Answer: Bites are usually found on tome cats. They occur out of inter-male rivalry for mates and for territory. But occasionally castrated males, and some times even females, get into fights and are wounded. In a fight, the parts of the body which usually get bitten are the front legs are head as the two adversaries face each other, and the tail hind-quarters as on cat turns to run away. However, when two cats are rolling on the floor in a fight almost any part can get bitten. Occasionally, female cat can develop an abscess on the nick from the over-enthusiastic gripping of the skin by a male as he mounts her to mate.
Typically, a cat bite is produce by two long canine teeth (the tope and bottom teeth on the side of the jaw) penetrating the skin and underlying tissues. These teeth are sharp and narrow and so the wounds that re created on the skin surface are very small, bleed are very little and soon close over. They are also well hidden by the hair coat. Any blood is usually soon removed when the cat retires afterwards to literally lick his wounds. Therefore, unless there is some very obvious sign after the fight such as a torn ear, you may be unable to tell that your cat has been fighting. However, a cat can remain excited for a long time after a serious fight and attempts on your part to soothe the animal may be rewarded by quite serious bites or scratches.
One or two days after the fight has occurred you may notice some of the following signs:
1 Your cat limps on the leg or is unwilling to move a particular part of his body such as the nick or tail.
2 He flinches, cries or become aggressive when you touch a particular part of his body.
3 He loses interest in food and only wants to rest.
These sings are due to a developing abscess at the site of the bite. Bacteria from the biting cat’s mouth and on the bitten cat’s skin and hair get pushed deep down into the subcutaneous tissue by the long teeth. The surface of the skin closes over and starts to heal because the punctured wound is so small, and the bacteria deep in the tissue begin to multiply and produce toxins. These toxins cause inflammation at the site and they are also carried in the blood to other parts of the body. In severe case, their effect on the brain is to produce a loss of appetite and listlessness, usually with a rise in body temperature.
To confirm that is responsible, examine the area very closely. Somewhere there will be two tiny wounds about ½ to 1 inch (1.25 to 2.5 cm) apart; on a limb or on the tail the wounds are usually on opposite sides. You may feel them first as two small, rough scabs and on parting the hair you see two scab-filled wounds with a tiny dot of dried blood in the centre.
As a result of the continuing battle between the bacteria and the body’s defensive white blood cell, pus is gradually formed (this consists of dead are living bacteria, dead and living whit blood cell and inflammatory exudates) and the resulting lesion is called an abscess. As the abscess becomes well-defined the inflammation and the pain become less, though bacterial toxins are still being absorbed, so that there may still be a poor appetite and general lassitude. However, these signs are not always present.
It may be possible to feel the abscess as a soft fluctuating mass beneath the skin and eventually, if felt, it would burst, usually on to the surface as the skin is gradually eroded from beneath. These discourage of a mixture of pus and blood is sometimes the first thing that an owner knows about the affaire. Some abscesses can be enormous and damage a lot of skin which then sloughs away.
At whatever stage these bite wounds are discovered, veterinary attention should be obtained. Treatment may be with hot bathing (hot fomentation), surgical excision of the abscess and/or antibiotic administration (injections, tablets or creams) depending on the stage of the process. Once the abscess has been opened or has burst and then been cleaned, the aim is for the wound to heal. This should happen from the deepest part outwards so that the skin is the last to knit together. Otherwise, the infection will be locked in again and father abscesses will develop as a result. Initially the application of hydrogen peroxide and later regular bathing and the insertion of anti-bacterial creams into the wound help to achieve this.
Bacteria from the bite wounds can also spread to other parts of the body; bites in the chest region may give rise to pus in the chest (pyothorax). Of course, abscesses can also arise for reasons not associated at all with bites, e.g. an infected tooth socket, which necessitates removing the tooth and draining the abscess.
