antibiotics. Has she been licking it? If so, you should look at getting a "bucket" for her head so that she can't reach it. Did they tell you to put anything on it?

She's really cute! I'm glad she found safe haven with you.

So, yeah, anyone will run a microchip scanner and tell you what's on it (at the very least, they can tell you if you're not on it). I would recommend keeping her indoors, anyway. Better for all (including the local wildlife).

The wound looks gnarly but it's hard to say whether it looks that way because it's a bad wound or because it's still infected. Cats do get abscesses and this may be one in formation. Smell, heat, weeping pus or other fluid, are all indicators of infection.

I would bring her in to the vet. Get the vaccination records and stuff so all they have to do is the exam and an antibiotic (if needed). Look for places outside of city central as they usually have low prices.

With being here in the US, its very strange they returned the cat to you if you did not have proof of current rabies vaccine and/or know what or who bit the cat. Do you have paperwork for the cat for her last vaccines and such?

The id chip starts out with info on whomever it was sold / issued to. The organization that helped you can give you the chip number and how to go online to register the cat to you.

I can understand the cat being treated as a feral, from the sounds of it, she is an outdoors cat and while feral brings to mind cats that are not tame or friendly, even barn cats usually get lumped under feral. So, thats not a big surprise and really should not be a worry. The only to keep in mind, if the cat has not been spayed, if she goes in for spaying as a feral cat, she'll get ear tipped or docked. We have a big gray boy that was neutered thru a feral cat program (before we adopted him), and he has the tip of one ear cut. It allows organizations and such to visually identify cats that have already been neutered / spayed.

For the wound, if you do not have meds to continue to ensure no infection, you might want to contact the group that helped you. And you want to be sure rabies is not a worry in this situation.

The issue with taking her to just anyone and having the chip scanned is that they might have to put the cat in the custody of the organizations. I'm going to try and make a second attempt at contacting the organization today more directly.

As for the wound, nobody can really tell you anything over the internet from a photo. How has it changed? Is it red, weeping, hot? If so, you should get her some more antibiotics. Has she been licking it? If so, you should look at getting a "bucket" for her head so that she can't reach it. Did they tell you to put anything on it?

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The tissue around the wound was more of a whitish color until yesterday afternoon when it started getting darker. They told me to just put a little neosporin on it. I'm also using an eye dropper of water to keep the wound clean.

With being here in the US, its very strange they returned the cat to you if you did not have proof of current rabies vaccine and/or know what or who bit the cat. Do you have paperwork for the cat for her last vaccines and such?

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I have no paperwork on the cat at all. The original owners basically abandoned her to the lady across the street from me. (along with a rabbit they just let go.) The organization that took her has updated all of her shots, so she is good on that front. She was already spayed by the original owners but when the vet looked at her to confirm this they still tipped her ear.

I'm certainly no vet, but the wound looks like it may be getting a bit necrotic, and it's obviously oozing out some stuff.

She certainly needs to see a vet IMHO.

Your cat is not good on its shots if it was bitten by something THEN got its shots. A rabies vaccine does not counter effect a bite from a rabid predator. Not trying to throw out worst case, just saying you need to be careful and very watchful especially if there are other animals or children involved....

The wound certainly does not sound like it is healing properly. For the sake of the cat, you may need to consider contacting a local agency that may want to put the cat in quarantine if there is any reports of rabies in the area. If the wound is changing as you describe, I do not think there is much you can do at home to fix the problem, if the area around the wound is beginning to become infected or tissues are dying, the longterm is not favorable for the cat. You may want to make a few phone calls to see what help is available in your area and if the organization that has helped before can provide access to a vet who can help with the wound. If the tissue is dying, it will need to be surgically removed, and I think antibiotics are needed no matter what else is going on...

Agreed about the antibiotics. The good news is that the wound remained open. Many times with cat bites the wound closes due to the small tooth size and the infection builds up inside.

Your cat is not good on its shots if it was bitten by something THEN got its shots. A rabies vaccine does not counter effect a bite from a rabid predator.

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It has been almost a week now and she has shown no signs of rabies. It's the necrotic appearance of the bite that has me concerned.

Also no reports of rabies in the area.

The only person who can help you is somebody qualified who can actually look at it for you.

Do you know anybody with some experience? Vet nurse? Farmer? Somebody with more idea of what they are looking at? Is it smelly, or oozy?

I'd contact the organisation (as you are already trying to do) and seek their assistance with vet care.

You should definitely get that looked at. If it is necrotic they may need to trim the dead flesh to allow the yea;thy skin to heal. and may have to bandage it. I do not think anyone who scans the cup will want to turn the kitty over to the organization, if that's whose contact information is on there and most places will be able to give you a number to call to get the info updated to yours. She's a lovely diluter tortoiseshell, bless you for caring for her!

The cat has actually been given a 15 day antibiotic.

Today the wound appears to have stopped decaying and just turned into a big scab. Also I had someone besides myself look at it who has experience with wounds on cats and they noticed something interesting. The second scratch mark that I thought was from a second fang wasn't. There was a third mark on the cat that went unnoticed. That appeared to be a second mark from a fang. If so what got her was much bigger than another cat or raccoon. This person was thinking possibly a bobcat tried taking a bite out of the cat. Another possibility I proposed was perhaps a large dog.

Happy Easter. How is the cat getting along?

The cat is doing fine now, the wound has turned into a small scar and now just waiting for the fur to grow back.

Oh I'm sorry to hear your story. I dunno about microchip, but having three cats in the past I can tell that they heal very well on their own. My first cat fell twice from our 13th (!!!) floor condominium window - and amazingly the vet didn't find a single broken bone or any other sufficient damage to even give her pills. Thank's God there was grass and little bushes under the window. She was completely fine in about a week.
So I would just give your cat a good rest, provide good food and let her use her body natural abilities to heal. I'm sure they scanned her for rabies and other dangerous infections.