It’s been a challenging Saturday here. My thoughts are kind of scattered, so apologies in advance for the disorganized post. I’ll start with a note that I’m hopeful that Kyle will be all right. He’s a 2022, a very sweet little guy.
I got up for some water, stepped into the hall about 1:15 AM and felt something kind of bump my foot. Nothing should’ve been there. I grabbed my phone, turned on the flashlight and saw Kyle. Then I saw Fuzzer, the cat, nearby. I grabbed a very agitated Kyle off the floor. Turned on the lights, looked and felt him over, didn’t initially see anything. Went into the room where he lives (he’d come under the door into the hall) to see his bin on the floor. Still don’t know quite how it happened. No cats in that room, door closed. The bin beside Kyle’s was out of position, too. Maybe somebody kept pushing their water dish around and got things enough off balance to cause a bin to shift? I don’t know. Kyle settled down. I still didn’t see blood. I put him in his bin again with his hides, fresh water and fresh bedding. Cleaned up the mess, got my drink and went back to bed.
When I got up at 6:30 I checked on Kyle. This time I saw that he has some small wounds. They’re on his distal half/third. None are deep, but there are several. I cleaned him/them with dilute chlorhexidine and dabbed them with silver sulfadiazine cream. Put him in a clean, quarantine bin on paper towels. I know he needs systemic antibiotics for cat wounds. I started calling vets at 8:30. My usual herp vet wasn’t available. Neither was the backup person. I called all the emergency vet clinics from east of Pensacola, FL to Hattiesburg, MS to Metairie, LA. Somehow, every exotic vet (few and far between at best) was unavailable. The closest I came to success was when one person thought she might get their herp vet to come meet me at the office with a tech as long as I was willing to pay all the extra fees for that. I said yes, she said she’d try him and call me back. A few minutes later she called to say he was en route to the hospital with his wife, who was in labor. I contacted an online vet service and discovered that since MS doesn’t allow online vets to write prescriptions in this state, that attempt failed too.
So I’m hoping and praying that sweet little Kyle doesn’t develop a horrible infection before I can get him into a vet on Monday. He’s very lucky that things aren’t worse, but I wish he wasn’t hurt at all. These pics are with flash. Colors are way off but, oh well.
Aw, poor guy. I know cat bites/scratches can be really nasty, especially to small reptiles, but my hope is that since the wounds themselves look pretty small, maybe it won’t be too bad. And obviously keeping things clean and dry will be helpful too. Please keep me updated on him!
The wounds do look on the smaller side thankfully. Is he moving well enough? I know he may be painful, but doesn’t seem to have trouble overall? That will hopefully mean he is mostly scratched and not actually bit. Fingers crossed cause yeah cat bites are difficult at times.
You’re already one step ahead of the game with everything already. I would follow up tomorrow with a rinse to get the cream off from today. I never leave open water in the tank when I have cream on them in case they try to soak then drink it… So a good rinse to get clean, a few minutes of a warm soak so he can drink and soften up the crust on the wounds…then you can give him a bit of an iodine soak or just follow up with more chlorhex and cream.
Hopefully something else gets worked out with the vets. I’d also consider giving him slightly smaller meals for the next few feedings, just to keep him from stretching skin too much and healing up is easier.
I am so sorry to hear about your baby! Like the others said, the wounds look superficial so hopefully what you have done for him so far should suffice until you can get a vet appointment. I would recommend also that hydrogen peroxide is a tried and true remedy for bubbling out infections. That might be another option.
I am sending love and good thoughts to you and your little Kyle. He is going to be A OK in a few days! I can feel it!
That’s my hope, too! I’ll definitely keep you updated.
He’s moving well, other than I can tell he’s sore. I’m also thinking that these wounds are from claws rather than from teeth. They seem relatively superficial. Far from ideal, but could surely be much worse.
Good thought with the water. Thanks for bringing that up. I hadn’t removed his water container but I did switch it to a small-volume, high-sided container which he can’t possibly get into. It’s kind of a glorified glass thimble with a volume of perhaps 5-mL. That way he can drink if he wants but shouldn’t get into trouble with the water. And yes, he’ll be getting smaller meals for a while.
I’m going to hit the hay. I hope it’s a quieter night.
