Kitten bitten: swollen, oozing leg. What should I do to save it?

Hello and thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. It probably is an infection affecting most of the leg. It is an emergency. Please, try and call your local emergency service if your regular vets don't have any appointments.

Poor kitten! I'm sorry that its leg is injured - since it has swelling, drainage, and a foul odor, it sounds like it's probably infected as well. Tiny kittens like this can actually be treated with antibiotics when needed, so I would definitely recommend having the baby checked by a vet as soon as you can. He/she can prescribe antibiotics for the infection if needed, or even advise on other options such as amputation if the damage is severe. It's not ideal to do things like this in very young babies, but it's certainly possible to do them when needed.

This is most likely an infection, a parasite under the skin or a cancer. These conditions all need medical care. I recommend to have your kitty examined by the veterinarian for appropriate diagnosis and treatment. She will need antibiotics, the area cleaned, possibly pain medication, possibly antiparasitics and an elizabethan collar. The vet may also recommend additional treatment. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

It is probably an abscess. You can try soaking the foot in warm epsom salt water for 5 minutes 3 times per day. That may help draw the infection out. Honestly though, most of the time oral antibiotics are also needed to get this to heal up completely. She definitely looks like she does not feel well so if you can eventually get her to a vet that would be really great.

Please have your kitten seen by a vet right away. That wound looks extremely painful and will require pain medication and antibiotics. The kitten will need to have the wound cleaned out by the vet and will likely need sutures/bandaging of the area. Pain medication meant for people can be toxic to kittens and should not be used without checking with your vet. If you cannot keep the kitten and don’t know anyone who will take on his care and vet expenses, please contact local animal shelters and rescue groups so that he can get vet care asap. Thanks for trying to help these cats!

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. If you are able to get to a veterinarian right now, I would do so. Waiting until the morning would mean that she is in a lot of pain until then. If you get her seen right now, she can receive appropriate pain medication to help relieve this discomfort. This may be a fractured bone and not having any pain medications until the morning would mean that she is in extreme discomfort until then. I would recommend having her seen as soon as possible so that she is not in pain. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. From your description it sounds as though Teva sustained this injury from trauma. It is tough to say when the initial injury was not seen by anyone. It sounds as though the wound is infected and Teva being on antibiotics is good so that it resolves. If it does not resolve, I would recommend culturing the wound to see if there are any resistant bacteria that need to be addressed. I hope Teva makes a speedy recovery! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.