Carlos & Siran Posted September 21, 2010 Report Share Posted September 21, 2010 We've had a stray Tom hanging around for the last few months, we weren't too worried about it at first, we'd spot him getting into the compost or I'd see him around the farm. We began to get annoyed when he started ripping the rubbish bags open and peeing on the back door step however, and we said "we should get a trap from the SPCA and catch him" but you know how it is, we never got around to it. Then about a week and a half ago we were awoken by screeches and howls coming from the kittens at about 2am, it took quite a while to encourage the boy from his hiding place but we couldn't find the girl. She eventually showed up late the next morning with bite marks on her back, and we decided to just watch her and take her to the vet if the bite got infected, which turned out to be the completely wrong thing to do..... approximately 3 days later she was showing signs of infection so Siran took her in and to our horror the vet rushed her into surgery, By all accounts the damage was the worst our vet had ever seen from a cat bite. So in our ignorance at wanting to save 60 odd bucks by taking her in early we now have a very sick cat on our hands and a hefty $350 vet bill. So our advice?, don't wait if any of your cats or even you or your children get a cat bite, get them in straight away before it can cause any major damage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonnaM Posted September 21, 2010 Report Share Posted September 21, 2010 Goodness! Are you able to get a trap for the stray to stop this happening again? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matto Posted September 21, 2010 Report Share Posted September 21, 2010 wow that must be one nasty tom are you sure it wasn't a dog? hope she gets better soon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted September 21, 2010 Report Share Posted September 21, 2010 Owch... I see she has drains in too, poor thing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_r Posted September 21, 2010 Report Share Posted September 21, 2010 I wouldnt have hesitated to pull the .22 from the safe and place a round between the strays eyes on first sight of it would have cost 10-20c per bullet and problem solved, would have been no vet bill in the first place Wild/stray cats are nasty and a huge threat to the environment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burrowssj Posted September 21, 2010 Report Share Posted September 21, 2010 wow thats intense! I've never seen so many stitches on a cat! Our cat got in a fight and had to go to the vet recently to cost about 150$ for injections twice a week for 2 weeks lol his fur still hasn't grown back.when they fight it really is ear piercing stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave+Amy Posted September 21, 2010 Report Share Posted September 21, 2010 When we lived on a livestyle farm, our dog (7yo at the time) used to 'herd' feral cats towards our house and leave huge dead rats outside my window - one incident I remember vividly. The tom's screeching in the middle of the night while our old german shepherd x border collie just layed infront of it and watched it lol and moving to block the cat from running :-? then the fricken cat launched itself at my dog who was quite surprised but managed to bite down on the cat and throw it off, bit of orange fur everywhere and cat disappeared. Then we checked the dog for bites or scratched and he was scotch clean thank god Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oneeyedfrog Posted September 21, 2010 Report Share Posted September 21, 2010 Oh No Poor thing! We've got a Tom hanging around here too - we can't find our trap either. He's caused a bit of damage to our cats so this is a warning to us to get our a into g and get rid of him. :evil: Those abcesses can be wicked and come up so quickly. I always try to keep cat fight wounds open for a few days. I soften any scabs with cotton wool soaked in warm water then pull off the scabs and gently squeeze to get the wounds to bleed if poss. Swab out with hydrogen peroxide. For the next few days I remove the scab and open the wound by pulling the edges apart - lets it heal from the inside out so doesn't trap bacteria under the skin. Strangely my cats don't mind this I hate smooching your cat and having an abcess burst under your hand or worse your cheek!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted September 21, 2010 Report Share Posted September 21, 2010 A SPCA worker once told me they would far rather face a savage dog than a cornered wild tomcat. Hope she has a fast recovery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos & Siran Posted September 21, 2010 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2010 Goodness! Are you able to get a trap for the stray to stop this happening again? We grabbed a cage from the SPCA and caught it the night it attacked our wee boy, and it has since been taken to the SPCA. Apparently it is a pet. I had to take our wee fella to the vet yesterday as well, he had a high temp, but with a course of antibiotics and anti infective drugs he should be okay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos & Siran Posted September 21, 2010 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2010 A SPCA worker once told me they would far rather face a savage dog than a cornered wild tomcat. Hope she has a fast recovery. Yes, apparently cats are the worst for having nasty bites. The vet told us that it depends on the victim as to what sort of infection they get. Sometimes an abscess will come up straight away, sometimes it can take up to 4-5 days to appear, sometimes they can just go off their food for a day or so and then bounce back. Our wee girl was