Like you said, things could have been worse. I think you are good. But if you could get to a vet and get antibiotics, that would be the best thing to do.
Update: Kyle had a soak and another exam. His wounds do look superficial. He seems to have less discomfort and is moving pretty much as usual. If I didn’t know where to look, it would be difficult to notice the injured spots. I’m extra glad now that the cat had his claws trimmed very recently. I’ll check him again in the morning then call his vet. At this point, I’m thinking he probably won’t need a visit after all, but I’m still going to make the phone call.
That’s awesome news.
Calling the vet is good. At the very least you’ll have an idea on the scheduling for them and they can have a heads up if he needs to come by.
If the decision to just wait and see is made, the two things I would watch out for would be
-swelling at any of the puncture sites. Obviously bacterial abscess for this.
-any sudden lethargy and weight loss. I’d get a good weight on him now just in case. This could be a sign of septicemia. Another thing to keep an eye out with lethargy is redness on the belly when he’s not due to shed.
If either of those pop up, definitely time to go and get the vet involved.
Bless you for taking it seriously, knowing to get to a vet and treating topically right away.
A lot of people don’t understand how virulent cat bites and scratches can really be, to ANY animal but especially a small one. A friend of mine got bitten by the family cat, and I told her to go to Urgent Care. She wasn’t convinced it was going to need that-i’ts just the good old cat. By the time she could get off work and go, it was already inflamed, reddened and streaking. The Doctor told her it was looking bad, and a good thing she got in fast, and gave her antibiotics.
It sounds like you know what to do and got a jump start on helping this little guy recover.
I’m so sorry to hear about poor Kyle! I have to ask, do you have any that have escaped and not been found? If so, that might explain the bin on the floor.
Hopefully the wounds are indeed just some superficial scratches and your prompt response mitigated any possible infection issue. As long as they’re not caused by teeth, you’ve got a much better chance of not needing a vet.
You’re absolutely right on warning signs of infection and I’m glad you spelled them out. I know the warning signs, but not everyone knows what to look for and your post may save a life. Delay in addressing septicemia due to missing signs of infection can easily be lethal. Thanks for listing them clearly.
You are so right! I’m glad your friend is okay. Back before I had my own litter, I worked in a vet clinic and was planning to go to vet school. One of my daughters is a vet. I know too many horror stories which begin with a seemingly minor injury from a cat. I personally had a nasty Pasturella infection from a bite which hit a finger bone. Cat wounds are nothing to pooh-pooh.
Hmmm. I don’t have any unaccounted for, but there have been quite a few snakes (mostly black rats & kings) out and about in the neighborhood. Now I’m wondering.
I’m pretty sure that Kyle’s injuries were caused by claws rather than teeth, for which I’m thankful.
Update: Kyle’s wounds are looking good! No signs of infection whatsoever. He’s continuing to move normally. I’m concerned about an area near his tail where he’s still very tender. It’s slightly forward from his vent. The vet was not too concerned about the wounds when I called. Kyle doesn’t have any problems with moving his body so his vet says it’s okay to go ahead feed him. I’ll give him a small pinky today and see how that goes.
Thanks. I also hope we have no repeats of this. Stay home, young corns, do not go west nor east nor anywhere else unless you’re with a human protective detail! Lol
Kyle’s visible wounds look clean, no signs whatsoever of infection. Digestion went fine. I’m a bit concerned about how tender he remains in one area. Still some… I don’t know, firmness and tenderness in one discrete area. He seems to maybe be beginning to go blue. It’s hard to tell on these white snakes, lol.
Thanks for all the good wishes. This community means so much!
Oh no, poor Kyle! Glad that at least the wounds seem superficial and he’s healing well so far. I had the same thought as @noodlehaus, that his tenderness in one area could be something like a broken rib or some deeper tissue bruising that may not be visible. Hopefully he continues to heal well, and that apparent ouchy spot will heal and stop causing him so much discomfort. Poor little guy. Wishing Kyle a speedy recovery! He’s a very handsome guy.
Thank you for the good wishes, @noodlehaus and @jawramik and everyone else! I also agree with Jess’s thought concerning Kyle’s continuing tenderness. He is definitely in early blue. Hopefully by the time he is ready to shed he will be fully healed, inside and out. I think his minor external injuries should virtually disappear with this shed cycle. I will update pics after he sheds.
