Cat managed to scratch my snake

I have two cats and haven't had a problem... Then again, I don't handle Noodles anywhere near the cats. I go into the bedroom to handle her and close the door after making sure the cats aren't in there. You have to be very cautious and responsible when you have a snake and cats in the same house.

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Originally Posted by blk02ssmonte

Where does one get Vetericyn?

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Petco carries it, or you can find it on Amazon if you don't need it immediately and just want to have some on-hand in case you need it.

I've used polysporn with no scales falling off. A vet recommended it to me years ago. I have been using it for my snakes ever since though that's not often.

Don't wanna put any senses of fear into anyone but cats have a LOT of bacteria in their claws. Birds can die within 24-48 hours of a small cat scratch unless they get an antibiotic shot. I know it wouldn't be as urgent with a snake but I would call your vet and see what they think about it. It won't cost you anything just to ask them their opinion. Sorry if this seems silly but with the experience of owning birds and knowing the damage a cat scratch can do I wouldn't put it to risk if my baby got caught by my cat.

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Originally Posted by SmoothScales

I had heard that using antibiotic ointments was a bad idea because it could lead to scales falling off?

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Originally Posted by nightwolfsnow

I used a very small amount of neosporin without painkiller on a q tip about every five days for a few weeks and didn't have anything like that happen. I think the scales falling off is for burns?

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Originally Posted by bcr229

Prolonged use of petroleum-based ointments can cause scales to slough off. I prefer Vetericyn for treating minor cuts, as it's a water-based gel so it won't damage the scales. It's also not goopy once it dries so stuff doesn't stick to it.

I've also used it for minor cuts and abrasions on myself and it does work. No stinging either. :D

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that's what i've read. u could use neosporin (without the pain meds) on open wounds sparsely over time. it helps prevent infection and healing. but prolonged use (b/c of it's petro ingredient) will inhibit the growth of new scales and might cause the ones around the wound to slough off. u could use it but definitely don't slather it on your snake like sun block.

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Originally Posted by SekiMoshu

Don't wanna put any senses of fear into anyone but cats have a LOT of bacteria in their claws. Birds can die within 24-48 hours of a small cat scratch unless they get an antibiotic shot. I know it wouldn't be as urgent with a snake but I would call your vet and see what they think about it. It won't cost you anything just to ask them their opinion. Sorry if this seems silly but with the experience of owning birds and knowing the damage a cat scratch can do I wouldn't put it to risk if my baby got caught by my cat.

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It's a miracle my family is still alive, not to mention the dogs. I don't buy it.

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Originally Posted by Yodawagon

It's a miracle my family is still alive, not to mention the dogs. I don't buy it.

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Dogs are usually the same size or bigger than the cat and I would hope a human is bigger than a cat. A snake or bird is a prey item that's all I'm saying. I had asked my vet about this recently since I do own a cat just as a precaution. Not that I would let it happen and the suggestion she gave to me was that it's not as urgent of a case as a bird would be but that if it ever happened to bring my snake in for a quick antibiotic to make sure no infection would become of it. Plus then the op wouldn't have to be messing around with home remedies that might hinder the growth of new healthy scales.

Cat claws and cat teeth have a lot of Bacteria If this were me I'd take my Snake to the Vet, I took some major cat nail rips in my arms , legs, Stomach and Face, within a few hours I had a fever and was throwing up went to the ER and they kindly tell me I had gotten a Real bad contamination of Bacteria, they gave me a big shot and pills for the reminder of time on the Bottle. I would want to catch that vet appt. ASAP...

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The danger from cat claws and bites is very real. I have lost a bird to a tiny wound, and know someone who got severely infected after her own cat bit her. That said, I doubt there is as much of an issue where a ball python is concerned. Considering what they eat in the wild, I imagine their immune systems are well prepared for a small wound.

If the wound is more scratch-like, I would imagine that treating it like what has been suggested would work (though, with betadine for areas away from the head I usually use a 1 part betadine 4 parts water dilution, not 1:10, and have never had a problem even on very small snakes like young garters).

If the wound is a puncture, the thing that is so worrisome isn't just that cats do tend to have a pretty high bacteria load but that the upper layers of punctures will heal before the lower ones, trapping bacteria in the wound and allowing the infection to grow where you can't get to it to treat it because the upper layers have already healed over. And you can't even tell until the infection trapped under the skin gets pretty bad.
I've had several pretty nasty injuries of that sort (not with reptiles, with myself lol) and I would have to daily re-open the surface layer of the wounds and flush them out with antibacterial stuff before re-bandaging-- I actually used my reptile first aid kit to do it! Keeping snakes comes in handy sometimes. I should have gone to the ER for those actually, but I'm stubborn.:cool:
That strategy was actually inspired by what my vet told me about a stray cat I adopted. He hadn't been neutered so he had gotten in a lot of fights and had much thicker skin than a neutered male, and had a horrible recurring infection on his neck. He told us that it had come from being punctured while fighting another cat and that the skin was so much tougher in intact males that when the surface healed over there was no way for the infection to drain out.

If you can't get to a vet, keep a super close eye on that once it heals up. Feel the area daily for any underlying swelling or hardness that might indicate an infection under the skin.