Emergency cat care for diseases and injuries

By | 29th September 2021

Emergency cat care for diseases and injuries. The life of a domestic cat is full of comfort, warmth and care on the part of the owner and, it would seem, is cloudless, but at the same time, the existence of a predator (albeit domestic) in close proximity to a person creates many situations associated with a risk to the health of the cat. It should be remembered that only a specialist can fight most cat diseases. A veterinarian whom you trust will be able to help an animal in trouble and prevent the development of tragic consequences.

How to help a pet before visiting a veterinarian?

What can the owner of the animal do before visiting a veterinary specialist?

Perhaps all the diseases to which your cat is susceptible can be divided into infectious (including parasitic) diseases, various internal non-infectious diseases and, finally, diseases caused by external factors.

Prevention of infectious diseases is regular vaccination. If the animal is still sick with a bacterial or viral infection, then perhaps the most correct thing the owner can do is to ensure the animal’s safety and rest, measure the temperature, record the results and immediately contact a veterinary clinic. Self-medication is categorically unacceptable.



Internal non-infectious diseases are usually not easy to detect and treat, so the main thing for the owner is to monitor objective indicators of the cat’s health during regular diagnostic examinations and annual visits to the veterinarian.

Finally, sometimes a cat can get poisoned or injured. However, most of these cases can be prevented by taking care of the safety of your home in advance. Remove all small objects from the floor, get rid of dangerous plants, install mosquito nets on windows and be careful when closing doors.

It is necessary to make a reservation right away – it is much easier to prevent the disease than to treat it, so always be attentive to potentially dangerous objects and situations for the cat.

What problems can you face?

Most often cats suffer from thermal burns. To protect your pet from damage, you should think in advance how to restrict its access to heating devices. Enclose central heating batteries with special screens and isolate the cat from boiling water, hot oil and hot surfaces of the kitchen stove.

Emergency cat care for diseases and injuries

protective shield

If the cat is still burned, take the pet in your arms, calm him down and carefully inspect the burn area. Treat the affected area of the skin with a spray with panthenol (dexpanthenol) and try to bandage it. Do not let the cat lick the burned area, avoid contact of the affected skin with dirty surfaces. After treating the burn, contact your veterinarian immediately. If the burn is of a chemical nature, as a rule, it is necessary to very carefully remove the remnants of the substance from the wound surface and in no case allow licking.

Emergency cat care for diseases and injuriesThe second problem is poisoning. Cats can come across inedible and even life-threatening chemicals (for example, household chemicals or indoor flowers). Even if the pet does not eat the harmful substances themselves, it can stain the fur in them and swallow them later, when “washing”. The symptoms of poisoning are obvious: apathy, lethargy, fever, repeated vomiting, diarrhea. If such symptoms are detected, the cat should be provided with a starvation diet, leaving only water. Try to give your pet a drink with some sorbent and contact the veterinarian as soon as possible.

Emergency cat care for diseases and injuries

In addition, your pet may get hurt. If he got injured during the game or hunting, do not panic. Take him in your arms and calm him down, examine the wound. If the wound is shallow and does not bleed much, treat it with a disinfecting solution (hydrogen peroxide, chlorhexidine), if possible, bandage it and consult a veterinarian. But remember that you should not use iodine, zelenka and other alcohol-containing solutions to treat wounds — they can cause a wound burn and aggravate the situation. If you find heavy bleeding, apply a tight bandage (for this it is most convenient to use self-fixing elastic bandages) and take the cat to the veterinary clinic without delay!



Most often, such injuries are the result of pinching of limbs by doors or inattention of the owners. However, sometimes they can also be a consequence of falling from a height. If a cat has received a fracture by falling from an insignificant height, then in addition to treating the consequences of the fracture, the veterinarian may suspect a hormonal disease leading to bone fragility and offer to take the necessary tests. If a cat falls from a considerable height, even if at first glance everything is in order, you should definitely contact a veterinary clinic. Only in the clinic will it be possible to comprehensively assess the condition of the animal and prevent the consequences of the injury.

If you notice that the cat is limping, or has been injured in front of you, do not try to apply a fixing bandage yourself – without proper anesthesia, you will only do harm. If the injury is accompanied by damage to the skin, treat the wound as indicated above. After that, you should limit the mobility of the animal as much as possible, put it in a cage, pen or carrier and contact a veterinary clinic as soon as possible.

One of the most dangerous are squeezing injuries – for example, when cats get into window openings. The danger of such injuries is that with seemingly minimal external damage, hemodynamic disturbances and innervation of the pinched part of the body occur. Such a problem can cost an animal limbs or even life. Having found a cat in a similar state, it is necessary to carefully and gradually release it from squeezing. And after release – to urgently contact a veterinary clinic.



How to use prescribed medications?

After visiting the veterinary clinic, it is necessary to strictly adhere to the doctor’s instructions. As a rule, the main ways of using medicines are their oral (enteral) intake or administration, in which they bypass the gastrointestinal tract— for example, by injection or inhalation.

However, it is not recommended to give injections yourself or perform other manipulations without proper skill — if necessary, it is better to consult a specialist.

Remember, any drug administration should be carried out in full and on the recommendation of a veterinarian. Usually, a specialist sets the necessary time, frequency, method of admission. Using solid medicines orally, it is necessary to ensure that the cat swallows them after ingestion, after which it is necessary to give water to drink for better passage of the medicine through the esophagus. The use of liquid dosage forms (suspensions, decoctions, syrups) most often causes less discomfort in cats, which means it is preferable. A probiotic feed additive can help the cat restore the intestinal microflora after taking antibiotics. Now you can see a large number of such supplements on the market, but only a veterinarian or a qualified specialist will be able to pick up the right supplement.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *