Cat with frostbitten ears...help, anyone? update, pics

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Oh no - please do not try to massage frostbitten (or potentially frostbitten) tissue -- this is causes much more severe damage to the area. That is one of the classic "do not do this!" things for frostbite, along with use of hot water or direct heat such as a fireplace or heating pad.

Sometimes, really, the best you can do is support the body's own ability to heal. I know it's really human and admirable to want to help things along, but there are things that we can help with and things we really can't, and it's important to know the difference.

For whatever it's worth here's a summary of treatment for human frostbite: http://www.emedicinehealth.com/frostbite/page7_em.htm#Medical%20Treatment
It's basically what has been mentioned earlier on this thread - painkillers, antibiotics if infection develops, aloe vera or other topical creme, and let the body sort out what tissue it can save and what it can't.

(Edited to add: man oh man, what a handsome cat!

)

Good luck,

Pat

 

[ruth]

Thanks for the correction. See, I told you I knew nothing about frostbite. However, let me clarify I did not mean massage the "burned" area - just the ears below the potentially frostbitten tips. I do know that frostbite is a lot like a burn and you wouldn't want to rub the burned part.

 

[ruth]

How's Puff-A-Lump doing? Any updates on his ears?

 

[Lunachick]

Yes I'd like to know how he's doing, that's one cute cat!

 

[Omeletta]

Thanks for asking! He's doing good, frisky as all get out...1 ear looks like it might have the tip fall off...the other looks good, there is circulation uder the black, you can see some scabbing but some blood, too. No infection that I can tell! He is 1 awesome kitty, definitely my cuddle-bug!

Tanya

I'll get some fresh pics today and post later!

 

[Kristiecsu]

OMG DO *NOT* MASSAGE THE FROSTBITTEN AREA FFS. Bless your heart, Ruth, but that’s the worst advice I’ve ever heard for treating a painful injury. Would literally be torturing the cat. That’s like suggesting massaging a broken leg. Super painful, makes it worse, and doesn’t help at all. That poor kitty.


I know it’s been years, but just in case someone else sees this while searching for advice for their own cat—DO NOT MASSAGE. Get the cat warm, and call the vet. It is incredibly painful while it “defrosts,” so don’t touch it. Don’t try to heat it artificially. Just bring the cat somewhere warm and keep it there while it heals. It can take weeks for frostbite to heal, but it can’t be exposed to extreme heat or cold while it’s healing. If it’s just the tops of the ears, they’ll likely fall off in a few weeks, after showing a scabbed line across each ear where the live tissue meets the dead tissue. The cat needs pain management and to be somewhere warm and safe for a month or so.

, let me preface my suggestion with the statement that I know nothing about frostbite. However, I have a real hard time with "there's nothing you can do" so I will always try something (no matter what the case/condition). In this case, I would spend a lot of time gently massaging his ears. Maybe, just maybe, they aren't so far gone that you can't get some nice warm circulation going to the tips of his ears and, if so, they won't die and fall off. Again, just my humble suggestion that when feeling helpless, try something/anything - AND - PRAY.

The Lord has healed many of my pets - including our cat Morris who was given less than 5% chance of survival by our vet when I ran over Morris severing his spinal cord near the tail. Morris went home the next day and is alive and well. Though his tail hangs down - the tail did not die and he has full use of bowels/urine which vet said "would never happen even he survived". He walks, talks, runs, jumps just like he did before the accident. He doesn't, however, sleep under the car tire anymore.