Skin Irritation From Licking.

[Astral89]

Hi there people!

I'm new here and this is my first thread (but been lurking around reading many threads though for a while now). Anyways, I have 5 cats (4 males + 1 female), their mother was a feral/street cat that I took in and didn't know was pregnant. So, long story short she gave birth under my bed and she nursed them till they became 2 months old and ran away and I couldn't find her after several months of searching..

Now, my babies are 5 months old and I couldn't be a more proud mom! I neutered the toms when they were around 4.5 months old and all of them recovered beautifully except for one (orange cat) whose been a sickly cutiepie since the beginning. He had an abscess right next to the incision area after it healed (he or his brothers bit that area and got infected) and long story short it just closed up and I just took off his collar of shame a couple of days ago.

Problem is he licks it just like all his siblings, but since there's still no hair there, it started to get red (you'll see an obvious red patch in the attached pic) and I'm worried it'll keep being irritated and no hair will grow back

So what shall I do? his doctor says to make him wear the e-collar indefinitely till hair grows back but I just feel like it'll make him miserable since he already wore it for almost 2 weeks straight! She said to apply warm water to the area with a cotton or something and no ointments since he'll lick it and might get poisoned. So what shall I do?? and did any of you go through the same issue with their baby?

On a side note--I'm Egyptian living in Egypt. Vets are good but not so good--meaning, resources/medicine are somewhat limited and overall animal health isn't a top priority here.

 

[Jem]

Hi! How awesome to have so many little kitties in your life! Thank you for rescuing them!
I do have one question though, did he get antibiotics for the abscess? Did the vet clear him of any lingering infection? He may still be licking it if the infection is still present. Sometimes abscesses can be stubborn.

If he's licking the site because it's itchy from healing, unfortunately the cone of shame until it's completely healed would be your best option. And you can take it off if you are with him and watching that he does not lick, so it doesn't have to be on all the time. Better to use the cone for another couple weeks than have it get infected all over again.

In the mean time, one thing you can do that will help sooth the skin, is to brew a cup of chamomile tea (run of the mill grocery store stuff from the tea bags, they are made from the flowers, do not loose leaf as it is toxic) then you can use the cooled tea with a cotton ball to wipe the area to clean it. Do this a few times a day. The tea has skin healing and soothing properties, as well as anti-microbial properties. And if you want to take it a step further, use the tea bag as a compress over the site.
You do want to make sure that the site stays dry so if you use the bag as a compress be sure the area dries well and the surrounding fur dries well also.

If the site starts looking angry and swollen again (not just irritated skin) he will probably need antibiotics fro infection. Hopefully this does not happen.

I hope this helps, and good luck with you new family of furballs!

 

[Astral89]

Hi! How awesome to have so many little kitties in your life! Thank you for rescuing them!
I do have one question though, did he get antibiotics for the abscess? Did the vet clear him of any lingering infection? He may still be licking it if the infection is still present. Sometimes abscesses can be stubborn.

If he's licking the site because it's itchy from healing, unfortunately the cone of shame until it's completely healed would be your best option. And you can take it off if you are with him and watching that he does not lick, so it doesn't have to be on all the time. Better to use the cone for another couple weeks than have it get infected all over again.

In the mean time, one thing you can do that will help sooth the skin, is to brew a cup of chamomile tea (run of the mill grocery store stuff from the tea bags, they are made from the flowers, do not loose leaf as it is toxic) then you can use the cooled tea with a cotton ball to wipe the area to clean it. Do this a few times a day. The tea has skin healing and soothing properties, as well as anti-microbial properties. And if you want to take it a step further, use the tea bag as a compress over the site.
You do want to make sure that the site stays dry so if you use the bag as a compress be sure the area dries well and the surrounding fur dries well also.

If the site starts looking angry and swollen again (not just irritated skin) he will probably need antibiotics fro infection. Hopefully this does not happen.

I hope this helps, and good luck with you new family of furballs!

Thank you so much!

Yes, he had antibiotic shots and was cleared of any residual abscess.. He's not licking it like crazy--only for grooming/after using the litter box.. Also probably because the hair is growing back so it's a bit itchy.

I do have chamomile bags I'll def. use it when he's asleep!

Also what if I don't let him wear the dreadful collar and just use antibiotic topical spray will it help? I just wish this area dries up and hair starts to grow so it's not as "naked" as possible.

 

[Astral89]

Do you think the red are looks bad? FYI it's not swollen though.

 

[Jem]

A topical antibiotic spray won't do much if there is no infection. And depending on the spray, if it's not made for cats or deemed safe for use in cats, it will do more harm than good. And even if it is safe, he'll just end up licking it off anyway.
Based on the picture, I don't think the redness looks bad, although it does look irritated. I also don't see any discharge or anything like that, so it seems to me that if he just stops licking, it should heal up fine. I'm not a vet though, so this is purely my opinion.
Preventing him from licking is your best course of action, and the cone does the best job of this. I know it's not what you want to hear, but it will save you (and him) a lot of trouble down the road.