Cat Abscesses

Cat abscesses are a common presentation in any veterinary clinic and even more common in a cat specialty practice. Usually a painful swelling is noticed by the cat's owner and often times the cat feels hot and acts lethargic due to fever. Questioning the owner about whether or not the cat had been outside recently invariably prompts an answer of yes.

Cats, like us, have a great variety of different bacteria in their mouths. Pasteurella bacteria are the ones that create the deep wound infections, though other bacterias like staphylococcus and streptococcus do too. When cats bite each other a few bacteria are left in the deeper tissues and they set up an infection. The area swells with inflammation and the accumulation of dead cells and white blood cells create the pus filled pocket we call an abscess.

The abscess makes the cat very sick mostly due to fever that can rise to 105 or 106 degrees. I often times was prompted to look further when a cat had such a high fever with no noticeable bite wound swellings yet seen. With fever comes inappetance and dehydration. The dehydration alone becomes lethal in a pyrexic (feverish) cat.

The other reason to get abscesses treated promptly is that they can get far worse. Some clients would ask on the phone if they could let the abscess rupture on it's own and drain out without having to bring them in to the office. The answer to the client was that was not a good idea. The abscess can continue to enlarge and make the cat sicker. It can also become gangrenous and cause the loss of body parts or death. I've had to amputate legs and tails due to gangrenous abscesses and I've also had to do major reconstructive surgery to graft new skin onto areas where the skin sloughed off due to necrosis where the abscess was underneath it.

With an abscess presentation, your cat should also be tested for Feline Leukemia, FIV, FIP and have it's vaccines checked to make sure they are current. A full blood panel to test blood chemistries and internal organ funtions is in order too. Indoor cats can bite each other and get abscesses, but it is more common when a cat goes outside. The tail, rear end, and face are where most abscesses occur, but they cat be anywhere on a cat's body.

Treatment usually involves sedating the cat, lancing and flushing the wound, fluid therapy for re-hydration, and an injection of antibiotics to hit the infection and reduce the fever. Take home pill or liquid antibiotics are part of the standard treatments too. The abscess wounds heal remarkably quickly and a week's worth of antibiotics does the trick. If the wound does not heal quickly, another underlying health problem that is delaying the healing is usually present. I had one cat we eventually found had kidney failure because it's abscess would not heal.

Prevention is the key. Realize that cats are perfectly happy living an indoor only life. They get into big trouble outside. Attack from other cats, dogs, coyotes, and automobiles make the outside world a hazardous place for our sweet kitties.

Dr. Doug Ikeler http://www.drdougikeler.com/

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