It can happen that even animals get more or less deep scratches or cuts: this is how we should clean a cat’s wound properly.
It can happen that your cat gets injured, especially if he is outdoors a lot. Pieces of wood, particularly sharp stones, pavements not perfectly maintained are just some of the objects with which it could collide, creating more or less deep wounds. Most of these wounds we can safely treat ourselves while in case of deep cuts we may need the veterinarian to intervene to put stitches and close the wound.
A wound is simple enough to notice. In fact, we could see that in the affected area there will be blood or / and a swelling and lack of hair that will be torn in the collision with the object up to a real lesion of the skin. In addition, the cat will surely have that painful area or in some cases, if it is a wound to the paws, he may even walk with difficulty.
The problem with wounds is that they tend to contract infections and at this point we may notice pus due to the cat’s immune system trying to fight the infection or the appearance of a more or less high fever.
To avoid these complications, it is best to clean the wound immediately. If blood continues to flow from this, cover it immediately with a clean gauze or cloth and keep them pressed on the area for 5/10 minutes to allow the blood to coagulate, stopping the flow of blood.
How to clean a cat wound
If the wound is not bleeding and is not deep, it is advisable to clean it with suitable antibacterial solutions, which also serve to remove any small foreign bodies present such as grains of sand or earth. However, some experts advise against the use of pure hydrogen peroxide and alcohol because they appear to increase the damage to the skin.
So be careful that some substances cannot be used pure but must be diluted, so read the instructions on the package carefully. The 3% hydrogen peroxide must be mixed with a quantity of water three times greater. Iodine is quite effective for disinfecting: you can use half a cup of iodine and half a cup of water.
If you do not have suitable solutions at home, you could create your own homemade one. Just a cup of boiled water and, once it boils, dissolve half a teaspoon of salt in the water and you will have a good disinfectant product that does not even create problems for the cat’s skin.
If the cat is very agitated because of the accident, I recommend that you cover it with a tablecloth leaving only the visible wound and ask a friend or family member to stop the cat if it moves too much: so you can disinfect the wound safely avoiding even that the cat could hurt you or that it could become infected by itself. There are two methods of passing the sanitizer product on the cut or scratch.
The first is to aspirate the product with a syringe and directly with this syringe without needle distribute it on the cut until it is perfectly free of foreign bodies. The second method is to distribute the product, bought or made by you, with gauze by taking a clean piece of gauze or cloth at each step to be sure to effectively disinfect the cut or scratch.
With either method, when you notice that the wound is in place, make a final splash or final pass. If your pet also has pus try, squeezing it, to remove it until it no longer comes out and only after this operation proceed to disinfect the wound with one of the two methods listed above.
Do not cover the wound immediately as it will heal faster. However, if your pet tries to touch it with its tongue or nails, it is necessary to apply a bandage over it to prevent the animal from infecting it: the cat’s tongue and its nails can be more dangerous than you think. In case of a deep cut or a very large wound, contact your vet immediately as soon as you notice it.
