So, I get up this morning and my cat has a huge hole in her leg. She is a completely indoor cat and there is no way she got outside. If she was an outdoor cat, I would say she had been hit by a BB from a BB gun. That's what it looks like. We do have another cat, but she's just a kitten and there's NO way she did this sort of damage to the skin on the other cat's leg. They get along very well also and they don't even playfight much. The hole is about 3-5 cm in diameter and the hair is missing about an inch or so in diameter around the hole. It doesn't look to be very deep. She isn't limping or anything and doesn't act like it hurts when you touch near the area. I wouldn't have noticed she had a spot on her leg if the hair wasn't missing and if she hadn't bled on the comforter I had on the recliner in my living room. Anybody have any ideas about what could have happened?

10/29/2005 7:22:31 PM

I feel bad that your cat got hurt and I hope it gets better, but I don't know how you expect to get a real answer to this. I would think that someone at least needs to see the cat or a picture of the wound to even begin to guess.

I could have injured itself any number of ways in your house.

10/29/2005 7:33:35 PM

spider bite?

10/29/2005 7:35:29 PM

a burn? maybe

10/29/2005 7:59:06 PM

it's going crazy and tried to eat itself

10/29/2005 8:04:51 PM

^ one of my mom's cats actually did that once. she ate her leg raw from the toes to her rear.

10/29/2005 8:45:09 PM

demons

the only advice i can give you is to contact your local priest and have your apartment exorcised immediately

[Edited on October 29, 2005 at 8:49 PM. Reason : suggestion]

10/29/2005 8:48:31 PM

It looks exactly like I described it. If I had a camera I would take a picture. It's just a circular wound about 3-5 cm in diameter. The hair is missing around it and it's fleshy looking, so its not infected.
Do spiders leave marks like that? I had thought about a spider. We have a lot of house spiders around here and one bit the kitten a few weeks ago but it didn't leave a mark like that. Are the spiders that leave marks like that poisonous?
I don't think she coulda burnt herself, but I guess shes kind of a daredevil cat so it could be possible. I will check around my house and see if there are any hot surfaces that she could have come in contact with.
Thanks for the advice!

10/29/2005 8:59:54 PM

update: I'm pretty sure it's a spider bite now. Earlier, I searched for a picture of a cat with a spider bite, but couldn't find anything. Then I just thought about searching for a picture of a human with a spider bite to see if it looked similar...it does. I also found a dead spider under the kitchen table...at least my kitty got even. It was a common house spider, so I don't think it's dangerous.
Her bite area looks about like this on her except of course she's a cat:

10/29/2005 10:48:24 PM

it could be a spider bite, or it could have been a sebaceous gland abcess, and she just chewed out all the nastiness, i'd suggest just keeping it clean, maybe once a day with peroxide or antibacterial soap, and putting triple antibiotic ointment on it.... hope it gets better!

10/30/2005 12:21:45 AM

it could be a "wobble"

i know that if a cat, or any animal, gets a cut/scratch sometimes they get a "wobble" in the wound, its basically like a worm that lives under the skin, then when it leaves the body it leaves a mark like you described

my cat disappeared for a week and came back with a hole like that in his leg, took it to the vet thinking maybe it was a gunshot and that was what he thought it was

10/30/2005 1:41:29 AM

weebles wobble but they don't fall down!

shouldn't any of these suggestions be painful? she said it wasn't limping or sensitive...

10/30/2005 2:20:50 AM

do you mean warble? as in a bot fly larvae?

10/31/2005 12:28:57 PM

brown recluse(sp?) bite maybe?

10/31/2005 12:34:18 PM

This happened to my dog once, we never figured out what happened, but he actually had to have stitches.

10/31/2005 12:35:18 PM

our vets at mayfair got warbles out of several bunnies this summer...they inject the lump with this stuff and then a couple seconds later the warble comes crawling out!

10/31/2005 12:38:22 PM

http://www.bright.net/~bryanvet/Cuterebra.htm

like so?

10/31/2005 12:40:44 PM

ew...yes

10/31/2005 12:42:46 PM

i found a brown recluse in my house, and when i mentioned this to my vet... he said exterminate immediately b/c even though pesticides arent good for people or animals... although brown recluses can hurt a human, it will kill a cat... he said there is nothing they can do for it if bitten...

10/31/2005 12:48:25 PM

^^^ That's weird as hell. It can get into their brain?!

10/31/2005 12:49:54 PM

Quote :

"Are the spiders that leave marks like that poisonous?"

Ya know...ALL SPIDERS are poinsonous....

10/31/2005 12:54:34 PM

all spiders WITH FANGS are poisonous. but of course, they can't all bite you.

10/31/2005 1:37:41 PM

spiders have 8 legs

10/31/2005 4:11:47 PM

no spider is poisonous.... they can be venomous...

how is your cat??????

10/31/2005 4:25:33 PM

oh yeah, i should have asked that as well...please update us!!

10/31/2005 4:49:50 PM

dammit, venomous. Fucking details!

10/31/2005 4:56:59 PM

bobis had to get a toe amputed because she smashed it...i mean SMASHED (there were bone splinters). she was a complete indoor cat at the time and we still don't know how it happened. cats are crazy


but i hope your kitty's doing better!

10/31/2005 4:58:24 PM

Quote :

"brown recluse(sp?) bite maybe?"

Brown recluse is actually pretty rare to be found in NC. Also, their bites are extremely over diagnosed. Most of the time people get a bad bite it is some basic insect bite that just gets infected from scratching and such and staph goes to town.

11/1/2005 8:49:58 AM

Update: Boo (our kitty) is doing much better. The spot is about half the size it was and it's gotta scab on it now. The hair hasn't grown back but I'm expecting it will start to soon. Thanks for the concern and advice!

[Edited on November 1, 2005 at 12:43 PM. Reason : typo]

11/1/2005 12:42:35 PM

It's winter time so spiders are moving toward warmth. We found a huge fucking brown spider (not brown recleuse) in my friends house. You know it's a big spider when you step on it, it makes a crunching sound loud enough for everyone to hear..

11/1/2005 1:32:18 PM