Brooks Tangled With Our Neighbor's Cat

[quarrystepper]

As the thread title says... Brooks and Kali were on a walk last night when our neighbor's cat dashed across his path. Brooks pulled just hard enough to get his mouth on the cat. It was a quick tussle and the cat was gone up a tree. Lucky for the cat, Brooks's teeth are so worn down there was no broken skin and apparently no damage done.

 

Brooks had five wounds, most of them apparently puncture wounds around his muzzle and eye (nothing close enough to the eye that I felt the e-vet was necessary). He immediately started dripping blood but it stopped just as quickly. I got him home, washed with soap & water, slapped some 3ab ointment on it, and figured I'd know more in the morning.

 

This AM, everything looks good except the puncture above the eye. Here he is with both eyes closed, note the swelling above his left eye.

 

note swelling above and around eye

 

And here he is with both eyes open:

 

technically, just one eye

 

He also hasn't had breakfast yet (normally by 5:45am he's practically enunciating the words "feed me") and here we are at 8am but he's barely flinched. So, this is definitely a vet visit this morning, right? What's the likely treatment plan and how much should I be worried about his vision?

[Fiona3]

Poor Brooks. Over the years we've had a few tussles between neighbors' cats & our greys. I've brought them in to see our vet if there is a worrisome scratch, especially with swelling. She has placed them on antibiotics as a safeguard against an infection from the cat scratch.

 

If the scratch is over his eye that would be enough to cause the swelling and discomfort. Your vet can double check his eye to be sure there is no abrasion from the cat. Most likely when the scratch heals he will be fine.

 

Keep us posted on how he is doing.

[Guest normaandburrell]

I would certainly go to the vet as soon as possible. I'm a nurse practitioner, and my first concern would be a corneal abrasion, which if not treated can be serious. However, it is so easy to diagnose and treat, and you can prevent any complications.

That must have been scary for you all around.

[racindog]

Get him in or at least check with a vet! He should probably be on antibiotics(penicillin). Cats have horrible germs (pasteurella for one) on their teeth. It is natures way of causing any prey they bite to get sick and die so the cats can then find them and get a meal. No joke! I worked at the UGA Vet School & as an Animal Control Officer. You cannot treat a cat bite like a dog bite. Just washing with water and putting on antiseptic is not enough. We had officers and vet students wind up IN THE HOSPITAL because they did not go to the doctors and infection took hold. PLEASE check with your vet.

Edited September 12, 2014 by racindog

[quarrystepper]

I was definitely unnerved! First time I've seen Brooks that close to a cat. But my neighbor is pretty awesome, and her daughters all came outside to pet Brooks and Kali, so we were pretty calm all around within 2 minutes of the incident.

 

The funny thing is, Brooks was supposedly cat-safe when he came off the track. Empirical evidence proves otherwise!

Oh and yes, definitely aware that cat bites must follow a different protocol. There was never any doubt about visiting the vet, despite my asking about it above. Brooks and I are on our way in a few. They'll hang out with him until the vet can actually see him around 11. I'll post an update later!

[Guest IrskasMom]

You know , my Morty tolerates my Kitty in the House . My Neighbor has 8 Cats And believe me ,Morty does not like the Cats next Door. I hope it will never happen . Our good Relationship would be over .

 

A Vet Visit is in Order or even a Eye Care Specialist . I will be waiting for an Update . .

[PrairieProf]

Cat safe in the house has nothing to do with how they will react to a cat (to say nothing of a cat running right by them) outdoors, just FYI.

[KF_in_Georgia]

In the house, it's a cat. Outside, it's something moving!!!! Totally different reaction, even to the same household cat (unfortunately).

 

Poor Brooks.

[Fruitycake]

Hope Brooks is feeling better soon! I know that people can easily get "cat scratch fever" from scratches, and having been bitten I know how deep and needle-like those teeth really are. Perfect little innoculators of whatever bacteria they have in their mouths, because the wounds close up as if they weren't even there, trapping the nasties under the skin.

 

This should illustrate to your neighbors why their cat shouldn't be running around, though. *sigh*

[quarrystepper]

Vet was not terribly concerned, although the swelling was maybe slightly more noticeable by the time we were seen. Fever of 103.5. Brooks definitely looked woozy. Vet said there were no soft spots in the cellulitis, nor any clear drainage path, so decided not to lance it. Instead, left with anti-inflammatory (Meloxicam) and antibiotic (Clavamox). He was happy to get home and lay down.

 

I'll probably update the thread with photos later, just to create a record of his progress for the historical annals.

[Riverhound]

This is a link to a thread about Brees getting a cat and puffing up. The eventual drainage was disturbing.

 

http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php/topic/291782-brees-with-her-new-roman-nose-monday-all-better/?hl=%20brees

 

Wishing Brooks well!

