How to Make a Saline Solution for a Cat's Wound Care

If your cat has suffered some kind of injury that has resulted in an open wound, use a homemade saline solution to treat it. Saline solution makes a safe topical treatment for fresh-wound care. Use it by itself or in conjunction with other treatments. For instance, you might clean deep wounds with saline solution before taking a wounded cat to your local veterinarian.

  1. Cat Injuries

    • Use saline solution to clean wounds sustained in fights with other cats or in run-ins with sharp natural and manmade environmental hazards. Abrasions and scratches occur from rusty equipment or other machinery, as well as from trees, thorns and stinging pests. If you leave cuts and scrapes untreated, they may form abscesses. While cats that are allowed to live outdoors are more likely to become injured, both indoors-only and outdoors cats can develop conditions or illnesses such as mange, urinary tract infections, acne and bacterial infections.

    Saline Solution Effectiveness

    • Saline solution, or sterile sodium chloride dissolved in water, is an effective remedy that cleans and disinfects the wound. Saline solution is mild enough that it will not cause a feline to jump up suddenly due to stinging sensations, and it does not produce side effects.

    Recipe & Application

    • Saline solution is recommended for cleaning cat cuts, scrapes and abscesses. it clears such wounds of infection-causing bacteria. Create your own homemade saline solution for treatment of cat wounds by using 1/4 tsp. of table salt in 1 cup of room-temperature water, stirring until the salt is completely dissolved. Apply the solution to wounds with cotton balls or clean rags, and bathe the wound three or four times daily with the saline solution until the wound heals. Because bacteria can form in saline solution that has been sitting out, it is essential to make a new solution and use new cotton balls each time you treat the wound.

    Other Saline Solution Uses

    • Saline solution also works as treatment for cat eye infections, such as those caused by the herpes virus. Symptoms of eye infection in your cat include squinting; reddish, green, yellow or clear discharge from the eyes; swollen, red or crusty eyelids and eyes; pawing at the eyes; and cloudy irises. You can bathe cats' eyes in saline solution about four times day. Use a cotton ball or a dropper to administer the solution. You can also use saline solution to flush your cat's nose when she has a cold.