"9419Singapore Cat puncture wounds pet health and welfare educational for animal lovers, excerpts from The Glamorous Vets, Singapore, sponsored by  AsiaHomes Internet.

The fierce cat punctured its chest.

   "Be careful, the cat is very fierce," said Mrs Hanscheid, bringing in her cat cage and a complaint of her cat not eating for a few days.

"If it escaped, my 12-year old son will be broken hearted," she whispered softly to me as her big boy with a slight tummy hanged around making sure that his pet would not escape.  Singapore does have good fast food and most pre-teen boys have good appetites and are a bit rounded as they surf the computers and chat electronically rather than go out to play basketball or other games.

Somehow, this black and white cat with a pointed nose did look fierce even to an experienced animal handler like Nurse Ann.  She quickly closed the sliding door of the consultation room as the cat could just jump down from the examination table and dash out. Fierce cats do claw and she was not taking chances.  She put one plastic bag into another and  put her hands into them, ready to pull the cat out of the carrier bag. 

"Why not use the thick hand gloves?" I asked her.  No reply from her as she focused on cat catching.  She unlocked the latch and stared into black and white cat.   Nurse Ann's big eyes usually frighten most animal patients.  People like her had this personality which commanded respect from dogs and cats just by one look. Some intrinsic spell hard to describe.  There was actually no need for the gloves as the frightened cat was pulled out. 

The cat had been licking its chest for a week.  The fine white chest hairs were all wiry and soiled with a yellow stain.  Mrs Hanscheid had used some disinfectant on the wound but the more she used it, the more the cat licked it off. The wound just would not heal.  I could see a sharp deep hole in the chest.  Luckily there was the thicker sternal bones to prevent the wound entering the lungs. 

"The cat has a fever and that may be a reason it is not eating anymore. However, I would have to tranquilise the cat to clip off the dirty hair and clean the wound," I told Mrs Hanscheid.  "It would be terribly upsetting for the cat if I clip directly as cats don't like the buzzing sound of clippers."

You could see the various claw marks on the skin as the cat scratched herself crazy.   That area must be itchy.  An antibiotic injection was given.

The cat had a good rest for the next twenty four hours.  The wound healed almost overnight.  White tissue cells bridged the wound and there was a snow white seal rather than a black hole. It looks like small wounds will heal within 24 hours if they are clean and if they are not continuously irritated by licking. If only the cat knows about this.  However the wound could have been infected when the chest was punctured by a sharp object.  

"Do you have any cream for the wound," asked the happy Mrs Hanscheid.
"This cat will lick off any cream," I said.  "The wound should heal fast as it is a young cat." Antibiotics would be taken for the next ten days and wound healing should be completed within 10 days.

Nobody knows what caused this puncture wound.  Bigger wounds are notoriously difficult to heal in cats if the owners keep on applying lotions and cream as these clean creatures tend to lick them off.  They become septic and are hard to heal.  A head Elizabeth collar might be needed.  Some of the applied lotions and medication may cause the cat to be sick and not eat!