Buzz came home and I could see he had been in a cat fight as he had scratches on his nose and ear. Upon checking him over I noticed a little scab on the top of his head on the right hand side that he had also sustained. I decided to keep an eye on the head scab, incase it turned into an abscess, as sometimes they can do.
Sure enough a few days later a lump was developing underneath the scab on the top of his head, I believed it to be forming an abscess. The base of his right ear was also beginning to feel swollen to and warm to the touch, another indication. I kept checking the area regularly to see if the lump/abscess had burst; it was about the size of a chickpea. Buzz was not lying on the right side of his head and was beginning to look a little put out, due to the discomfort. The scab was flipped open and I could see there was a lot of pus sitting in the wound.

I let Buzz settle by the fire and 1 began to gently squeeze and wipe away the thick green pus from the wound. A lot came out (about 1.5mls), but Buzz was excellent and let me do this; it must have been a relief for him to have all the pressure gone. He was purring so he must have known I was helping.
I rubbed his right ear in an upward direction to try and mobilise all the pus as possible and get out as much as I could, but due to his fur getting wet with pus, and getting in the way, it was difficult to tell.
I decided to make up a Green clay poultice to put on the area and thought about adding some seaweed to amplify its drawing properties, so I made up a small amount of green clay poultice by adding tepid spring water, making it into a pasty consistency .I offered Buzz (who was still splayed out in front of the fire) clear and green seaweed, to see which one he preferred in his poultice, or indeed if he wanted anything at all!.
He sniffed the clear (essential oil) seaweed, scrunched his eyes and face up, put his tongue out then in and turned away. When I offered the green seaweed (co2) he stretched out  to come to the oil, gave  a very big, long deliberate sniff, followed by lots of tongue movement, catching the aromatic molecules in the air. He then  lay his head down, looking at the bottle of green Seaweed.
So the Green Seaweed it was. I put 5 drops into 5mls of the clay poultice;and mixed them together, then offered it to buzz to see if he wanted to lick any, he had a little sniff but did not want any orally.
I applied the poultice to the wound, Buzz remained chilled out and purring whilst I applied the mixture.
I noticed after I had applied it he lay on the right hand side of his head (the side of the wound), something he had not done since being wounded.

Buzz 10 minutes after applying the poultice		Buzz offering his head to be poulticed

I then began to bathe the poultice off with warm water and cotton wool, then  I gently trimmed some of the surrounding fur away from round the wound site to give it a chance to air better and heal, and  not to get clogged up with hair, possibly causing further irritation. I was reluctant to leave the wound as it was but didn't want to interfere with it too much so decided to put a drop of neat, green seaweed extract on the hole to help it to heal and to form a protective barrier preventing bacteria from entering. I also offered Buzz the Green Seaweed again, incase he wanted any more; he had a tiny tiny sniff and turned away.

The next day 1 checked the area and it had scabbed over with a clear fluid, not blood. The swelling round the wound was further reduced, as was the swelling at the base of his right ear. 1 offered buzz some Bladderwrack powder mixed with spring water, he sniffed it and had 4 licks from the saucer, then walked off, indicating he had had enough. The following day I checked Buzz again, and his wound looks to be healing nicely. The scab is intact and the swelling by the wound has completely gone and is much reduced down the side of his right ear.
By day four the swelling down his right ear is minimal;  by day five; no swelling anywhere. Buzz did not want any further Bladderwrack powder nor green seaweed.  I can see pink new skin where parts of the scab are coming away. The puncture hole looks like it is long gone.

9 hours after applying poultice		5 days after the fight

Conclusion
I'm over the moon that I was able to be of assistance in helping to heal buzz's abscess myself with the aid of green clay, green seaweed extract Co2 and Bladderwrack powder.The usual treatment at the vets for this is antibiotics and draining of pus, involving at least 2 trips to the vet, causing the cat further distress traveling, being in a strange place with strange smells etc. This way 1 have avoided the vet trips, but what I'm most pleased about is that Buzz did not need any antibiotics to help clear the abscess. I was totally amazed to discover, 9hrs after applying the poultice, that all the pus had gone and there was only pink clean skin visible round the puncture hole in his head. Buzz was very definitive in his choices and amounts he needed.Normally this type of wound would take 10 -12 days to heal.

Hi Caroline,

My name is Neil of Chicago, USA.

Our cat came home with a pussy wound a few weeks back, and before going to the vet, I found the Case Study from Lottie Mattess on your website about how she treated her cat, Buzz, with a poultice. We essentially repeated the same procedure on our cat, and were also greatly successful. It healed so well that object that caused the wound extracted itself a week later: a tooth from another cat! He must have been in a fight, and the other cats tooth broke off under his skin. We have yet to find the toothless culprit.

We probably saved $5-700 of vet fees, and experienced the satisfaction of healing our own pet...so your site was a very real service to us.

I just wanted to complete the feedback loop and say thanks!

Cheers,
Neil