12 year old cat has a huge abcess

[snowball4]

my 12 year old indoor cat got outside for 2 nights. since he's been back he is eating,drinking and going to the bathroom fine but he has a huge bump/lump on the top of his back. when i pet him he growls just over that area. last night i tried to pop the abcess and it worked. about 2 cups full of stinky pinkish colored pus came out and i think i drained it all the bump is gone. he was in so much pain while i did it. anyway i cant afford to go to the vet and thia morning he has like a open gash about the size of a dime. i cleaned it with peroxide but what else can i do for him ? should i bandage
him up ? could it be something besides a abcess? can i give him antibiontics ? he weighs about 7 to 9 pounds.....please help. I LOVE HIM and have had him forever .

[xbrittanyxo]

Maybe you can help me.

I just posted a message:

"MY CAT WAS OUT ALL NIGHT LAST NIGHT AND CAME HOME THIS MORNING. HE WAS FINE ALL DAY UNTIL MY DAD SAID HE HAD A CUT UNDER HIS CHIN OR SOMETHING. I LIFTED UP HIS CHIN AND THERE IS A CIRCULAR CUT..A WOUND AND THERE IS A THING INSIDE OF IT. IT'S A WHITE THING BUT IT'S NOT A BONE. I DON'T THINK IT'S PUS BECAUSE IT'S IN THE MIDDLE OF BEING HARD AND SOFT. IT'S LIKE A YELLOW WHITE AND IT SMELLS REALLY BAD. THIS CUT/WOUND IS SURROUNDED BUT A PATCH OF MISSING FUR. I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT HAPPENED BUT I REALLY WANT TO KNOW WHAT THIS IS. I HAVE TRIED EXPLAIN IT THE BEST I COULD BUT I CAN'T FIGURE IT OUT. I'VE SEARCHED ON GOOGLE AND CAME ACROSS SOMETHING CALLED AN "ABSCESS" I THOUGHT IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN THAT BUT WHEN I LOOKED AT PICTURES OF THEM, IT LOOKED NOTHING LIKE WHAT MY CAT HAS. ALL THE ABSECESS PICTURES I SAW WHERE LIKE A HUGE BUMP AND WHAT MY CAT HAS ISN'T A BUMP ITS A CUT IN THE SHAPE OF A CIRCLE WITH THIS WEIRD WHITE THING. I POKED IT WITH A QTIP AND IT MOVES BUT IT'S STUCK IN THERE. I PUT A PICTURE UP OF IT. SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME FIGURE OUT WHAT THIS IS I'M FREAKIN OUT!!"


I read your note and it was talking about abscess' I put up a picture of what my cat has and I thought that it might be one but the only pictures I saw of abscess' were bumps under the skin. My cat has a wound with this sticking out. Please take a look at my note and the picture to tell me if that's what it looked like on your cat so maybe I can figure out what it is. Thank you so much.  

here's the link to the note and picture.  

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/show/418818

[Savas]

Don't bandage it, it's best to leave this kind of thing open to the air. As to the antibiotics... I hesitate to give antibiotics to animals unless necessary. If it doesn't improve after a few days/week or gets worse you can give what would be around 1 mg per pound of cat. If that doesn't seem to work, then add an additional 1/2 the cat's weight in dosage to the amount.

Now, this is tricky since adult pills are in 100's of milligrams. Generally you'd shave off a pin head or two to try to get close to that. Place it in food (make sore it gets eaten!) or use an oral syringe to apply with water. Make sure you get the tip at the base of the tongue or kitty will spit/dribble it out.

[snowball4]

thanks what do you think about antibiotics ...i have some adult amoxx. at home ? and should i bandage him up with neosporin ?

[Savas]

These abscesses aren't uncommon.  As long as they seem to not be reinfecting and turning angry and bulging, they tend to heal on their own.
Don't be surprised if it closes and opens a few times over the next week or two, draining repeatedly. Now that it's open it shouldn't hurt if you aren't touching it (even then, they tend not to). If it's causing obvious pain, you may need a vet visit, as it could be causing underlying problems in the region.

Otherwise, what you're doing is good, although I wouldn't drain it to frequently as it will mostly just p*ss of your cat and get him annoyed at you (as if kitties don't need more reasons to be difficult!)

If you want, there's a product called "Fungisan" made by Tomlyn (or one like it) that's a good antiseptic spray that is helpful to quicken healing. It's OTC at the pet store and I don't think it's more than 5-15 dollars.