Answer: If you find your cat spends an excessive amount of the time licking the bandage, do
your best to prevent it, if necessary by the methods described later.
As far as possible the cat should be kept the dressing dry. A bandage which is which is
already wet will have to be replaced with a dry one to prevent chafing of the wound.
It is possible to cover the bandage completely with waterproof adhesive tape. A number of
the separate short strips, passing in different directions, should be applied to cover the
paw, and then the tape wound in a spiral up the leg with each turn overlapping the previous
one. However this arrangement can be very difficult to move again and a simpler method it
is place the bandaged limb inside an appropriately-sized polythene bag. Any spare width of
the bag should be wrapped around the leg and the whole thing scoured in place at a number
of points with piece adhesive tape which pass completely around the limb to overlap
themselves. Have one of these pieces of tape right at the tope so that half of its width
sticks to the bag and half to the cat’s hair and skin; this stops the bag working loose and
dropping off.
Dry the bag when the cat returns from outdoor and if it becomes punctured remove it and
replace it. If the bandage has become wet, it also will need renewing.
One long-term treatment popular in North America was to apply pain pitch (resin)
liberally over the bandage and allow it to dry. However pain pitch may be difficult to
obtained, and in any case the bandage cannot easily be unraveled afterwards and has usually
to be cut away.
