My friend's cat has a scraped paw. Can I treat it without a vet?

Question

Our friend’s cat whom we are catsitting has an abraded hind paw. He doesn’t seem to be in pain or walking funny. Would it be possible for us to treat this ourselves? It s difficult and expensive to get him to a vet. Pet's info: Cat | Mixed Breed | Male | neutered | 3 years and 1 month old | 12 lbs

Christie Long, DVM · Accepted Answer

You can certainly clean this by taking some gauze that has mild soap and warm water in it a scrub it, not too vigorously but enough to get it clean. This should help, and then placing an e-collar will also keep him from licking it, which will cause infection. However, before you consider this course of action I would strongly recommend that you contact his owners to make sure that they are ok with you choosing to treat this at home. He is their cat, and they may wish to have him seen. Also be aware that this may be painful and you may have difficultly getting him to submit to your treatments. Finally, if he is having other systemic signs of illness, such as lethargy or decreased appetite, you’ll need to go ahead and take him in.

My friend's cat has a scraped paw. Can I treat it without a vet?

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