My cat has a deep wound but isn't bothered. Does he need vet stitches?

It appears that the muscle layer is exposed in this wound, meaning that there could be some deeper trauma in the area. Often these wounds can result in deep abscesses if not treated. It would be best to bring him to a vet for wound cleaning, flushing, and exploration. If sutures are needed, wounds are most successfully treated within the first 6-8 hours. Poor guy!

ALthough stitching is the fastest way to heal wounds (5-7days) as it helps sealing of the edges together in the correct alignment, most small flesh wounds such as this will heal over 3-4weeks if kept clean and infection is avoided. You must monitor closely for any heat, swelling or pain which may indicate infection requiring further treatment

Hi ! It is a very neat wound, so if you clean it with some saline (flush it with a syringe and some saline solution that yo can busy from the chemist) for the first couple of days and it should heal on his own without stitches in the next week or so. You will need to keep an eye on it and check it every day to make sure it is getting better and healing. If the wound starts to ooze, or swell, then it might mean that it is infected and needs to have antibiotics. Hope this helps !

Hi and thank you for your post. If it is oozing with mucoid discharge (pus), and is a large enough cut, it is infected I will likely need to be flushed out by your veterinarian and stitched up. Tibbz will need to be on antibiotics as well. I would take Tibbz into your veterinarian as soon as possible to have this taken care of. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

It sounds like he had an abscess from an injury, probably an altercation with another cat. A veterinarian would likely not suture it anyway to avoid trapping any contaminants and causing another abscess. It looks pretty clean with healthy granulation tissue forming. The antibiotics, even intermittent have probably helped keep further infection at bay. Keep an eye on it, if he will let you, clean it gently with a damp clean washcloth and keep any debris or infected material cleaned out. It should heal from the outside of the wound to the inside, gradually shrinking and closing over the open area. As long as he continues to eat and drink and behave normally, and and the wound continues to look clean with pink and healthy tissue, he should do fine. He needs to eat, going without eating for more than a few days will cause liver problems in cats which would require a vet visit to be treated.

Hello I can't tell from the picture how deep that wound is but it does look infected and there's underlying tissue and possibly muscle exposed. I recommend takinh your cat to see a veterinarian as she could be licking at the site when you're not watching and causing further infection. It may need to be closed or the vet may decide it should stay open (with some infected wounds closing can cause an abscess to form) and put her on antibiotics and pain medication. She might also need an E collar to prevent her from licking the area further.

He has an open skin wound perhaps from a cat fight. You can trim the surrounding fur and gently clean the area with warm water or peroxide. Then apply a very thin film of antibacterial ointment. Do this twice daily until healed. If the area gets puss or bad odor or painful you need to take Jismo to your veterinarian for an exam and treatment. They will prescribe antibiotics if it gets infected. This area will close up and should heal quickly. I hope this helps you take care of Jismo's injury.