Side of cat's face is swollen

[missmitzi]

Hey all-

My cat is an indoor/outdoor cat, often getting into fights, and today I noticed one side of his face is swollen. I tried to pick him up so I could check it out and I noticed he felt warmer than usual, but then again it was 106 degrees today and is still really hot out so maybe it's that and not him running a temp?

I managed to grab a towel with water and iodine and kind of wipe his face with it so I could feel it and while he was squirming around, I managed to feel that it was a hard lump. I don't see any bleeding, and I don't know what's causing it. Was googling around and it said maybe an abscess, but I'm not sure. He is also not vaccinated

I don't have enough money for the vet so I would like some opinions on what it could be and if any home remedies are available for now until I can get him to the vet..please and thank you

 

[SeventhHeaven]

Can you post a picture?  Best to keep indoors especially not vaccinated.

I had a male Siamese(big on howling) who got tangled up with a sick cat it was necessary to put him down.

  If he's eating drinking OK that's a plus. If you pull back the gums when mouth is closed you can check that teeth gums are OK.

 

[talkingpeanut]

If he is not neutered, this is almost definitely from a cat fight. Infections from cat bites get nasty very quickly. Recommend you get him to a vet as soon as possible, and keep him inside until he is fixed.

 

[howmany]

I understand about no monye [emoji]128577[/emoji]
19 years ago I was just out of university underemployed/part time waitress and I got a kitten because I decided I was not moving back home but staying in university town and then I found out I was pregnant.
Still broken I manged to get kitten fixed and when he got a cat bite when I was 9 months along I spent crib monye from my dad on the vet .
Where I am this will cost you between 50 70 for the visit and 30 for the antibiotics. You might ask for the kind that are an injection once but work for 2 weeks because they are impossible to mess up ,with the liquid you have to remember to dose regularly or they don't work as well .
You don't want to lance the abscess your self and and clean with hydrogen peroxide something my mom did with tail area bites. making a herbal pultuse is not practical with cats either .
Call around someone might take a post dated cheque good luck.

 

[missmitzi]

I'll see if I can post a picture later, he took off after I tried wiping his face with water and iodine. He is eating and drinking just fine. He is not neutered. I'll try to see if I can check his gums too. Thanks everyone, will post update soon!

 

[talkingpeanut]

Would you like help finding a low cost clinic for neutering? This is, unfortunately, going to keep happening while he is fighting and defending his territory. Cat fights are vicious and often deadly.

 

[missmitzi]

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• missmitzi
• Jun 21, 2016

This is how i found my cat right now, I think it got worse.

 

[talkingpeanut]

Yeah, that looks really bad. Can you look into care credit or maybe borrow money from someone? You don't want him to lose the eye, and he must be in a lot of pain.

 

[missmitzi]

Yeah, that looks really bad. Can you look into care credit or maybe borrow money from someone? You don't want him to lose the eye, and he must be in a lot of pain.

I wasn't accepted for care credit, but I found a vet with a free first time exam so Im using the last of my funds to buy a carrier and take him right now. I'll update after the visit :/

 

[SeventhHeaven]

 20.00 on local kijiji or facebook would cover for small cat crate or carry bag ~ Good luck with your baby!

 

[howmany]

Have crossed town ( on foot) with a cat in a carrier sized box air holes cut an duck taped shut roll of tape in hand for return trip!

 

[howmany]

It also looks high for dental abscess I think bite,

 

[missmitzi]

UPDATE:

So we just got back from the vet, and they determined that it was indeed an abscess and needs to be drained ASAP.

Unfortunately, they were charging almost 1000$ for the surgery and I cannot afford that. I was also declined for care credit, so I'm out of options for now. I'm trying to look up home remedies to treat the abscess until I can figure out another way to go about this.

Any advice on home remedies for now?

image.jpeg

• missmitzi
• Jun 21, 2016

 

[LTS3]

Try some of the resources here: http://www.thecatsite.com/a/no-money-for-vet-care-how-to-find-help-and-save-your-cats-life

Does the vet offer any sort of financial aid? Can you ask the vet for an itemized list of everything the surgery will entail? Some things may be waivable.

 

[howmany]

Would he not just start with medication!!!
Could you call another vet even when people have abscesses the start meds beforehand ie tooth removel or lanceing.

 

[missmitzi]

Try some of the resources here: http://www.thecatsite.com/a/no-money-for-vet-care-how-to-find-help-and-save-your-cats-life

Does the vet offer any sort of financial aid? Can you ask the vet for an itemized list of everything the surgery will entail? Some things may be waivable.

No the only other method was care credit which i can't use. Yeah we got a list of the estimate and we could take some stuff off but the main things we needed were expensive- the required ones to treat the abscess and blood test were each over 100$ so even then id have to pay $500-700$ :/

 

[missmitzi]

Would he not just start with medication!!!
Could you call another vet even when people have abscesses the start meds beforehand ie tooth removel or lanceing.

They actually didn't list medication they said it wouldn't do any good for the cat, and it's not for a tooth it's from most likely a fight/cat bite or something which led to the abscess. But thanks, I am looking into checking out other vets but we'll see because they're pricey and don't accept payment plans other than care credit

 

[howmany]

Ouch yes I did think it was a bite but have always got antibiotics for cat bites that are infected kids myself cats, we had a cat eat a buttons cost 1000 ish to have it out they threw in the neutering for an extra 50 because he was already going to be out.
I once used a pultuse on a bad skin abscess on myself to avoid lanceing but I don't think it would work threw fur and I still had meds.
If you try to clean it get help and welders gloves

 

[talkingpeanut]

Ouch yes I did think it was a bite but have always got antibiotics for cat bites that are infected kids myself cats, we had a cat eat a buttons cost 1000 ish to have it out they threw in the neutering for an extra 50 because he was already going to be out.
I once used a pultuse on a bad skin abscess on myself to avoid lanceing but I don't think it would work threw fur and I still had meds.
If you try to clean it get help and welders gloves

I would really not recommend cleaning it yourself.

 

[SeventhHeaven]

Have crossed town ( on foot) with a cat in a carrier sized box air holes cut an duck taped shut roll of tape in hand for return trip!

Yes whatever works works good job.  Also a regular knapsack flipped forward so the cat is in front of you works well head can still pop out for comfort