Answer: Cuts and wounds, with a variety of causes, are also common. The majority are ‘clean’ cuts (incised wounds), resulting for instance from stepping on broken glass or sharp metal concealed in long grass, or falling through a garden frame, or even from licking out cans with a sharp edge.
They can be deep and usually bleed Profusely. Cutting wounds can also be produced by wire nooses in animal traps and by rubber bands placed around the nick, limbs or tail, usually by children. Because of its continual tension, a rubber band gradually cuts through the skin and deep in to the underlying tissues, sometimes even down tom the bone or through the trachea (windpipe).
Irregular, torn wounds can arise from a dog bite or from a cat being caught on barbed wire or in a moving machine while hiding in long gross; they bleed less but are more likely to become contaminated. Penetrating wounds, i.e. penetrating the chest or abdomen, are fortunately rare. They result from the protrusion of a fractured rib after a road accident, from being impaled on a spike or from a malicious cat such as stabbing or shooting. Typical firearm wounds have a small entry wounds and large, ragged exit wound fro the projectile, though sometimes, as with a air gun pellets, the projectile remains in the tissues. The explosive release stored up energy can cause extensive internal damage.
As well as being caused by road accidents, fractures and dislocations can result from being trodden on or kicked, having a tail or a limb slammed in a door, or from an over-ambitious jump or a fall. Many cats discover that they are not as sure-footed as they through and many fall a number of storeys from a window-ledge or parapet on to concrete or paving slabs, which sometimes results in unconsciousness, fractures and internal injuries. However, this does not mean that all cats high up in trees or on the rooftops need to be rescued; most will find their own way down safely, especially if tempted by food.
Burns and scalds are also not uncommon in cat and most of these raises in the kitchen. Usually the animal is splashed with boiling water or hot fat, although often this is not recognized at the time. Sometimes a cat investigating an appetizing smell attempts to walk on the cooker hot plate. Quite apart from reasons of hygiene, this reinforces the need to keep cats off kitchen working surfaces, and it is probably bet to banish them entirely from the kitchen during the cooking. Burns on the feet can also arise from stepping onto the embers of bonfires or the hot charcoal discarded from a barbecue.
So-called chemical burns are due to the effect of corrosive liquids on the skin; this is often diesel oil on account of a cat’s habit of hiding beneath motor vehicles. At other times they may walk through such substances as warm tar, creosote, or battery acid. Electrical burns and electrocution usually result from a kitten chewing though a live electrical flex or cable.
