Just recently I consulted a close friend of mine whose working in a veterinary for my big macho tomcat that I rescued off the street 2 months back. He is constantly getting into fights with the street cats that hang around the bins in our accommodation room. Usually his wounds scab over and heal quite quickly, but he has one his cheek from around four days ago that is now swollen and painful to touch. Do I need to take him to the vet?

This was his reply:

It sounds to me like your macho tomcat finally met his match and has developed asn abscess as a result! A bite from another cat allows bacteria to be injected into the underlying tissues. The initial skin would then heals rapidly, permitting the bacteria to multiply beneath the skin and resulting in an infected pocket of pus. The overlying skin becomes hot and swollen and the cat usually becomes depressed, febrile, and disinterested in food.

Your tomcat needs to visit his vet to confirm the diagnosis. An abscess is treated by lancing it and flushing out the pus and bacteria. If it is a sizeable abscess, this will require him to be sedated. After flushing the abscess if left open to allow further drainage and your cat precribed antibiotics to prevent re-occurrence and resolve the abscess. You should be aware that the street cat population carries the feline immunodeficiency virus(feline AIDS), which is spread through bite wounds. You can request your vet test for this. If the cat is FIV-negative I would strongly recommend you neuter him to make him less inclined to roam and fight with other entire tomcats, or consider keeping him solely indoors.

Keep in mind needs to have their food supplies too in order to obtain there ideal health just as like with dog owners who used to buy the dog supplies who wish the best for their great animal friend. Keep them safe as you take charge yourself too!