As youi may remember , back in July I adopted a sweet male cat named Charli, who had been rescued 5 months earlier from an abandoned burning house. His back and shoulders are covered with horrid , hairless pink scars, which will never grow hair again. He seems to like for me to gently rub and scratch the biggest of these scars , about 2" wide and almost 6" long , just to the left of his spine, and today , I was putting hand lotion on, when he jumped onto my lap.
I put a tiny bit of hand lotion on the scar , and he acted like it was just the BEST thing that had ever happened to him , closing his eyes and purring SO loudly. My question: Is there anything in the hand lotion that might harm him if he licks it? Is there something else I could put on the scar? I have thankfully never had a burn scar , could this still be paining him? Any input is greatfully accepted.
IANA Vet, but from my own experience with minor burns is that they sometimes itch like mad and this may be what the kitty is feeling. Bottom line is that if he likes it, indulge yourselves. I’d check with a Vet to get a lotion which will soothe the burn site without ingestion dangers.
I’m not a vet either. I do know, however, that petroleum jelly is pretty much harmless to ingest, and might even help with hairballs. You might also rub a bit of olive oil or other vegetable oil onto that scar, which would help relieve the itch and be edible. Use a light touch, though, or your whole house could be covered in oil. I know that there’s hairball remedies on the market which are sort of oily, but they’re supposed to be appealing to cats, and I can’t imagine that a scar would be improved by a cat’s tongue licking it constantly.
From my own cosmetic-making days, I know it is possible and even easy to make a perfectly edible, even healthy lotion. Mix oil, water, a foodemulgator, and a food preservative, and there you go. You might even mix in some arnica or aloe-veraextract, both great for burned skin and also edible.
IANAV, either. I do have some experience with scar tissue, however.
I agree with the “indulge yourselves”, but I suggest vitamin E oil instead of lotion or Vaseline[sup]TM[/sup]. Since he enjoys the activity, you can rub until it’s absorbed, and it has the added benefit of softening the scar tissue even better, in my experience, than lotion or other options.
BTW, I believe that any of the lotions that are “no animal testing” are made of ingredients that should be safe for him to ingest, although they don’t necessarily absorb as well as the E oil. It vanishes into the scar tissue on my hands in a few minutes without rubbing. If I rub, it’s gone almost immediately, leaving the surface just a tad bit shinier than it was.
Getting lotsa suggestions, aren’t you. Well, we all feel for Charlie, and wish you both the very best.
Thanks guys ! I will certainly give your suggestions a try. Charlie is the sweetest cat I have ever known, he seems to know that his previous life on the streets, living thru that fire are behind him. I have never known a cat that is so grateful for everything.
Having had no major scarring myself ever, will his scars continue to itch throughout his life? I will do anything I can t keep my Charlie Cat comfy ! (Yeah… I am a wee bit fond of him , why do you ask? )
Surgical incisions itched like heck for ~ a year, but didn’t bother me too much after that. Lacking personal experience, I can’t intelligently comment on 3rd degree large area burns.
A nice and easy way to get vitamine E-oil is to buy a jar of those gelatin capsules with oil in them, meant to ingest. Squeeze them, and out comes just enough oil to rub Charlie’s ear with.
My cat Ichabod also has burn scars, deliberately inflicted by some horrible beast of a person.
Anyway, I don’t think her scars itch. I think they are a little numb, so kinda skritching around them feels good to her. My husband has a burn scar on his foot that he finds himself scratching at because it’s a little funny feeling.
I was going to add that isn’t poinsettia poisonous to cats if they eat it? In your picture the cat is sleeping next to it, so don’t let him eat it. Can any dopers confirm this?
LOL … yeah , I think it is… but that is an artificial plant in the picture ! I was just getting the decorations out and had it laying on the loveseat. It has been in the house for about 5 years. Pretty good knock-off, huh?
Again , thanks for the info, I have some of the vitamin E gels that I give the dogs for their coats , so I will try that on Charlie !
Arnica is great topically but posionous to humans internally (unless it’s homeopathic). Aloe is, for humans anyway, a decent laxative and tastes like ass, but I don’t know what cats think of it.
What a clever idea! Although, come to think of it, someone else I suggested vitamin E oil to a long while ago had the same thought, and said it worked well for him/her (don’t recall which). Given it’s expensive, I try to use no more than needed. The amount present in the liquid form is adequate for my needs; a capsule holds quite a bit more - volume and concentration - than I need. My scars aren’t as big or thick as poor Charlie’s.
As for itching, etc., mine are from something like eczema, and they itch horribly at times. That’s one reason why I use the E. Surgical scars eventually stop itching, even big ones (voice of experience), usually in a year or so. Scars from other kinds of damage, regardless of the cause, often have weirdness for years. I had a 3rd degree burn on my wrist (from a faulty electrical cord) that was about the size of a pencil eraser. The scar from that eventually disappeared, but it took at least 15 years, and happened gradually, over time. In general, the bigger/thicker the scar, the longer it lasts. Really thick scars often have either strange sensations or none, like jsgoddess reports.
tygerbright, I got the idea of the capsules from a beautybook. It was raving about the benefits of applying vitamin E-oil to the face. Great for the skin, etc. One capsule, said the book, was enough for one facial treatment. The only drawback to Vitamin-e was how rapidly it oxidizes and detoriates when in contact with air, hence the capsules.
So you are right that one capsule is a bit much for a kitty’s ear, but the rest can be applied to one’s own skin.
I’m with the folks that recommended vitamin E capsules, I use them myself whenever I burn myself while cooking (which is quite often, I’m afraid) Also, olive oil can be very soothing. It cures my dry cracked hands and it won’t harm little Charlie if he licks it.
Looks like Charlie’s going to be growing a nice, shiney coat of hair!
I’d check with a Vet to get a lotion which will soothe the burn site without ingestion dangers.
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