File :-(, x, )
Anonymous
Hey /an/, my cat is hurt.

I have no idea how he did it - he's inside half the time and outside the other half, so I think he might have hurt himself in a fight. One of his front paws has the middle two toes split or something and oozing brown gunk, and the smell is like something escaped from the bowels of hell, like a really nasty rotten smell. It's because of the smell I think he has an infection. It seems like he can't retract his claws, but I'm not sure what he did to them - it's hard to keep him still enough to actually get a good look.

I cleaned off his foot with some antibacterial soap and dipped his paw in some hydrogen peroxide. Tommorow is sunday so I can't take him to the vets. Is there anything else I could do over the weekend to make sure he doesn't hurt himself or to try and keep the wound from getting infected?

Pic only slightly related, it's my other cat that died last year (hit by a car, poor thing).
>> Anonymous
you should find the other cat and beat the shit out of it
>> Anonymous
TAKE HIM TO THE VET

keep it inside
>> Anonymous
lick ur cat

itz lyk magick

oh nd go 2 da vet fag
>> Anonymous
Poor animal :/

Take him to the vet, and keep him inside. Sounds like he got something quite nasty.
>> Anonymous
your cat sucks at fighting so keep him inside
>> Anonymous
Christ, this why I don't come to /an/ anymore (was aiming for /a/), you people are fucking retarded.

It sounds like there is most likely already an infection. Get someone else (friend, relative, neighbor, friendly hobo) to restrain him so you can make sure the wounded area is entirely clean and remove any excess dirt and debris from his foot. The best way to restrain him is wrap him in a towel, making sure to cover his head. If it's between his toes, place some gauze in the area between his toes, then wrap his entire foot with a layer of gauze followed by a self adhesive ace-type bandage. He's not going to be too happy about this, but it's the only real way to keep it clean and free from infection (if it isn't infected already) until you can get him to the vet on Monday. Keep him inside, and consider calling around because some vets are open Sunday or you may at least be able to speak with a vet over the phone (many vets provide numbers to be used in case of an emergency).

Also, did you not figure when the last cat met it's horrid end under someone's tires, that perhaps the outdoors is not the safest place for your cat? The number of ways that a cat can be killed or mangled outside is astonishing, and to simply shrug and say "oh well, I hope the next one fares better" is the epitome of fucktardom.
>> Anonymous
>>279196
shut up hippie


And OP, for a realistic solution. When I was a child, my cat had its back leg split open and we weren't rich enough to have it taken to the emergency room. I would recommend washing the area with warm water and antibacterial soap twice a day. Be very very gentle with it, if you can clean the area enough to softly pick out debris, do so but don't dig for treasure. Put a decent amount of Neosporin over the infected area and wrap it in gauze (and tape it). Keep the cat in the bathroom, and move the food and litter into there too. Most likely he will get a couple of stitches and be on antibiotics, I would suspect nothing more than $150 (they gouge you on costs)
>> Anonymous
>>279196
We adopted this cat was adopted at 7 years old and had been an outdoor cat all his life. It's incredibly hard to keep him inside. My other two cats are indoor cats, I did learn from what happened to my other one.

Anyway, thankyou for all the replies! My girlfriend and I have been dipping his paw in hydrogen peroxide, which seems to help. We also have some epsom salts and were wondering if that could help?
We're keeping him inside for now and waiting for monday when we can get him to the vets.
>> Anonymous
>>279305
>we adopted this cat was adopted

Sorry about my retardedness by the way.
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
i was going to also flip out about the kitty being outside but then i read>>279305cats do suck, when they are already outside cats, to try and keep in. but the Epsom salts wont hurt, if he lets you use it i say go for it. but if the infection is still there by Monday don't hesitate on bringing him to a vet becouse thats to long to have an infection, especially if it smells as bad as you say, its already pretty bad
good luck w/ the kitty

ps your old cats eyes are AMAZING! so beautifull
>> Anonymous
There are Emergency vets.
>> Anonymous
tits or gtfo
>> Poor thing IT
Try to get the injured area cleaned, as much as you can. Some aggression would be expected but you'd have to be patient and understanding. Use protective gloves or mittens and soothing voice. Good luck!
>> Anonymous
>>279322
he's actually being very nice about me cleaning it, he'll let me put him upside down and hold him while I stick his foot under running water/put soap on it/clean it out and whatnot. I think the main part to do now is just keep him in (he's been meowing at the doors and windows all day) and keep it clean.

>>279310
I'm so sad he died, he was the most beautiful and sweet cat. If you were sitting he'd just flounce into your lap and roll onto his back. Unfortunately I don't have any other good pictures of him.
>> Anonymous
Do you people even read the threads? He DID clean the wound and he was planning to take the cat to the vet as soon as it opened.

Also, the decision to keep a cat in is hard. You can't just say "being outside is dangerous, so obviously cats shoudln't go outside," there are major trade-offs to consider here, the most salient being that cats /really like/ being outside. It's something you have to consider on a case-by-case basis.
>> Anonymous
>>279219
2nded

although that hippy had a good point about the gauze
>> Anonymous
alright, OP here, little update.

I took a good look at his paw while he was sunbathing next to the window. It isn't oozing anymore, but still smells terrible, and the front of his toes are thick and crusty. The part around his nail is split open, and if I gently pull it away from the nail the inside (the toe part) is white and full of pus - sorry the description kind of sucks, it's hard to describe.

It seems to me like he might have had the injury for a few days for it to get this bad? But before I noticed it, I was carrying him around and he didn't seem to be in pain at all. I only noticed it last night because he was leaving blood footprints on my counter. He's black so I guess I didn't notice the wound because it's so dark against his paws.

Anyway, I'm continuing the hydrogen peroxide treatment, and my girlfriend and I used epsom salts, which he didn't like one bit (it seemed to really hurt).

It sucks because tommorow I'm taking my dog to the vets to get an x-ray (he needs surgery on his hips), so I'll probably get a nice double-whammy taking both of them.
Anyway, thanks again for all the helpful replies.
>> Anonymous
You should wrap his paw in ACE bandage or something similar, to prevent dirt and such from getting in it. Ask your vet how serious it is, and if you're lucky he wont bullshit you. I don't think a cut will hurt him badly, so he probably wont need stitches.
>> Sagacious
Can you take a picture of the wound? That would help us a bit more. It sounds to me that it is in fact a bacterial infection, what kind I'd need to see it. You need backyard medicine for this one. Put on some long heavy jeans, a thick sweater, and safety glasses. Hold the cat firmly, and take a cotton swab with hydrogen peroxide (around 5% is usually what you get, it's safe but it stings for some) and gently clean the wound. Wrap it up and bring it in tomorrow morning.
>> Sagacious
>>279472
Didn't read this before my post. You're doing a good job, cat owner. Spend a bit extra time with him tonight to show you that you still love him, and give him time to get over his being upset at you for the treatment.
>> Anonymous
>>279472
I had a cat that had this, I think. He was declawed (this was years ago before they knew it was bad for cats) and they messed something up and out of his finger pad there was a big hard nail like crust. He used to try and sharpen it, and they've cut it before but I don't rememnber if it grew back. Actually this doesn't really sound like your cat. But I'm sure your cat will be fine