My poor cat

[DoctorCosmonaut]

This morning I got up and went outside to feed my two cats (they live outside). I poured their cat food and they jumped up eagerly. It took me a second to realize but there was blood dripping all around their food dish and pools of it everywhere. I quickly began running my hands across both cats checking to see what or who it was from and finally realized my male cat (Tangaroa) was bleeding quite a bit out of his neck. I was worried about him bleeding to death, but it didn't appear to be a spurting artery at least. I ran inside and called my vet and 15 minutes later was there with the cat. They took a look at him and his face was pretty swollen too. At first the vet tech thought he may need to have surgery, but luckily the doc said otherwise. He was swollen from where another cat must have bitten or whacked him in the face and the wound had exploded through an abscess and was draining. The doctor shaved the area and opened it up more and gave my kitty a lot of shots (some he was do for, others to fight infection). Strangely they just let my cat bleed and sent him home with me a few hours later. Now my poor kitty is still dripping but at least he is supposed to be okay and has antibiotics in him. Poor kitty

 

[terryo]

Oh Jordan, that's so sad. Maybe they just let him bleed to get out all the infection. Hopefully he will be just fine.

 

[Stephanie Logan]

Ouch! Poor kitty.

That is one reason I never let my cats outside. Too many risks.

 

[dmmj]

I am no vet but it sounds like they want the blood to drain for infection issues. I hope your cat feels better, about 12 years ago some bastard shot a bb into my cat snowy, it was near the spine and they could not remove it but she lived a long happy life, even though she never liked being touched by the spot.

 

[Candy]

What a good owner you are Jordan to rush in and call your vet and get him in there within a short amount of time. I hope he does well. Are you going to try to keep him in the house until he heals a little? I know it might be tough to do that if he's used to going outside. I too have outside and inside cats. In fact one of them already got their Christmas present (it's a bed) that I stuck a heating pad in, she loves it. I also bought her a bench to put at the front door so the bed could sit on it. Spoiled I know. Your pets are well taken care of I can tell.

 

[DoctorCosmonaut]

I kept him in our basement for a while, but he seemed to be doing better so I let him back out. My dad's a physician and he said that it makes sense they are letting it drain so I feel better about that. I am sure he will make a good recovery.

Only recently our neighbor got the meanest male cat. According to another neighbor the new cat killed theirs in a cat fight. We all live fairly far apart (sort of rural), but my cat, Tang, keeps getting in some cat fights near out house--so its an invader that is attacking him. Our cats are all fixed but I don't think that the neighbors is and that's probably making it more aggressive. How do I confront this neighbor? I've known them for a long time and they are kinda wacky, and I don't know if they will follow my pleads to get a control on their cat... I don't really want to get anyone else involved since we have known them so long and we can't really get away from them if we upset them.

 

[Meg90]

Keep your cats apart. My aunt had a similar problem with her neighbors. They left their cats unspayed and had "free kitten" signs up every summer. When she offered to help spay the producing mother, they laughed at her. They once "accidentally" shot one of the grown up kitten's ear half way off while "rabbit" hunting. He staggered on to my aunt's property and she took him to a vet and paid to have his ear surgically fixed and the wound taken care of. When she got home, the neighbors wanted their cat back and spat a thanks at her. My Aunt said they could have him when they paid the bill.

To this day, Gizzy is a bit weird, but he's a great babysitter whenever she fosters kittens.

 

[Floof]

I sincerely hope your cat gets better and nothing more happens. I'm one to hate the concept of outdoor cats, but I won't get in to that now--let's just call it personal preference. Good luck. =)

 

[Kymiie]

Aww thats sad, My cat jasper came in one day and I was brushing him and he scratched me (never does he do that) And his bum was the size of a football, we called the vet and went down. In the car he popped this big lump..it stunk!
The vet shaved him and cut it open a bit more and squeezed all the gunk out.. it was an abcess he had been biten by something but he had to have 3 shots of antibiotics!
Hes fine to this day!
Hope ***** cat is ok XD
XXXX

 

[Madortoise]

I wish your boy cat a quick recovery.
If that happened to my cat and if I were certain that my neighbor's cat was terrorizing all the cats in the neighborhood and that the owner refused to have it fixed to make it tamer or at least update w/all the shots, I might just report animal cruelty to ASPCA. It's cruel to that cat and to the rest of the cats in the hood. Cats can catch diseases from each other from such fights.
Mine was killed by a stray (if not by a racoon--I'll never know but the strays had been coming around to our yard then) w/a huge slash on her tummy. It was the hardest pet death to get over, only because I didn't do anything about those strays to prevent mine from being attacked.

