Should She Have Known?

[susan denning]

I boarded my older cat for about a month. When I greeted Trixie after getting her back (my Dad picked her up), I noticed she had a smelly, burst abscess on the side of her cheek. I ended up taking her to an urgent care vet to get it taken care of. Several people in the vet's office commented smells like an abscess (It did smell), and the vets office shaved her and gave her an antibiotic shot.

When I called the cattery owner to ask her what happened, she left me a voicemail saying something along the lines of - I'm very sorry I didn't notice. I told your Dad I saw some blood in her cage, so that's probably where that came from. I have a kitten that has been terrorizing the other cats, so maybe that what happened. I hope she gets over the sore on her cheek or whatever is going on.

My first reaction was that I'm not happy the lady who runs the cattery let it get that bad without doing something, and will not be letting her keep Trixie again. The sad thing is she's a nice lady, but was either not very observant (I don't know why she wouldn't be curious where the blood came from) or was willfully ignoring the problem. If she'd just called and told me there was a problem, I would have done what I could to help. I was also hoping would have agreed to help with Trixie's vet bills (I haven't asked directly).

My Mom agrees with me. My Dad thinks that it might have been something which happened before Trixie left a month ago, and that maybe the owner didn't notice because it didn't get bad until recently. Does that sound possible? If so, I think I will have to watch my other cat Felix. I've never seen him bite (or try to bite Trixie), but if it happened at my house, he would be the obvious suspect.

I put compresses on her wound today (suggested by the vet's office). It didn't look terrible to me (it looked like skin growing around an ozing moist patch that needs to heal). But, it smells like it did when I took her to the vet's office. So, I'm thinking she still has a rather active infection. I'm not sure what that means for her long term prognosis.

 

[Kieka]

An abscess develops rather quickly. It's unlikely it was from a month ago unless it was a deep infection that had already burst once (in my experience). Link had an abscess on his neck/chin area a while back that appeared almost overnight; but was probably developing for a day or two before I noticed. If you aren't paying attention or aren't familiar with the cat they can get rather large before being noticed. In all honesty, cats can get them from the smallest scratch if all the right conditions occur (although they are more common with larger scratches).

I am actually not too concerned that your cat got an abscess and I think it's highly unlikely that the injury occured prior to the cattery stay. What concerns me is that the owner allowed a kitten to continuing "terrorizing" others AND that she didn't investigate or even notify you of the blood. While the kitten may or may not have been the offending party doesn't matter. That the kitten was kept in the general area despite causing stress and potential injuries is concerning. That the cattery owner didn't call you or tell you at pick up about blood in the kennel is concerning. That the cattery owner didn't do a thorough check of your cat once blood was found is concerning.

Three strikes against her in mind and I would in no way go back. Experiences like you are sharing is part of the reason why I only board at my vet and in isolated kennels where the cats get alone time to stretch (or with their family cats only). I am paranoid about an injury or illness going unnoticed by a non-medical professional.

As to asking her to pay, you can ask. Since I wouldn't be going back, I would ask if she would be willing to pay since her negligence (upping the situation for dramatic effect) caused the injury and her failure to react may have complicated the healing for your cat. Dramatize it some see what she does. Most likely though your intake paperwork had some sort of indemnification that she isn't liable for injuries or illness that occurs in the cattery and an authorization to seek medical care at your expense and liability if required. Which would mean unless you can make a case for extreme negligence enough that it negates the agreement you wouldn't have any legal standing.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Sorry about your kitty's infection. How long ago was the antibiotic shot? If only a few days ago, it will likely take longer to begin clearing the infection. It has been my experience that it takes about half way through the duration of the antibiotic to see improvement. So, if the vet said the antibiotic injection should last 10 days, it is reasonable not to expect to see a lot of positive changes for about 5 days. Continue with the compresses as well - that will help to draw out the infectious fluid in the abscess and allow it to heal faster.

 

[susan denning]

Thanks for the replies. In due fairness, I should clarify that the cattery owner did mention the blood in the cage to my Dad (but may have been after my Dad asked about Trixie's cheek).

I do wonder about the mixing with other cats now. That does seem to be a potential way to spread disease (if you don't know what the disease status of the cats in question might be) and cause of fights (if you don't supervise carefully). She did say that Trixie did not like other cats (from past experience with her). So, I made me wonder if there had been some issues in the past with letting several cats out for exercise at the same time.

I'm glad that Felix was probably not the cause, as that did make me wonder about how well they actually get along together.

The vet's office gave Trixie a convenia shot. I am glad to hear that it can take some time for antibiotics to kick in. I was thinking that Trixie's prognosis is probably poor if she was still smelling infected at this time (meaning that she might have a systemic issue like sepsis going on, or that she might not be healing well due to age or to having CKD or to all three).

 

[FeebysOwner]

The vet's office gave Trixie a convenia shot. I am glad to hear that it can take some time for antibiotics to kick in. I was thinking that Trixie's prognosis is probably poor if she was still smelling infected at this time (meaning that she might have a systemic issue like sepsis going on, or that she might not be healing well due to age or to having CKD or to all three).

The big thing to look for are changes in eating/drinking, or lethargy. If she is doing fine in these areas, and continues to do so, I would just give the healing some time. It might take longer to heal just because of her age and health issues. Just keep an eye on her!!

 

[vyger]

Injuries usually heal from the inside out, the inner tissue has to regrow first. In a cat it's probably hard to see. With horses a gash a few inches long is left open and you can watch the inside tissue grow back and fill in the void. If it was stitched shut instead of left open it would harbor an infection and instead of healing it would form an abscess. You could also liken it to getting a splinter that gets infected. It will form a pocket of puss and eventually push the splinter out. So as nasty as it might look it is important that the wound stay open and draining so the inside can heal first and grow out and fill it in.
As to the cause it could be almost anything. Cats don't tell, they never rat out the other party.

 

[susan denning]

Thanks. I should say that Trixie is doing really well. She is acting a lot perkier (interested in going outside) and her cheek is healing well. I did have a followup question. My Mom wants to clean our garage floor with bleach water. While I'm happy to help her with that if she thinks its a needed precaution, it seems like I read somewhere that bleach and cats are not a good mix. Is that true, and if so, what would be a good substitute?

 

[Kieka]

Thanks. I should say that Trixie is doing really well. She is acting a lot perkier (interested in going outside) and her cheek is healing well. I did have a followup question. My Mom wants to clean our garage floor with bleach water. While I'm happy to help her with that if she thinks its a needed precaution, it seems like I read somewhere that bleach and cats are not a good mix. Is that true, and if so, what would be a good substitute?

Bleach tends to be overly harsh and leaves fumes. A good pet enzyme cleaner would be a good option to clean with a pet safe cleaner. I tend to just use a vinegar water mix unless I have some heavy duty cleaning needed.