Finnegan - our temporary hospital cat
Almost a month ago a woman brought this "stray" cat into the hospital because of a bad wound (looked for microchip and the woman said he had been wandering around for months). He was wearing a flea collar that he apparently tried to get off and had one arm stuck through the neck so that it was sort of like wearing a sling. The wound was incredibly deep and completely open from the back of his shoulder to almost mid-chest being deepest right under his armpit (you can sort of see remnants of the wound in the first picture in the comments). The doctors decided not to do surgery right away to suture it up but tried cleaning it and seeing how it would heal without surgery.
We have cleaned the wound twice daily with betadine and lots and lots of warm water and then applied silver sulfadiazine cream for almost a month. He had to wear a cone for the first week and never once rebelled in any way to all that we were doing to him. He constantly purred, watched us and greeted us at the front of his cage whenever we approached. After about a week we let him have free range of the treatment area and if you called him he would run up to you and sit up like a squirrel on his hind feet reaching for you to pet him.
After nearly a month, you can see how well the area has healed (it looks a little wet and oozing because I took this picture right after his treatment with betadine and the cream). The skin has closed up completely everywhere but right under his arm where the wound was the deepest. He was on antibiotics and painkillers and now is off both. From the very beginning he has been playful and has acted like he wasn't painful.
As soon as he is completely healed, we'll put him in the front lobby of the cat clinic and my guess is that he will last less than a day before he "sells" himself. He is perfect. I'm almost considering trading up with my orange boy (LOL).
Finnegan - our temporary hospital cat
Almost a month ago a woman brought this "stray" cat into the hospital because of a bad wound (looked for microchip and the woman said he had been wandering around for months). He was wearing a flea collar that he apparently tried to get off and had one arm stuck through the neck so that it was sort of like wearing a sling. The wound was incredibly deep and completely open from the back of his shoulder to almost mid-chest being deepest right under his armpit (you can sort of see remnants of the wound in the first picture in the comments). The doctors decided not to do surgery right away to suture it up but tried cleaning it and seeing how it would heal without surgery.
We have cleaned the wound twice daily with betadine and lots and lots of warm water and then applied silver sulfadiazine cream for almost a month. He had to wear a cone for the first week and never once rebelled in any way to all that we were doing to him. He constantly purred, watched us and greeted us at the front of his cage whenever we approached. After about a week we let him have free range of the treatment area and if you called him he would run up to you and sit up like a squirrel on his hind feet reaching for you to pet him.
After nearly a month, you can see how well the area has healed (it looks a little wet and oozing because I took this picture right after his treatment with betadine and the cream). The skin has closed up completely everywhere but right under his arm where the wound was the deepest. He was on antibiotics and painkillers and now is off both. From the very beginning he has been playful and has acted like he wasn't painful.
As soon as he is completely healed, we'll put him in the front lobby of the cat clinic and my guess is that he will last less than a day before he "sells" himself. He is perfect. I'm almost considering trading up with my orange boy (LOL).