the worst one, hopefully she will come right. She gets her drain out and collar off tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted September 21, 2010 Report Share Posted September 21, 2010 Ouch. That is terrible. Hope your cat recovers fast! I'm glad you got there in time. That stray "pet" tom cat should have been shot. :evil: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave+Amy Posted September 21, 2010 Report Share Posted September 21, 2010 A SPCA worker once told me they would far rather face a savage dog than a cornered wild tomcat. Definitely agree with that Lucky (our dog) was lucky that he didn't get his eyes scratched out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted September 21, 2010 Report Share Posted September 21, 2010 If the tom is indeed someone's pet, then send them the vet bills! They might do something about him :evil: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted September 21, 2010 Report Share Posted September 21, 2010 Unfortunately the law does not expect cats to be restrained like dogs do; so the owners of the feral cat won't be liable for any vet bills. I think all cats should be locked up at night, even the friendly ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunbird73 Posted September 21, 2010 Report Share Posted September 21, 2010 ouch nasty! At least you know your cat was not the one that started it cos the bite was as she was leaving... Cats have nasty bacteria in their mouths, and their teeth act to inject these deep under the skin/muscle. So even if a bite looks mild (ie. one or two punture wounds) it can turn very nasty. Depends on where the bite is and how deep and how manky the other cats mouth is to how bad its going to be. I have been put in hospital by a cat bite (IV antibiotics for 2 days). Even after downing some augmentin as soon as I was bitten, and two penicillin jabs (in the butt!! :oops: ) the next day didn't stop the infection from progressing vy quickly. The cat that bit me had a horrible stinky mouth and was about 16yrs old, so not surprising. I also met a lady who got bitten by a cat, but then a couple of weeks later got septicaemia from it as she didn't take the bite very seriously. I wouldn't get all lynch mob on the other cat tho - all outside male cats fight at some point -even well cared for neutered ones - and it only takes one bite to cause an abscess. Only way to control it is to keep cats inside at night, especially dawn and dusk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted September 21, 2010 Report Share Posted September 21, 2010 not cool but this is part of the animal world. ouch nasty! At least you know your cat was not the one that started it cos the bite was as she was leaving... i would think that if she was bit leaving that would have meant she realised she was in trouble, don't think that shows which cat started it although the chances are very high it was the tom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamH Posted September 22, 2010 Report Share Posted September 22, 2010 Used to have a Tom come inside but we got Skylla a collar with a magnet so only she could come inside. No strays since but she sometimes comes inside smelling like boy cat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BikBok Posted September 22, 2010 Report Share Posted September 22, 2010 Definitely agree with that Lucky (our dog) was lucky that he didn't get his eyes scratched out a cornered tom cat put my hubby into hospital and I was left at home mopping up the blood from the walls and floor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamH Posted September 22, 2010 Report Share Posted September 22, 2010 a cornered tom cat put my hubby into hospital and I was left at home mopping up the blood from the walls and floor. That's horrid! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunbird73 Posted September 22, 2010 Report Share Posted September 22, 2010 Used to have a Tom come inside but we got Skylla a collar with a magnet so only she could come inside. No strays since but she sometimes comes inside smelling like boy cat eeeyew to the boy cat bit A little bit OT but I heard that they now have cat doors that recognise a microchip so don't need a collar. Just program the number of the microchip in your cat and thats the only cat it will let in. Newfangled technology these days ay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted September 22, 2010 Report Share Posted September 22, 2010 :evil: the sooner they bring in compulsory registrations and neutering of cats the better!!! (note: I am a cat lover) Also if you have someone else's pet loitering around your place and can't convince it to leave... catching it and peeing on it works. Cats can deal with terror but not utter humiliation :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JazzyJeff Posted September 22, 2010 Report Share Posted September 22, 2010 Also if you have someone else's pet loitering around your place and can't convince it to leave... catching it and peeing on it works. Cats can deal with terror but not utter humiliation :lol: :lol: Dat some funny ...]!!! Love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted September 22, 2010 Report Share Posted September 22, 2010 Also if you have someone else's pet loitering around your place and can't convince it to leave... catching it and peeing on it works. Cats can deal with terror but not utter humiliation :lol: now how would YOU do that stella? :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted September 22, 2010 Report Share Posted September 22, 2010 :lol: Dat some funny ....!!! Love it! that word got me a warning & mine was a copy & paste error. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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