Relentless Inquiry

She ate a bunch of food, cuddled up with me and watched a little TV, then went back to bed with me. I got up at 9:15am again for my 9:30 Monday call. 🙂

Running my hands over her to examine her, she seems fine except for a small mat of fur near her shoulders. It was a spike about the size of the tip of a crayon, of clotted blood. Didn't smell right, so I pulled it off. She's got a small puncture wound that's infected. She wouldn't let me express it, so I put a warm compress on it but that didn't break it open.

We have an appt at the vet for 2:20pm for them to drain and clean it. It's not right on the spine, and she's moving well, so I'm confident all will be okay. Dealt with something like this ages ago, when my cat Bee had a cat bite on her spine, two big punctures on either side.

After the vet dealt with it initially, I had to pull the scabs off twice a day and put hot compresses on it, with a slight squeeze, to pull the pus out. Each day the pus was less evilly colored, going from a greenish-grey to a light milky grey and finally just to a light surface layer of whitish-clear. The wounds heal up from the inside, and you are keeping pus from being trapped down there and creating an abcess internally.

Bee must have found it painful, she would make little ouchy meows, but she didn't try to get away– she knew I was helping her with something she couldn't do herself. The wounds healed cleanly with no scarring or fur loss. I hope Boo takes it as well. At least she has only the one.

In this case there was something I could feel, but sometimes a cat will pull a mat like that out– this one was in a very hard to reach place. So it's important after you recover your cat to pet it all over, smooth and ruffle and resmooth its fur, and feel for any irregularity on the skin, watch for any flinches. Smelling your cats fur, and your hands after you pet it, is key also. Even if Boo had taken the clump off, when I cuddle her and put my face near her fur, I get a small whiff of nasty in that area. Left untreated, something like that can be a major problem, especially if it heals over on the surface and leaves the cat with an invisible infection.

I am SO HAPPY that she is back. It's like having a giant wave of anti-tension wash over me. Hadn't realized I was so wound up, even when I thought I was keeping my cool over it. Yay Yay Yay Yay. Boo seems glad to be back, too, if lolling around on the floor in a Very Undignified Position is any indication! 🙂