 

[Yvonne G]

Sorry about your poor cat, Jordan. Cat scratches can be pretty lethal. I'm surprised you didn't notice the abscess before it popped. Just be sure to continue the antibiotic until the meds are gone, even though you think its healed. And save up your $$$ to have him neutered! Less fighting that way.

 

[DoctorCosmonaut]

My cat is neutered... I wasn't sure if people got that? I must explain that I am home for the holidays at my parents and these cats are my childhood pets, so its hard for me to know whats going on when I'm not around. Its an orchard so they really like being outside, plus my dad is allergic, but they do get to sleep in the basement when its cold out and have beds, food, litter box, etc down there. They would go crazy if they were inside, I got them both from a barn where a semi-wild cat had a litter (took my 6 years to finally convince that cats owner to get that cat fixed!)... so its in their blood. lol Tangaroa seemed to be doing really well today. My neighbor was working all afternoon, so hopefully I'll get a hold of them tomorrow. I totally would have indoor cats but my parents never would allow it as a child (because of allergies), and my apartment I live in now doesn't let me have cats at all... Just thought I'd provide some background...

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Because you are such a nice guy I won't give you the inside/outside lecture...but you can be certain you will get it when you come to get your Redfoots. I personally would get a live trap and catch the other cat and take him for a ride...
PS... an indoor cat lives an average of 6 to 8 years longer then an outside cat...

 

[DoctorCosmonaut]

I would totally keep my cats inside if I could. My parents aren't all lovey dovey about animals like I am.

---

I definitely will when I have my own place (or an apartment where they are allowed).

 

[Floof]

That's a shame about your parents and apartment. The reason I didn't elaborate earlier was because I know there are always certain situations... Although I don't agree with it, I can't see it being "my place" to go ranting and raving at you over it. I still don't agree with it, but there isn't much wiggle room there without you being forced to move or finding a new home for your beloved pets. (Unless you have, say, a sibling/relative who can/will take them and do right by them. I keep trying to convince my older brother he needs to take my youngest dog. Romeo barely listens to me (and women in general), but adores my brother. Exporting him to Japan might be a problem, though.)

I agree with Maggie here... Set out a live trap and catch the problem cat. Then lie about where you found it and give it to a shelter... Or take it to the vet and get it neutered (and if the people want it back, do as Meg's aunt did, and hold him "hostage"! xD).

 

[chadk]

Sorry, but holding another person's put hostage is just nuts. A good way to get a serious beat down. Not worth it. If I have a cat or dog that comes into my property and is a threat to my animals, I will eliminate the threat. First by contacting the owners, then, if it happens again, I'll handle it however my mood strikes me at the time... But the critter won't be coming back to threaten my kids or my animals... (I have goats, chickens, a cat, outdoor torts, etc).

As for the abscess, when I worked in the vet hospital, I saw them all the time. Nasty stuff! Smelled like crazy! But pretty easy to treat. I got to the point that I was confident, if I ever had to, I could do it myself at home. Luckily I've never had to try

 

[DoctorCosmonaut]

I think we are going to humanely live trap the guy. Just such an aggressive cat to my pacifists. This cat has come from miles over just to claim new land!

I'll give you an update when he is caught

 

[Isa]

What will you do with him?

 

[DoctorCosmonaut]

Take him to the shelter? I donno... Advice? Camping trip in a wild life refuge?

 

[Meg90]

Take him to the shelter. If you found him on your land its perfectly legal. Maybe paying the impound fee will pursuade your neighbor to keep him on his own property next time.