What to do if my puppy was bitten by a cat and has open wounds?

Hello and thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. First of all, you need to stop Biscuit from licking the wounds. Head cone usually works best. You should clean the wounds with warm, boiled water twice a day until they scab up. If Biscuit becomes lethargic, off food or you notice that the wounds are hot to touch, painful or swollen, you will need to take her to your local vets.

I would have panda examined by a vet. A wound like this could be caused by skin infection, ringworm, mange mites, chronic licking from allergies or pain in the foot, etc. The vet will look closely at his skin and may take a small sample to examine under the microscope. Then they can prescribe an appropriate treatment once the cause is known.

This type of wounds must be considered always infected. 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. 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!

Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sorry to hear about Mano. Sorry to hear about your other cat. Puncture wounds especially from bites push surface bacteria and oral pathogens from the biter deep into the skin and underlying area called the subcutaneous space. There the bacteria multiple and can travel along tissue planes. I would advise you taking Mano to your veterinarian and let them evaluate the significance of the bite. Your vet will advise a treatment course including antibiotics, possible surgery to place a drain, a rabies shot if deemed needed, medicine for pain, etc. The only thing you can do at home is to apply hydrogen peroxide making sure the eyes are covered and protected. Warm compresses on the area multiple times over the next few days. I'm not familiar with Cicatrin powder but it appears to be antimicrobial in nature. This powder will only treat the very surface of the wounds and may not get down into the deeper layers but I guess it's ok to continue using it. Only use hydrogen peroxide once to cleanse the wounds. If you can get some chlorhexidine solution, you could use that daily to clean the wounds. Good luck with Mano.

Aw, I bet that stings for sure! If the nails were pulled completely and cleanly, they aren't likely to become heavily infected. If there are remnants left behind, they rest needs to be dealt with by a veterinarian so they can grown back in properly. As for the chunk of tissue missing, this has a much higher likelihood for complications from infection. Since I can not see it, I can't say whether or not it needs to be assessed, closed, sutured, stapled etc. You may want to have someone take a look at it. If not, make sure to flush the area with some chlorhexidine solution, keep it clean as possible, make sure that Teddy can't lick the area (use an e-collar), and possibly apply topical antimicrobial ointment. Teddy would likely benefit from some pain medication and antibiotics, but a vet visit would definitely be required to obtain those. Hope this is helpful!

This photo looks like Ginger has an abscess, probably from a bite or scratch from another cat. The best option for treatment is to have the wound flushed out (sometimes sedation is needed for this) and putting Ginger on antibiotics for about 2 weeks. If you are unable to take her to the vet to have this done you can try cleaning the wound at home with some dilute iodine solution and warm water and then applying a topical antibiotic ointment. You would have to ensure that Ginger does not lick off the ointment and you would need to clean it at least once a day. If the abscess does not resolve with home therapy in 3 days then I would strongly recommend taking her in to the vet to be treated. If the infection does not resolve you run the risk of the infection moving into the blood stream which can be life threatening.

Yes. I would recommend to take her to the vet. The doctor will likely put her on antibiotics to try to clean up the infection. You also need to make sure that she is not licking at the area as this can make it worse. She should wear an Elizabethan collar at all times and be kept indoors completely until the wound is completely healed. I hope she feels better quickly and please feel free to post any additional questions.