Feline How-To Manual: Managing Bandages and Splints ~ Pawprints and Purrs, Inc.

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Any health care links located here are NOT to replace a veterinarian visit; please take your cat to a vet immediately at any sign of odd behavior or any symptoms of illness or injury. Call your vet and describe your cat's symptoms with any of your concerns about the cat's well-being. Your veterinarian may discover changes in your cat's health that you have overlooked. It is always better to err on the side of caution.

Managing Bandages and Splints

Incisions

Convalescing cats with an incision should be confined indoors for a minimum of 7 to 10 days. This is to prevent the surgical wound from opening up or becoming contaminated with dirt or germs. The movement of the skin at the incision site during ordinary activity can delay the healing process. That's why a wound under a foreleg takes so much longer to heal than one on the head, for example. It would be very unfortunate if your cat were to catch a suture while creeping under the bushes or poking through fences and pull the wound open. So despite any protestations to the contrary, keep your cat indoors, at least until the stitches are removed. And afterwards, it's not a bad idea to continue the confinement for a few more days until the scar tissue matures, and the wound is less likely to be pulled open.

Although most cats are fairly tolerant of their incisions and leave them alone, a few cats will try to remove the sutures. Cats experience an itching sensation as the wound heals and the fur grows in, just like people. Be particularly vigilant if your cat has any type of drain. Your fastidious feline might be perturbed by the trickle of drainage, clean himself, and chew the drain out when you're not looking.

Elizabethan Collars

While dogs will often eat the drain, cats usually leave them lying around (probably to annoy the owner). Some cats remove the sutures on their own several days after a surgical procedure. This could be a problem. However, don't expect any cat with a urethral catheter or sutures in the urogenital area not to lick and try to pull them out. These cats, or any others that you suspect may be a problem, should wear what is called an Elizabethan (E.) collar.

E. collars are funnel-like barriers that cover the head. They can snap around the neck or slip over the face. A piece of gauze or a regular cat collar is threaded through several loops and tied or fastened moderately snugly to prevent the cat from slipping the collar off. When slipping the collar over the head, avoid accidentally poking the cat's eyes with the loops.

E. collars are most effective when they extend just past the nose. Some cats manage to devise a way to scratch the incision with the edge of the collar. Most cats quickly learn how to eat with the collar in place. If you have to remove it at mealtime, be sure to put it back on as soon as your cat has finished his meal. Alternatives to E. collars like aversion substances (bitter apple, pepper sauce, etc.) are not always well tolerated by cats.

Appliances

Without exception, all cats sporting an E. collar, feeding tube, drain, bandage, cast, or splint should be confined indoors. Bandages, casts, and splints, sometimes called appliances, should be kept clean and dry.

Fortunately, most cats tolerate appliances well. In fact, if your cat does fuss, there may be a problem with the appliance. Swelling of a bandaged limb causes the bandage to become tighter. Or, as the swelling goes down, it may have become loose and slipped out of position.

Examine your cat's bandage or other appliance for wetness and positioning twice a day. Check the toes protruding from the dressing; they should be warm. Contact your vet if you should detect pain, odor, or swelling associated with any appliance, or if they become wet or dirty. Examine the skin daily where bandage or cast material may be rubbing, such as under the foreleg for irritation and abrasion. There are serious consequences for complications associated with appliances that include extensive infection, tissue slough, or even loss of a limb.

Use a low-sided litterbox until your cat learns to maneuver efficiently with an appliance. Change the cat litter frequently, several times a day if necessary, to prevent the appliance from becoming soiled with feces or urine. Depending upon the type of bandage or casting material and how it is applied, you may need to use a different type of litter. The fine-grained clumping type will get between the cat's toes and into the bandage padding.

When a broken bone is set using a cast or splint, it is essential that both the joint above and the joint below the fracture be immobilized. Failure to immoblilize these joints will leave the fracture very unstable, and the cast could act as a lever, prying it open. Unstable fractures do not heal very well, even in cats.

Pins and wires are used to stablize fractures that occur in bones above the knee or the elbow joints. This technique is called internal fixation. The broken bones are realigned and held together tightly without having to immobilize joints. Internal fixation lets the cat begin to use the broken leg much more quickly than with a cast or splint. There are usually fewer complications and less chance of a permanant loss of function.

But there are a few complications with the use of internal fixation. Metal pins begin to migrate and shift out of position during the healing process, especially if the patient is very active. The pins will take the path of least resistance, and can move into joints and even back themselves out of the bone. Sudden lameness or pain in an otherwise pain-free, recuperating cat suggests a problem with the pins. You may feel the tip of the pin under the skin or actually see it begin to protrude and create a small hole draining a clear, pinkish fluid. If you notice this, call your veterinarian.

A third but seldom used method of fracture repair is through the use of a brace made with pins that enter the bones through the skin, and are connected together on the outside with crossbars and clamps. This is called a Kirschner-Ehmer (K-E) apparatus and is particularly useful if there are a lot of small fragments to the fracture, where other forms of fixation would be technically impractical or impossible. The K-E apparatus can and does loosen over time, and can also fall off if the cat is too active. Naturally, cats with a K-E apparatus should never go outdoors. Your veterinarian will request that you bring your cat to the hospital to have the screws tightened and the pins checked regularly for loosening. Despite the fact that pins are protruding from the bone, infection is generally not a problem, although there will be some pinkish-yellow serum drainage from the skin.

How-to Articles in This Series:

Article   1: How to Choose a Vet
Article   2: Hospital Admission of Your Cat
Article   3: Preventive Care: Vaccinations, Serologic Testing, Spaying & Neutering
Article   4: Preventative Care - Dental Care, Flea Control, and Grooming
Article   5: Cooperation - Restraint Procedures and Trimming Claws
Article   6: Keeping Records
Article   7: Care in the Sick Room
Article   8: Keeping Watch - Your Cat's Vital Signs
Article   9: Nutrition for the Cat
Article 10: Feeding the Cat - Including Newborn Kitten Feeding
Article 11: Medications and Prescriptions
Article 12: Basic Nursing 101
Article 13: Managing Bandages and Splints
Article 14: Before and After Surgery and Dentistry
Article 15: Pregnancy and Delivery
Article 16: Euthanasia

Page URL: http://www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/howto13.html

Resource References:
Caring for Your Sick Cat Carol Himsel Daly, DVM and veterinary consultant
Cat Doctor, Mark Evans, B Vet Med MRVCS
Cornell Book of Cats, Cornell Feline Health Center, Cornell University