My intact male cat has infected fight wounds. What should I do?

Poor guy. You need to get him to a vet right away to have these areas flushed and then get him on a short course of antibiotics to prevent infection. Animal bites are notorious for getting infected because loads of bacteria live on pets teeth, which then migrates underneath the skin during the bite. Neutering your pet during this healing process is not an ideal time to do this; although, if your vet doesn't mind doing a quick snip at the same time to save from having to do two procedures, then go for it. I have seen several vets who will do this to help the owner out with expenses, plus a cat neuter takes literally 5-10 minutes to do. A neutered pet is less likely to get into so many fights outside, so there is an advantage to doing this right away.

Intact male cats can and do fight over things such as territory and females, so to answer your question, yes they can hurt each other if they get into a fight. Intact cats will also spray urine all over the house to mark their territory, which smells terrible and is very hard to get out. I would recommend having them both neutered to reduce any aggressive behavior as well as urine marking, which it sounds like you are seeing if they are fighting enough to cause a cut. Gently wash the cut with warm water and antiseptic soap. Keep the area clean and dry, and monitor for signs of infection which include redness, swelling, warmth to the touch, and pus. Should you see any of those signs, the cat will need to see the vet for antibiotics. In the meantime, I'd make an appointment to have them both neutered. Good luck, I hope this helps!

Yes, that appears to be an abscess. What you are smelling is infection. Chances are it won't clear up without oral antibiotics. I suggest you get him to the vet for an exam and to get some antibiotics. You can try applying a topical antibiotic cream/ointment but it is rare for that to actually work on it's own. As a side note, male cats that are not neutered usually get into a lot of fights so if you don't use him as a breeding animal you may want to have him neutered to minimize the chance of this happening again.

Surgery may be needed to clean the edges and see if the wound can be repaired. Often times, this does require some times for the tissue to declare itself before this is done to see what tissue will be healthy to save. All you can do until it is ready for surgery is keep it clean and stay on antibiotics to prevent an infection. Rechecks should be frequent to determine when surgery would be best. Cats are the best at healing and granulating in new tissue as long as the infection stays under control.

It's not going to hurt him to give Augmentin once a day, but it's just going to be slower to help. I would be concerned that this cat has some type of immunosuppressive disease, such as feline AIDs or feline leukemia, that's making it difficult for him to heal. If you can get any vet to help you there is an injectable antibiotic for animals called Convenia; one injection lasts for 2 weeks. Perhaps someone could order it for you; that might be your best bet.

Hello. If you have or can purchase a skin antiseptic, one with either 2% chlorhexidine or 1% povidine iodine, then you can gently clean this 2 times daily. Antibiotics would hasten healing, & if the wound is not looking better by early next week, I would consider a veterinary visit. But by keeping this clean, it will heal, & yes, this has the look of a typical cat bite abscess, so he did get into an argument with another cat. Thanks for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Agree that Mochi may greatly benefit from antibiotics. Infections related to fighting are common and these can become more severe the longer they are present (though the body will try to heal itself). have Mochi wear an elizabethan collar at all times to protect the wound. Keep the wound clean and dry. Keep Mochi inside. Here is a link about abscesses: https://www.petcoach.co/article/abscesses-a-common-skin-condition-in-cats/ You may look into financing through Care Credit or Scratch Pay. You may call the local humane society to ask if they offer/know of any low cost solutions. Moving forward, keep Mochi indoors and I recommend to have her spayed as there are many health and behavioral benefits to the procedure. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.