# Time for the Vet? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 20, 2012, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-the-vet/619398 "2012-04-20T11:09:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-the-vet/619398/1 "2012-04-20T11:09:17Z")
(I am back in the US for a couple of weeks.) I let the pit bull out into the backyard yesterday afternoon. Unknown to either of us, The Great Enemy, a large white cat was patrolling the area. Further, the next-door dog was out too. When I heard the excitement, I saw The Great Enemy dancing in a furball atop the dog’s nose as she was on her hind legs. All an all, a remarkable display of aerobatic skills rarely seen in seen in mammals. I ran out there and the cat bounded into the next yard, where the other dog awaited. Fair to say The Great Enemy had a great story to tell when he got home. So this morning, I pulled a cat fingernail out of the dog’s face. She is limping, but there are no breaks in the bone of her left front leg. She has a tough time with stairs. I know she is injured of course, but since there are no Limping Pills, ought we to take her to the vet? Really, what could I expect the vet to do? Your thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-the-vet/619398/2 "2012-04-20T11:10:36Z")
Let me add, she has some bite wounds on her left front elbow, for lack of a better word. No bleeding, but some tooth marks. ---
**Author:** ![brainstall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@brainstall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brainstall)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-the-vet/619398/3 "2012-04-20T11:24:13Z")
If there are bite wounds from a cat, then there is quite possibly an infection brewing. Cat teeth may not leave a large hole, but they can puncture deep and deposit all that bacteria from their mouth in the wound. I got bit by a cat and by the next morning my hand was swollen and painful and I knew it was infected. Antibiotics were definitely necessary. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-the-vet/619398/4 "2012-04-20T11:52:46Z")
Since the answers to the OP will be a mix of opinions and facts, let’s move from GQ to IMHO. **samclem** ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-the-vet/619398/5 "2012-04-20T12:18:10Z")
I thought that pet dogs were frowned upon in Saudi Arabia. ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-the-vet/619398/6 "2012-04-20T12:19:48Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > I thought that pet dogs were frowned upon in Saudi Arabia. So you didn’t read the very first sentence of the OP then? ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-the-vet/619398/7 "2012-04-20T12:21:40Z")
(I am back in the US for a couple of weeks.) ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-the-vet/619398/8 "2012-04-20T12:31:07Z")
I love cats, but their bites are deep and filthy. Puppy needs the vet, sorry! ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-the-vet/619398/9 "2012-04-20T13:28:10Z")
Bwah ha ha! My pit got nailed in the face by a neighbor cat just earlier this week. She pouted for hours over that one. Her nose got sliced up pretty good, too! Main thing would be to clean the wounds and keep 'em clean. Cat scratches are worse than bites because they dig their paws in the litterbox or dirt to bury their poo. You want to clean out the wounds with peroxide or just a soapy wet cloth and just watch for signs of infection. If it’s healing well and not infected, then I see no need for a vet. By now, the bleeding has probably stopped, but if you couldn’t get it to – that’s a trip to the vet. If there’s redness or swelling around the wounds after a few days, off to the vet. The limping I would watch for a few days. If it doesn’t get better… off to the vet. I’d probably take a carefully watchful DIY first aid approach myself. Cats are badasses. I’m surprised and impressed when I hear about a 10-pound cat whooping the ass of another animal easily 5 or 6 times its size. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-the-vet/619398/10 "2012-04-20T14:03:37Z")
Limping because of visible wounds or just limping? I guess my choice of vet or home treatment would depend on the number, depth and severity of cuts/scratches, which is hard to assess from verbal descriptions. I don’t have a yard, and my dogs are never outside without a human supervising…but as a general principle, posters on my dog boards often recommend checking the yard in person before letting the dog(s) out. Tales of cat maulings, skunk encounters, back gates left ajar, broken glass, and so on are not uncommon. On a macabre note, cat-killing appears to be an acquirable skill – one poster (who is very unhappy about it!) reports that her dog got clawed up pretty badly the first few times he caught cats that wandered into the yard, but eventually seemed to master the technique and has, over the years, caught and killed several strays without receiving any scratches at all. So I hope your dog doesn’t become a cat-killer. In our case, we have a poorly-socialized cat we brought inside when the neighbor moved away and abandoned him, and my pit bull is attracted to the excitement when he runs through the house, but she stops hard and sits on her fanny staring in awe if he so much as raises one paw casually. So he appears to have made his point. ---
**Author:** ![toofs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@toofs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toofs)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-the-vet/619398/11 "2012-04-20T15:12:48Z")
Your _pit bull_ got its ass kicked by a cat. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-the-vet/619398/12 "2012-04-20T15:25:58Z")
> [@toofs](#): > > Your _pit bull_ got its ass kicked by a cat. > > 😛 LOL! I have two pit bulls and they are both totally _owned_ by my cat. It is the natural order of things. I would take her to the vet, better safe than sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-the-vet/619398/13 "2012-04-20T16:22:53Z")
> [@toofs](#): > > Your _pit bull_ got its ass kicked by a cat. > > 😛 This particular cat has sent at least one human to the emergency room…_and_ he has a Hitler mustache. Yeah, a Kitler. But that’s nothing – one time my pit bull got her butt kicked by _an ant_. I was walking her at night and she started limping and picking up one foot. I picked her up and carried her to the streetlight to check her paw, expecting broken glass. Instead, it was a single ant biting her toe (maybe also stinging, I couldn’t see for sure). I set her back down and asked her “An _ant?_” She just looked up at me with her golden eyes. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-the-vet/619398/14 "2012-04-20T18:17:50Z")
A lot of dogs are kind of dumb about cats. A dog will chase a running cat, but if the cat stands it’s ground, the dog may just get curious and investigate. A dog’s nose is his chief investigatory tool, and a cat’s claw is her chief way of responding. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-the-vet/619398/15 "2012-04-20T18:40:00Z")
We have scrubbed her down with a variety of antiseptics and now, 24 hours after the battle, her limp is gone. The cat however is still AWOL and I hope is also recovering. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-the-vet/619398/16 "2012-04-20T19:09:43Z")
We used to have a Siamese cat who simply owned everything. We brought her into a house where a German shepherd dog already lived and she would block him from going down his own stairs. In subsequent years she terrorized a Saint Bernard and a Weimaraner. Another Saint she gave up on. The dog had such thick fur that the cat’s claws had no effect. Also she was an extremely placid dog, and when the cat would growl, hiss and spit, and generally attempt to be menacing, the dog just kind of sat there as if to say, “Yes? May I help you with something? Duhhh, guess not.” Anyway, seconding the suggestion to watch the cat scratches very carefully for all the reasons cited. ---
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-the-vet/619398/17 "2012-04-21T05:21:07Z")
With abscesses, things will often seem to be improving for a few days until the abscess gets big enough to break the surface. Watch it. ---
**Author:** ![FrillyNettles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7ea924/32.png) [@FrillyNettles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrillyNettles)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-the-vet/619398/18 "2012-04-21T13:34:26Z")
With the cat missing, my first question to you (as a veterinarian) is whether your pit is up to date on rabies vaccination? ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-the-vet/619398/19 "2012-04-22T02:08:19Z")
Neighbors report having seen a nearby cat-owner carrying The Great Enemy from the field of battle. It was not clear if she was dead or not. ---
**Author:** ![sugaree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@sugaree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugaree)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-the-vet/619398/20 "2012-04-22T14:29:38Z")
Oh, man, that’s so not a good ending. I liked the story better when the biggest casualty was your dog’s pride. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-the-vet/619398.md?page=2)