Case of the Week: Orange Boy

Orange Boy was a young neighborhood stray cat. He visited many houses, but when he had a bad fight a few months ago, he came calling to the right house. His new owner saw the terrible wound on his face and knew he needed treatment right away.

When Orange Boy was brought into the clinic, he had a large wound on the right side of his face about three inches in diameter. There was a large scab from under which oozed green, puss filled liquid. We sedated him so we could clean the wound and evaluate it better.

The most likely cause of Orange Boy's wound was a ruptured abscess due to a cat bite. Outdoor cats will often fight over territory and can inflict a large amount of damage on each other with teeth and claws. The cat canine tooth, or fang, is long and pointed and will puncture another cat's skin. The wound in the skin is only a few millimeters deep and heals over quickly. However, when the tooth punctures the skin, it injects bacteria deep inside. These bacteria will replicate and cause severe infection. The body of the cat will attempt to fight the bacteria by sending white blood cells to the site leading to pus being formed. This can form a large soft pocket under the skin called an abscess. The abscess usually causes a fever, pain and lethargy in the cat. The skin over the abscess usually will die and slough off, leading to oozing of the pus. In some cats, such as Orange Boy, the amount of skin that dies can be quite large.

We anesthetized Orange and scrubbed his wound. I removed the scab over his wound and trimmed the dead tissue around the edges. I also cleaned the wound with surgical scrub to remove any infected material. The wound had some good pink granulation tissue, which is the healing tissue, extending three inches in diameter across the whole side of his face. There was also firm swelling on the lower part of the wound due to inflammation from the infection. Because the wound extended from the base of his ear almost to his mouth, I was not able to close it surgically. I therefore left the wound to close on its own by what is called "second intention" in which the normal healing process of the skin closes the wound with time. As the body tries to heal, the skin edges on a wound contract and tissue gradually rejuvenates from the edges of the wound inward. Since the wound was so large, though, I thought I might need to do surgery at a later time to close the wound completely.

While Orange Boy was under anesthesia, we took care of some other preventative measures and tests. A blood panel showed that he was negative for the Feline Leukemia Virus and Feline Immunodeficiency Virus. His white blood cell counts and protein levels were increased due to the infection on his face, but his organ function tests were all normal. We also neutered him. Neutered males are much less likely to be territorial and get into fights.

I prescribed antibiotics for Orange Boy along with a medicated spray to keep the wound clean and help healing. When he came in for his progress exam a little more than a week later, the wound had already improved greatly. The wound was half the original size, much more shallow and much of the inflammatory swelling had resolved. I removed some scabbed tissue from the top of the wound and cleaned it thoroughly. After another week and a half, the wound was down to a 1x2cm scab with scar tissue around it.

Now Orange Boy spends a good deal of time indoors in his new home. He is up to date on all of his vaccines and has been treated for possible intestinal parasites.

Cats have a great ability to heal well and often surprise me with how well they handle many injuries or illnesses. However, when they go outdoors there is a great chance that they will be exposed to bites and other types of injuries or be exposed to infectious disease and parasites. If your cat does go outdoors, be sure to protect him or her from disease by keeping vaccines up to date and giving parasite medications (including heartworm prevention). If you notice any wounds or swellings, bring your cat to your veterinarian promptly so that any infection can be treated as quickly as possible. This will reduce your cat's pain and distress and often save money by addressing the problem early.

Dr. Judy Karnia