My cat has open abscesses. Can I wait a week to take her to the vet?

Unfortunately, an abscess cannot be treated at home, Shivers has to see a vet for it. If it's ruptured, it needs to be flushed sterilely to prevent further infection from entering the area, and she needs antibiotics to treat the infection which are available by prescription only from the vet. She does have to see a vet as soon as possible for this, and it truly cannot wait until next week. I would see if a family member can take her to the vet this week since you are only home this week from school.

It looks like it may be healing. If it isn't big, full of pus, painful to him, he's eating, and isn't lethargic, you can wait until Monday to have him seen. Otherwise, take him into a vet immediately.

Hello and thank you for reaching out to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I agree, the abscess appears to be very open, which in a way is a good thing. This allows the wound to drain openly, so Lilly doesn’t get an accumulation of infected fluid under the skin (an abscess) again. I think the answer to your question about having her seen sooner depends on how the wound has changed since your veterinarian last saw it. Each veterinarian manages these wounds a little differently. If how it looks now is similar to how it looked at your last veterinary visit, and Lilly is otherwise acting healthy at home, she may not have to be evaluated sooner than her next appointment. If, however, the wound had changed dramatically (is more open, has a different colored fluid exuding from it, has a foul odor) then I recommend Lilly be seen sooner. The only bandage I would recommend would have to be placed by a veterinarian under light sedation, and this is called a “tie-over bandage”. These protect the wound from becoming increasingly more contaminated, and allow for relatively simple bandage changes while the skin in the wound heals. I hope this is helpful! If you have any further questions, please feel free to enter into a consultation with me; I would be happy to assist your further.

Hello. It is not unusual for a secondary abscess to show up days later. It may have resulted from a draining tract from the first, or another incident similar to what caused the first abscess. Since the new abscess seems to be drying up & Yum Yum is ( hopefully ) on antibiotics, waiting until Friday to see the vet should be OK. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hello and welcome to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. That does appear to be a burst abscess. Without examining her it's impossible to know for sure, however it resembles and has acted like an abscess. Ideally she would be seen by a vet, they would flush it out with warm (not hot) salt water (1 teaspoon in 1 cup of water- your vet would use sterile saline) and then likely get antibiotics and pain meds. An E-collar also prevents Littlecloud from licking and introducing more bacteria into the wound. If you cannot go to a vet, I recommend flushing it/cleaning it with salt water. Do not use any topical creams, just leave it open to drain. Clean it twice a day with the salt water, and try to prevent Littlecloud from licking at it or chewing at it. The main pain has now gone since the abscess has burst (the pressure is relieved) . Do not give any human pain medications as these are often very toxic to cats. Best of luck with Littlecloud!

If your cat lets you do it, you can bathe her paw in a warm epsom salt solution twice a day. This should help ripen the abscess. Since I have not seen the abscess, I cannot tell you , how long it should take until it bursts, but I think by the latest on Monday, it should have opened.

It's hard to say if it can wait. Once an abscess is opened and draining, much of the risk of lots of pain and deeper infection is reduced. If you decide to wait, Mr. Fox needs to wear an e-collar to prevent further licking of the wound, since that will delay healing and spread infection. You can apply Neosporin or clean with warm water rinses, but don't use alcohol or peroxide.