What to do for a stray cat with a bleeding, sore, smelly paw?

Oh goodness, that looks like a deep infection. It could be bacterial or fungal, but I suspect more likely bacterial. He needs to see a veterinarian for an examination and treatment plan. However, in the meantime if he will allow you to soak his foot in warm water and Epsom salts that may be soothing and beneficial. Best of luck and I hope he improves soon. Thank you for using Pet Coach.

Poor guy. It seems he likely injured the paw again. If it hurts this bad, then I worry about a fracture as well. I would recommend not touching the area and getting him to your local vet as soon as you can. If you cannot tonight, then taking him to any vet that is open tomorrow morning (after hours clincis likely are) would be the best thing to do for Pooh Bear. You may want to investigate the home to hopefully find out where he is likely getting his injuries from. If he is an outdoor/indoor cat, then its best to have him neutered and/or kept indoors to help avoid further injuries. Intact male cats tend to pick more fights when they are outside, than neutered ones. I hope that your furry friend gets his injury resolved soon! Best wishes and take care.

If it currently bleeding you can use some corn starch to help slow the bleeding. Also if you are able to place a light bandage on it to prevent him from licking it tonight that would be good. You can also use a cone collar which you can find at your local pet store if it is still open. I would take him to your vet first thing in the morning for an exam. He may need to have it cleaned, medicated and professionally wrapped. Your vet will also be able to provide antibiotics and pain meds if need. If it is profusely bleeding then I would take him to your local emergency clinic for attention tonight. I hope this helps!

Hi, in the first picture it looks like there could be a bit of infection as the fluid seems cloudy. Looking at the second one the skin lesion looks more like podo dermatitis, an inflammation of Jeff's pad. I think it is worthy to have hm checked over, in order to get some medications and help him towards a speedy recovery. If you don't take him to see your vet, his foot will continue to get worse and every time he puts his foot down to walk he will be in a lot of pain. I think your vet will not need to run tests but just give him some medications and therefore cost should be limited. All the best and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach !

Hi, and thanks for your question. Even though a picture would help to understand better the underlying cause, This presentation could be due to a trauma or localized spot of skin infection (likely to be caused by bacteria). A check up, appropriate disinfection and possibly antibiotics (oral, topical or in a shampoo formulation) are needed to solve the problem. Disinfection may be started at home with very diluted hibiscrub or betadine or salted water baths. Buster collar may be useful as well to avoid any licking. 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. Please find the time to give us a feedback about the consultation as that will be used to improve our service.

You can certainly clean this by taking some gauze that has mild soap and warm water in it a scrub it, not too vigorously but enough to get it clean. This should help, and then placing an e-collar will also keep him from licking it, which will cause infection. However, before you consider this course of action I would strongly recommend that you contact his owners to make sure that they are ok with you choosing to treat this at home. He is their cat, and they may wish to have him seen. Also be aware that this may be painful and you may have difficultly getting him to submit to your treatments. Finally, if he is having other systemic signs of illness, such as lethargy or decreased appetite, you’ll need to go ahead and take him in.

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!