Cats will jump around like they are invincible, but the reality is that they can get hurt easily. This is true, especially for the outdoor cats. They may get cuts from fighting with other cats, dogs, or any other pet in your neighborhood. Cats have the habit of squeezing through tight places but this is where they can get wounded by sharp objects. When your cat is injured, they can get agitated when touched. They can bite or scratch you when you touch the wound. For proper and peaceful cohabiting, you need to treat the wound. Handling the wounds effectively depends upon the understanding cat wound healing stages and the capacity to tell these stages within an injury.

Cat wound healing stages
Almost all the types of cat wounds undergo a similar healing process.

Inflammation
This is the first stage the journey to healing cat wounds. During this phase, the blood vessels will narrow which controls bleeding. After a few minutes they will enlarge which causes swelling of the wounded part.

Debridement
This is the second stage where foreign materials in the wound are removed. It can be small rock particles, fur which could have been forced into the wound in case of injuries inflicted by sharp objects, and many more. The process occurs naturally where white blood cells will attack bacteria and other materials. The process can be carried out by a vet where they refer to it as cleansing.

In case there is an infection on the wound, a tissue sample will be collected for culture. The visible and microscopic materials can be washed through a process called lavage. This will lower the risks of getting infected. The next steps is to apply a solution to protect the injured tissue while maintain a healthy environment. We recommend Vet Aid’s Animal Wound Care Spray if the injury is a wound. If the injury is a rash or the skin looks red and irritated, then use Vet Aid’s Animal Wound Care Foam.

Repair or granulation phase
This is the third stage where the cells start to grow and rebuild the lost and damaged tissues. Development of small blood vessels will begin to facilitate the supply of blood to the wound. There will be a migration of skin cells to form covering on the wound. For a properly closed wound, this skin will cover within a very short time. If the wound is more open, it takes longer.

Each wound should be assessed individually to tell whether it should be closed or manage it as an open one. If there are high chances of infection, the wound should never be left open. To close the wound, surgical glue, sutures or staples can be used.

Maturation
This is the last stage of cat wound healing where the freshly laid collagen fibers rearrange. The strength of the wound will increase with time. The wounds that have been left open are managed through bandaging using products like Vet Aid’s Animal Wound Care products and debridement where the dressing is supposed to be often changed. As time goes by, dry and nonstick bandages are applied.

Conclusion
Recognizing every stage of the cat wound healing is essential because the management of the wound is conditioned by the phase of the wound. The timeframe of each phase depends on an individual wound, contamination level, level of ischemia and the extent of soft tissue damage. The stages may overlap with time. The health of your cat will determine how fast it heals.