My cat has an open, oozing leg wound. Peroxide or Neosporin safe?
Updated On September 23rd, 2025
Pet's info: Cat | American Shorthair | Male | unneutered | 4 years and 4 months old | 12 lbs
Cat has a open sire on leg that is ozzi g fluid can I use hydrogen peroxide or neosporn?
2 Answers
Most Helpful Answer
Published on June 15th, 2017
Poor Salem! You can gently clean the area with warm water and antibacterial soap. Hydrogen peroxide can be quite irritating to the tissue and actually causes healing to take longer in many cases, so I don't recommend using this. Neosporin should not hurt anything if you want to try it, but most cats will groom off any topical medication like this that you use. If needed, you can place an e-collar (plastic cone) on Salem so that he cannot continue to lick at the wound and make it worse. If it does not seem to be improving in the next 2-3 days, it would be best to see a vet as he may need prescription antibiotics to treat the sore.
2Pet Parents found this answer helpful
Related Answers from Veterinarians
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Published on January 21st, 2017
Please do not put any more peroxide on Jake's sores. Peroxide actually damages tissues and can delay the healing process. You can gently wash his sores in warm water and antiseptic soap. I would not put any topic ointment on them. Although quite safe on superficial wounds, cats groom and ingest most of the topical ointment you apply and therefore should be used only under direct veterinary supervision and if there are no other appropriate options. Many human ointments contain multiple other ingredients which are not necessarily safe to be swallowed. I would keep the sores clean and dry, but don't worry about bandaging them. You may have to put an Ecollar on Jake to keep him from licking at them. Monitor the sores, and if they become red, swollen, warm to the touch, or have pus, then they are infected and Jake will need to see the vet for antibiotics.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
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