Friday 17 October 2014

Some Cat Injuries & Illnesses & How to Treat Them

Cats by their nature are very curious so learning how to treat some injuries your cat may come across can be the difference between life and death. One thing I should note is to always have a 24 hour emergency vets number handy, You do not want to try and find a phone number during an emergency.

How to a take care of a cat that is bleeding - The most basic thing you need to do is put pressure on the area, this will stop most bleeding. Once the bleeding has stopped wrap a dressing around the area with a clean rag tight enough just to keep it in place. You need to prevent a large amount of blood loss so the cat does not go into shock. You need to seek immediate professional care if you cannot stop the bleeding after 5 minutes, if your cat starts to breathe rapidly (they may be going into shock) or if blood is spurting out of the wound, as they may have cut an artery.

How to treat a cat that has a scratched eye - This is very painful for your cat and really requires veterinary care. The Vet needs to check the extent of the damage to the eye and apply medications to help make your cat more comfortable and treat the eye. There isn't anything you can do at home and if your cat continues to rub the eye they could make the injury worse. This is the type of injury that if treated early can have a great outcome, if you wait till the situation gets worse you could be looking at a vet bill of $1500 and up.

How to treat a cat that has fallen out of a window - This will depend on how high up the cat was when he fell from the window. Cats can generally fall from up to 3 stories without any injury. If the fall is from a higher window you need to check for broken legs/bones, blood coming from their mouth, they may be unconscious, they may go into shock, all these are extremely serious and need to be checked out by a Vet. Cats should never be allowed to sit in a windowsill that only has a screen, they are not sturdy enough to hold in a cat that sees a bird or an insect fly by.

What to do if your cat gets sprayed by a skunk - Immediately flush their eyes with water. Then you need to bath them with soap and water several times. Once you are done, wash your cat in tomato juice. If all this can be done outside all the better as the smell is not something you want to bring into your house. Since skunks do carry rabies, if your cat has not had a rabies shot you need to take him to the vet and get the rabies shot right away. Note - an outdoor cat should always have had a rabies shot before he is ever allowed outdoors.


No comments:

Post a Comment