cat burned paw

[EKLay]

Tonight I was cooking dinner and took a pot off the burner - my adventurous kitty for some reason decided to leap onto the stove and landed with one paw square on the burner I had just cleared. No yowl, no squalling, he just jumped back off the stove. I didn’t even think he’d burned his paw at first, but tracked him down and found him in his carrier licking it.

Got some ice water in the sink and held his paws in it for several minutes before looking at it again. It’s just his left fore, and he’s got some blistering on the toe pads, but none on the heel pad. I called our cat vet who recommended wrapping the paw with aloe/non-stick gauze/vetwrap. She did not feel he needed to come in tonight, just wanted to make sure it was clean, not open anywhere, and he stayed off it as much as possible.

She knows him quite well and is very familiar with how active he is, so she also recommended that we not bring him in for pain meds, as he needs to stay off the paw for it to heal and the only way he’ll stay off the paw is if it’s a bit sore.

Other than putting aloe on it and just giving it time, is there anything else I should be doing for him? He got some extra food for dinner, which he is currently sleeping off in my lap, but if anyone has other suggestions I’d be open to hearing them! Hate seeing my poor guy gimping around like this!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152839903222788&l=b6228a68b1

[cowboymom]

Poor buddy! One of ours did that on a wood burning cookstove and had the same result on all fours…

Tincture of time-watch for infection and make short trips for him for a couple days.

[Horsegal984]

I’m sorry. But the “Let them be in pain so they’re calm” is a very very old myth.

Burns cause inflammation and that needs to be addressed. Keep them calm with confinement and sedation but don’t leave them in pain. I’m on my phone and looking up the studies will be difficult but they’re not hard to find.

[EKLay]

I am a bit torn - I feel badly that his paw hurts, but he does not respond well to sedation so I do agree with our vet that in his case, he’s probably better off being a bit ouchy than us chancing any kind of sedation. The two times he’s been sedated he’s had pretty severe reactions, so I’m not comfortable doing that unless it’s pretty serious situation.

This cat is normally akin to a terrier in a cat suit. He is leash trained and regularly goes on jogs/short hikes with us in order to burn off his excess energy or he gets destructive. Any suggestions for helping the healing along or keeping him more chill for the next few days would be lovely!

[Sobriska]

Cats lick a lot, as you know, so re-apply meds frequently. I would suggest sunburn spray. Aloe and lidocaine, but definately bandage!

I too think no pain meds is kinda mean. Burns hurt! A lot! Probably one of the worst pains. No need to sedate, but pain meds, yeah

[Horsegal984]

If you have second to third degree burns on the bottom of your foot taking two Advil is not going to make you want to run a marathon. It’s going to make life comfortable so you want to eat and sleep normally.

There is a new NSAID approved for cats called Onsior. It’s one flavor tab once a day for thee days. At the very least I would use that and some SSD ointment under the bandage.

[tikihorse2]

I agree about not allowing the poor cat to be in pain. There’s a difference between sedating a cat and giving it an analgesic-type pain killer. Even if you use an opioid or something similar, you don’t have to knock the cat out.

Kim

[Drive_NJ]

Those blisters are going to open up

you will need to keep the paw bandaged to keep it clean and hopefully prevent infection

get some silversulfadiazine - it is a burn cream that also prevents infection (the silver part)

we re-habbed a horse who survived a barn fire and this was what our vet used for us

I got big tubs from the pharmacy and they had to order the size we needed

when we were almost done I found it thru I found it from online supplies
but google says that walmart has it???

[Horsegal984]

Also, because even knowing better I had a seriously blonde moment.

IF YOU ARE ALLERGIC TO SULFA DRUGS YOU ARE ALLERGIC TO SILVERSULFADIAZINE (SSD).

Do not stupidly smear it all over your sunburned self because its good for burns.

[EKLay]

He’s sporting a heavy coat of aloe, non-stick gauze pad, and vetwrap at the moment, so everything is clean and protected. I’ll definitely talk to the vet about the silver sulfadiazine vs the aloe, thank you for that suggestion!

I guess I should have been more clear about what I meant by “ouchy”. He’s still moving around well, jumping on things, roughhousing with the other cat & dog, etc, but will take a short step about every 7th or 8th step. He’s definitely less sore now than he was when he first burned the paw and seems more irritated by the wrap than the actual burn.

The vet office is going to call in the morning to check on him and I can always take him in before work if necessary. Not to worry, I won’t withhold pain meds from him if he really needs them, but if he’s only borderline ouchy and that little bit will keep him from tearing around like a fiend while his paw heals a bit - I’m just trying to balance the two.

[macmtn]

One of ours jumped up on the woodstove and cooked all four paws when we were not looking. The vet had us soak her paws in cool water 4 or 5 x a day (we stuck her in the kitchen sink) and let her do the debriding herself. We had her on antibiotics to stave off infection. She healed up fine but was ouchy for a long time.
and yes the woodstoves now both have cage covers…we don’t wan’t no mo burned pussytoes

[Cashela]

I can’t imagine how badly that hurts. Animals are stoic to survive. Burns are terrible. I would see if you can use silvadine (sp) on it and get some. It works amazing on burns.