chita update

[dragonlady7]

She is slightly injured! I felt around in her thick fur and found a little spot, like a clotted-over injury, in the middle of her left flank. It looks a bit raw and there's a bit of blood in the fur, but it's small, no bigger than my pinky finger is wide.
She rolled over to expose that side for me when I was petting her, and did not react as if tender when I palpated it. I peeled the fur away and she didn't react to that either. She has spent the day lying with that side upward, curled up and sleeping in apparent comfort. She normally is inactive for most of the morning, and doesn't really get out of bed much until late afternoon, so her activity level is normal-ish so far. The only sign of distress I've noted is that she has been shedding more than normal, though that could be climate-related, and she has visible dandruff among the shed fur, which is something Remi does when she's stressed (and sometimes when she's not), but Chita hasn't done that before.
So I'm keeping an eye on her and I'm going to watch that injury, and when she's awake later I'm going to check and see if there are any more.

I don't know what to do-- I don't want her getting beat up, but I can't think of a way to keep Orange Cat away. I don't want to keep Chita inside-- she hates being kept inside, and last night even after she was probably injured she darted outside while I was coming in with my skate bag and I couldn't stop her. When she wants out, she wants out, and she finds a way, and drives us absolutely insane when she can't.

Anyway. My poor kitty baby! She's a bonehead, picking fights with bigger, older, more experienced cats. I will be keeping an eye on her. I had thought to put some disinfectant on the injury, but I know some of the ones humans use are toxic to cats, so I'm thinking I just won't. My vet's phone number stopped working, but I've driven past and I know they're open-- it's less than a mile away, so I can always walk over there and ask for an appointment. I should take Chita for a check-up anyway, since it's been more than a year since we were there. She's almost two now.

Comments

[buschibaby.livejournal.com]

Might be worth it - cat bites get infected more often than not. Salt water for cleaning, by the way.

[eveiya.livejournal.com]

All my cats are shedding fur at the moment, with the onset of warmer weather over the last few weeks. I could stuff pillows or spin yarn from the amount of downy under-fur I'm combing out of them, so for Chita that's probably just seasonal... Having said that, outside cats tend to get deep but tiny puncture wounds from bites or other cats' claws, with sometimes even a bit of claw left in, and these tend to get infected easily, so I'd take her to the vet to get it checked. Won't she be due for annual vaccination booster jags anyway?