Pregnant cat with Abscess in her paw.

[AussieKitten81]

Hi Dr.

I took my 6yr old siamese cross to the vet on wednesday for an abscess in her paw.  My partner and I had trouble finding her on Wednesday, and didn't realise she had come into the house.  Next thing she comes out of our bedroom with her left front leg lame and her left front paw swollen to 3 x the normal size, and collapses on the floor in front of us.  We rushed her straight to the vet who diagnosed an abscess from a cat fight our girl must have got herself into.  And he also discovered she is pregnant, and is about 3 weeks along by the feel of things.  The vet said he hopes her kittens aren't affected by this abscess / infection.  Her temp was 40 degrees celcius also (which I was told is only slightly high for cats).
I am following the vets instructions of bathing her paw in warm saline for 5 mins, 4 times a day, which is helping with drainage. And my cat was also given a Noroclav injection on Wednesday at the clinic, and has been given Noroclav oral AB to take twice a day.  Last night I managed to drain a fair bit of pus out of her paw, and her paw is not looking as swollen this morning and my cat is starting to get her appetite back.
My question's are....... How does an infection / abscess in the mother cat affect the unborn kittens??  What sort of abnormalities can occur in the kittens??
And..... How long does it usually take for abscesses to heal??  My cat is in so much pain and is still lame in her paw, but the vet said he doesn't want to give her any painkillers because she is pregnant.  I'm just giving her lots of TLC and attention and trying to make her comfy in the house at the moment, and she has been smooching up to me and has been really "clingy" with me.
Thankyou.
Fingers crossed everything will be okay with her pregnancy and kittens.

[AussieKitten81]

Thankyou Dr.
Will let you know how things go.

[Aleda M Cheng, D.V.M., C.V.A]

Many different kinds of bacteria can be transmitted by bite wounds, and without performing a culture and sensitivity on the bacteria from the wound it is impossible to determine what kind of an impact it may have on the growth and development of the kittens.  The could be completely healthy, or deformed, or worse.  Only time will tell.  Antibiotics can also have an adverse impact, but are completely necessary for the health of the mother, because if the mother gets worse, or doesn't recover, the kittens will of course die.

Abscesses usually require 2 weeks to heal.  Swelling causes pain in abscesses so keeping the pain down to a minimum will help.  The healing abscess should be much less painful after 5 days or so.  Just keep pampering her, giving her the antibiotics, and soaking the paw.  Once the kittens are weaned (if they are normal, hopefully) please have your cat spayed/desexed!