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Siamese Cat Question

14:24:38

Question
Merlin
Merlin  
Hello, My cat snowshoe Siamese cat Merlin has a few wounds on his back and one on his tummy area. The one on his tummy and one of the wounds on his back are not very bad but there is one on his back that is kind of deep but its not bleeding anymore. I was putting pressure on it for awhile last night after I found him and gave him some of his antibiotic that was prescribed to him for about a month ago for  the last time he had an abscess on his paw. I also gently washed them with peroxide and applied some antibiotic ointment. He is very gently walking and he is eating wet food and he went potty this morning. I also gave him a little honey just in case. Is there anything else I can do for him? He seems to be in a little pain. When I touch the wound sites he does cry some and they are a little warm too the touch but his breathing and heart rate are normal. Do you think this is an emergency situation? I love him so much. He is an altered male and has had his rabies vaccination. He is a year old.

Answer
Hi Heather,

Merlin is gorgeous! If his temperature is normal and he's eating fine, an abscess (I'm guessing that's what these are) is not usually an emergency, but you will want to get him in to the regular vet as soon as they open. I am assuming he's an outdoor cat that's finding his way into fights, and that's how he's getting frequent abscesses. If my assumption is correct, keeping him indoors would be definitely be a healthy choice to make for him. But if you feel this is impossible, I would have him vaccinated against feline leukemia and feline AIDS as soon as he recovers from his infections. These are both deadly, incurable diseases that are spread through bite wounds, and he is at very high risk for contracting them. Feline leukemia is now the most common cause of death by contagious disease in house cats.

If they are not abscesses but some other kind of sore, I would recommend working with the vet on trying to find out what the root cause is. If they are becoming chronically infected, you can start to run the risk of antibiotic resistance. He may have an autoimmune disease like lupus or eosinophilic granuloma complex that is causing skin lesions.

Regarding his antibiotic from his last infection, just in case you were unaware, certain liquid antibiotics expire very quickly once they have been mixed, including Clavamox, Amoxi-Drops, CefaDrops and Zithromax (azithromycin). Those should all be discarded within 10-14 days (some say Zithromax will keep for 30). But if you are using tablets, you should be okay.

Good luck!
Jessica