injury from cat fight &no vet

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quilterhusband - 02 Apr 2004 11:22 GMT

Out old 17 calico female got out tonight and got attacked by another cat.
We interrupted before the feral cat could kill her.
She is small, deaf and bit senile I think. It 2am and there is not a vet
with emergeny in our area.

I grabbed her and brought her in the house and inspected. There were clumps
of her fir on the ground at the fight seen. Look like she had a puncture
wound in her neck but it had stopped bleeding. She would hiss and growl if
we came near her. When she tries to walk, she has much trouble on her back
legs although there is no outwordly sign of injury thereImmediately after
the fight. After 45 minutes she was not frightened of us any more and we
could touch her. She wobbled over to a favorite spot she feels safe
in...its dark and confined. We are just letting her rest now and checking
every 1/2 hour. She seems to be alert, but just laying with her eyes open.
Everyonce in a while will do a pitiful meow and when I appear she stops and
settle back down. Im not sure if she is waiting to die or in some sort of
cat shock. She wont eat when offered cat snacks.

Any experience with this sort of cat shock?

PS. how does one trap a feral cat?

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~*Connie*~ - 02 Apr 2004 12:12 GMT

well a vet should be opening up in a couple of hours for you.. and I would
recommend you bring her.. Puncture wounds are nothing to self treat..

She is in shock, and eating is the last thing on her mind. If she wont let
you touch her, just talk softly to her and be with her. She feels the need
to be in control right now.. just let it happen until vet time comes.. If
she has calmed down enough for you to be near her, pat her softly, tell her
that she's a good kitty and you are just trying to help. Yes she's deaf, but
she can feel the vibration of your voice. Clean what you can with a warm
wash cloth and some peroxide.

Good luck.

btw.. you trap a feral cat with a "have a heart" trap. your animal control
officer or local shelter should have one
http://www.havahart.com/nuisance/cats/cats.htm

> Out old 17 calico female got out tonight and got attacked by another cat.
> We interrupted before the feral cat could kill her.
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
>
> PS. how does one trap a feral cat?

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Amy Gray - 02 Apr 2004 15:03 GMT

>well a vet should be opening up in a couple of hours for you.. and I would
>recommend you bring her.. Puncture wounds are nothing to self treat..

Around here there are also Animal Hospitals that are open 24/7 for
emergency services.

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DanGW04 - 02 Apr 2004 17:45 GMT

gee....thats a really big help.....its good to know that in bumduck ohio
there are 24/7 animal hosipitals. How is that supposed to help me.

> >well a vet should be opening up in a couple of hours for you.. and I would
> >recommend you bring her.. Puncture wounds are nothing to self treat..
> Around here there are also Animal Hospitals that are open 24/7 for
> emergency services.

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Arjun Ray - 05 Apr 2004 08:51 GMT

| btw.. you trap a feral cat with a "have a heart" trap.

Or a "tru-catch" trap.

| your animal control officer or local shelter should have one

Yes, though it may not be the best. The original havahart design has
been worked on and improved by other companies. Also, the trap may be
too small, much more suited to trapping kittens than adults, if the
person responsible for the purchase had no direct experience of his own
and tried to save a couple of bucks by getting 26x10x9 traps, which are
stupidly marketed as "cat traps". The trap should be *at least* 30
inches long. The best traps, in fact, are "raccoon traps", 36 inches
long.

| http://www.havahart.com/nuisance/cats/cats.htm

Original Havaharts are still quite common (I suppose owning the brand
name goes a long way), but if you're going to spend the money, you can
do a lot better for the $60.

In particular, do not spend money on a trap with just one door. This is
the major flaw of Havahart's Rescue Kit. You can put together a much
better kit for the same amount of money: a trap with an access door at
the other end from the trapdoor and a trap divider (an old bedsheet is
good enough for a cover).

More here:

http://www.neighborhoodcats.org/info/index.htm
http://www.neighborhoodcats.org/info/recommendtrap.htm

(You may find 36" Safeguards for less than the listed $49.50 on the
internet.)

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whayface - 02 Apr 2004 15:03 GMT

Don't know about your vet but the last time I took one of my furbabies to the animal
hospital for what turned out to be a soft tissue injury and then to the vet for her to
check the cat she (The vet) gave me hang for not calling her. She said that anytime I had
a problem during off hours to call her and that she would be at the office in ten minutes.

Maybe you should ask your vet ??

http://members.aol.com/larrystark/

>Out old 17 calico female got out tonight and got attacked by another cat.
>We interrupted before the feral cat could kill her.
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
>
>PS. how does one trap a feral cat?

Reply to this Message

m. L. Briggs - 03 Apr 2004 02:45 GMT

>Don't know about your vet but the last time I took one of my furbabies to the animal
>hospital for what turned out to be a soft tissue injury and then to the vet for her to
[quoted text clipped - 28 lines]
>>
>>PS. how does one trap a feral cat?

Reply to this Message

Earl Lewis - 03 Apr 2004 02:32 GMT

>Out old 17 calico female got out tonight and got attacked by another cat.
>We interrupted before the feral cat could kill her.
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
>
>PS. how does one trap a feral cat?

I have nothing useful to contribute, but this story might be
instructive. My old cat got in a fight a couple months ago. He came
back into the house thru his own window as I was watching TV and
didn't notice him come in. But after laying down for a while he
started across the floor and it looked like he had a broken leg. He
couldn't put any weight on it at all.I thought he'd been hit by a car.
Next day I took him to vet, who started to look thru his fur for
bites. Sure enough she found 2 punctures, no blood, and said she could
feel swelling around his right shoulder. I could not. I was skeptical.
After 2 days in pet hospital and antibiotics he was ready to come home
and walking with only slight limp, which cleared over the next week. I
asked vet why there was no tearing from the bite, it looked more like
a snake bite (there was still snow on the ground, unlikely snake
weather). She said those puncture-type wounds are typical of a cat
fight, and theorized that this one hit a nerve in there. It really
disabled him for awhile.

I would have thought a bite from a fang would leave a tear. She only
pointed out 2 punctures, the ones from the lower fangs must have been
on him too, but we didn't happen to find them.

He learned no lesson from the experience and is spoiling for a
rematch. He's OLD (no idea how), clawless and molarless. But he thinks
he must defend his little territory.
Earl

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