1043. The cat bit his tongue - need for thorough exam of the mouth

Two cats fought on the ledge of the 7th storey HDB flat. Both fell at 10 pm yesterday. The stray cat died. The home cat came for treatment as she has blood stained chin.

Simple case. A horizontal lacerated wound. Stitched up 3/0 nylon for chin lacerated wound. 5/0 nylon for tongue vertically lacerated wound (lower and upper area) . I advised nylon instead of dissolvable as the area was infected due to trauma and cat fight.

After the surgery, I took some pictures and saw the lice running around the face. Also tartar in the teeth of this 3 year old cat. I phoned the owner to advise dental scaling and he said OK. During scaling, the vet noted a big laceration of the tongue. The owner was phoned to give permission to stitch up. I advised 5/0 nylon and 3 simple interrupted stitches on top and 2 below the tongue surface.

Always examine the whole mouth from end to end as vet medicine springs surprises.