[Guest greyhound_in_LA]

Yup, outside, anything that runs will catch the eye -- no time to discriminate. I hope the neighbors try to keep their cat slightly more contained.

[quarrystepper]

Oh wow, thanks for that Brees link! I searched for older threads but never thought to look for "Roman nose"

 

Brooks got up for dinner but has otherwise been very horizontal. The little scratch on top of his nose is growing too, and his eyelid is very reddish/inflamed:

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/iggwe9wjz2y5dxz/2014-09-12%2019.46.49.jpg?dl=0

[galgrey]

Feel better soon, Brooks.

[Riverhound]

That doesn't look good. Warm compress to try to bring it to a head and encourage draining? That close to the eye makes me nervous. If you play with it, have something handy to prevent funk from flowing into the eye if it decides to drain.

 

We were at the vet the very morning Brees's face burst, and they couldn't feel the abscess. They were swearing on a stack of bibles she was having an allergic reaction.

 

Search "Brees" for many, many threads about cat bites.

[quarrystepper]

I'm gonna go ahead and say, I hope this is the only time we put Brooks's name in a thread title w/r/t cat bites/scratches.

 

I did a warm compress last night and it was a little weepy this morning. He has been much more active today, and isn't as hot to the touch, so I think we're past the danger zone. I assume the "little weepiness" is going to get pretty gnarly in the next 24 hours? Should I just let it happen or is there a point at which I should call the vet for a professional lancing? To be honest, the swelling has already eased quite a bit and he appears to have vision in both eyes, so I'm not sure it's worth a return visit.

[Riverhound]

When Brees's went, we were in the car, so I didn't see the initial ick flood. It kept streaming out clear-ish stuff for several hours, and I think I picked the scab out the following day. It was fairly gross.

 

I took her to the vet several times before it drained, and no one could find a place to lance. Then it blew on its own. If the swelling has eased, you may be just fine.

 

Cat scratches and bites suck!

[EllenEveBaz]

Poor Brooks. Poor kitty, too. Hope all continues to go well.

[a_daerr]

Cat bites are the worst! My cat bit me on the hand once (totally my fault), and it got severely infected within a matter of hours. It was also very painful. It sounds like your vet did everything right. Clavamox (Augmentin) is the standard ABX protocol for cat bites. You may want to inquire about something for pain, though.

[quarrystepper]

Looking better already!

 

https://www.dropbox.com/sc/1esnfdgtbm9ogh0/AADL5iksjmsryk0_EG3klRyJa

 

The swollen mass above his eye only weeped for a couple hours (with very little weepage in total). Luckily it never reached anything like Stay-Puft proportions. And obviously Brooks feels well enough to stand at the kitchen table and beg alongside me while I study and eat leftover goulash for dinner (see photo above), so I'm gonna call this latest crisis OFFICIALLY OV-AH.

[Guest Johberry]

Glad she's feeling better!

 

P.S. Her PJs are ADORABLE.

[cleptogrey]

glad things have settled down. here's my contribution to the topic- yup, annie has encountered stray cats in my yard...http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php/topic/306321-cat-in-yard/?hl=%2Brabies+%2Bbooster

[a_daerr]

yup, annie has encountered stray cats in my yard

 

Stray cats and domesticated parrots.

[quarrystepper]

Whelp, here we go again! This time, I got two for the price of one.

 

After breakfast at 5:40 this morning, I let Kali back out because (as usual) she just wandered around the yard instead of doing any business when I turned them out. About a minute later, she starts relentlessly barking in a far corner of the yard where I can't see her. Brooks pushes through me and out the HEAVY storm door to find out what's going on. Before I can grab pants and shoes (I regret even bothering) we had a GSOD and two wounded pups.

 

Black cat with no tags or collar. Just like last year, cat was fine. It was Brooks who took his chances, and suffered for it -- worse than last time, he has two bites on his face, one puncture on his shoulder, a nicked ear and a patch of ripped flesh under his chin. Kali has a puncture less than 1/2 an inch from her eye and a bite in between her ears.

 

At least it wasn't a bear! We've had two in the neighborhood this spring.

 

ETA: This wasn't the same neighbor's cat as last time. As far as I know, it was just a stray (as in, most likely someone's pet, but it strayed into our yard nonetheless).

Edited June 5, 2015 by quarrystepper

[quarrystepper]

Lottts of cuts and bites. Both dogs need sutures in at least three places apiece. I guess Kali got involved after all, even though it was Brooks that had the cat in his mouth when I got out there.

 

It was our next-door neighbor's tomcat and when we talked on the phone a few minutes ago, my neighbor said her cat had a lot of wounds too, so I'm guessing Kali had a crack at him. She's the only one of my two hounds with any teeth left to penetrate anything else's skin...