My indoor cat has a wound. Is it serious enough for a vet visit?

Ouch, poor Eddie! Unfortunately, it's impossible to fully assess this wound's severity from a picture alone. The wound itself looks fairly large and appears to be covered in a hair-crusted scab. The challenge likes in how deep the wound goes under the scab, and if it penetrates into the tooth roots, jaw, or salivary glands. To answer your question, yes, Eddie does need veterinary attention. Since he's afraid of people, it's likely that he will need to be sedated in order for your veterinarian to examine this wound. Your vet will need to determine the depth of the wound, and at a minimum, will need to clip the hair around the wound and clean it with an antiseptic cleanser. I fully expect that they'll prescribe an antibiotic or give a long-acting antibiotic injection, as it's likely that this wound is also infected. Try to get to the vet as soon as you can - preferably within the next day. Until your vet appointment, be sure to put an e-collar (cone) on Eddie to prevent him from scratching at this area, as that will make matters worse. Best of luck and I hope that he heals quickly!

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.

This presentation could be due to a trauma or localized spot of skin infection (likely to be caused by bacteria). It may heal on its own, even though it will take few days. Disinfection may be done at home with very diluted hibiscrub or betadine or salted water baths twice daily. Buster collar may be useful as well to avoid any licking. If the wound will not heal/or at least improve in 5 days, a check up, appropriate disinfection and possibly antibiotics (oral, topical or in a shampoo formulation) are needed to solve the problem. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further. If this answer was helpful please let us know, this will be used to improve our service!

It does look like Theo has a wound there, and may already look like its infected. I think it will likely heal a lot faster if you can get him into the vet so he can get cleaned up and have some antibiotics. Good luck!

Poor Claws! I don't think you should let that heal without treatment and should take him to a vet. Your vet can clean the wound and then suture it so it heals properly. He will also need an antibiotic to prevent infection.

Hi and thanks for posting. From the pictures, the area looks red and infected. I would advise Khora be taken to a veterinarian so they can clean the wound thoroughly and give Khora a course of antibiotics. In the mean time, you can keep the area clean with a mild cleansing cloth or 3% hydrogen peroxide a few times daily, but I would highly recommend seeing a veterinarian. I hope this helps and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

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!