Why did my vet put a drain tube in my cat's deep bite wound?

Question

Hello My cat got bit a week ago, the wound was quite deep, yet healing with salt water treatment twice a day. Took her to the vet they recommended stitches although she now has come home with a tube open at both ends dipping out fluid. Although this might be a way to release fluid I do not believe it was entirely necessary as she looks like in much more pain and distress than when she went in this morning. Pet's info: Cat | Siamese | Female | spayed | 5 years and 6 months old

Anna M., DVM · Accepted Answer

Hello, I'm sorry to hear about Lili! I'm not 100% sure what the question is but I'm interpreting you're wondering if I agree with what the vet did to manage Lili's wound. From the information given, I do believe placing a drain (tube) was definitely necessary to help this wound heal. Bite wounds tend to get infected, and if the bite was deep, and had been present for a week prior to starting antibiotics, there was likely a deep pocket of infected tissue down in that wound - and unless the body was provided with a way to continue to drain this infected fluid and push the infection out, it would have continued to fester. Infected bite wounds *cannot* be sutured closed without placing a tube for the body to be able to push out that infection. Sometimes we cannot tell the extent of the injury or infection until the animal is sedated and we can adequately explore the wound and see what damage is present. I'm sorry Lili seems more painful - this also doesn't surprise me, simply because of the tissue handling necessary to manage that wound. Hopefully your vet dispensed some good pain meds to be giving Lili while she is healing. I imagine in a few days, once the antibiotics start to kick in and the wound can start to heal, she will feel significantly better! I hope this helps!

Why did my vet put a drain tube in my cat's deep bite wound?

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