My cat has a painful tail injury after a fight. What should I do?

You should have a vet take a look at his tail to determine the best way to treat. It may need to be amputated and your vet can make that decision after an examination. He will also need an antibiotic and pain medications to help treat.

Unfortunately, only an x-ray or a bone sticking out of the skin will tell you if it is broken. Tail injuries can be very serious, even if there is not a broken bone. Since they are very far away from the body, there is less blood flow that creates a condition for poor healing. I would strongly recommend seeing a vet. Depending on the amount of skin that is damaged, the vet may recommend amputation of the damaged part of the tail to help with healing. If you choose to treat at home, you need to try to clip the hair away from the wound so it can stay clean. You will need to prevent all licking, since this will delay healing and spread bacteria. You should clean it 2-3 times per day with water and a mild chlorhixidine wound soap. You can apply neosporin after cleaning the wound. Do not use alcohol or peroxide.

This looks like is may be a bite wound abscess that ruptured. Ideally, it should be addressed by your veterinarian. Surgery may be indicated to clean and flush the wound. Antibiotics and pain medication may also be indicated. Place an e-collar (cone) on him to prevent licking until he sees the doctor. You may need to confine him indoors until he is healed.

I am so sorry to hear that your kitty Pepper has an injured tail. I know how worrisome it can be when your pet has an injury. If you are seeing exposed muscle, bones or tissue, then yes this needs to be addressed by your local vet or it will most certainly get infected. Waiting until tomorrow is ok as long as Pepper is still eating well, drinking and has good energy level. Its best to replace all the litter with yesterdays news litter or crumbled newspaper shaving for now to help prevent further contamination of the area and you can try gently cleaning it with Betadine diluted 50:50 with warm water for now to keep the bacteria load down. I hope that Pepper does well at the vet tomorrow. Best wishes and take care. : )

This needs to be examined by a veterinarian today. Please do not wait until after the weekend He will need pain medicine and antibiotics and the vet needs to check whether there is already infection present. He may even have to have part of his tail amputated. Please take him to a veterinarian NOW.

Oh ouch! That looks really painful! I would highly encourage you to have him evaluated by your veterinarian as soon as possible. Topical antibiotics may be needed as well as pain medication. Unfortunately there is nothing safe for pain medication over the counter for cats. I agree that the cone is important to keep him from making it worse in the meantime. Best of luck and I hope he improves soon. Thank you for using Pet Coach.

Thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach with your question about Bushita. Oh no, this is bad. This will be painful to her, and there are no OTC pain medications you can give her. Many human ones are toxic to cats, and are fatal if given. You absolutely have to take her into a vet now, this cannot wait until the morning. Please have her seen by a vet immediately. Best of luck.