I'm not sure I understand the question - are you asking whether it's plausible someone would take such measures for a cat, i.e., treating it like a person? I'm hesitant to jump in because others probably know way more than me, but I can at least say that in that period, animal experiments - with a view to transferring knowledge to people - were certainly done, including stitching up wounds, so it wouldn't be outside the realm of possibility that a cat would be treated like a person.
Guess I wasn't quite clear - for the person in question in this situation, by this time in the fic I'm certain that he will want to do whatever he can for the cat. The cat is viewed by him to be at the least a valued member of the crew (and actually as a friend, though he'll not admit that at this time), and in this particular instance, the wound was gained because the cat was attacking someone who intended to try and kill the captain.
In one of the articles I found online there was a slight mention about animal experiments, to gain knowledge and such, but it didn't indicate to me in that particular article that they were looking for ways to help injured animals, and what could/would be done at the time. The article seemed to indicate it was more for human benefit. It was also aggravatingly short and very general. That's been the most frustrating part of the search, finding something that almost gives me enough information, but not quite enough to say yes, this could be done with what the ship will have on hand and the people on
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Yeah, I don't know about care specifically designed for animals, but yes, they'd have done experiments - including stitching - on animals for the purpose of helping humans (usually, without any sort of anesthesia, though!!) So, it wouldn't be outlandish for it to occur to someone to stitch up a cat. And what I'm thinking of for my reference, incidentally, is a book called The Knife Man, about a doctor who heavily influenced modern surgery and lived in the 1700s.
I am in NO way an expert, but wouldn't the sugar content in rum be bad for a cut? As in, make it more likely to get infected. If you're going to pour something on it, I'd go with Burbon.
Alcohol is VERY toxic to cats. A small amount would kill the cat, not make it drunk and docile; better to wrap the cat up tight in a shirt or something and pin it down. Most cats wouldn't drink rum anyway if offered.
If the ship has a doctor, they'd probably have rubbing alcohol for disinfecting wounds, which would be better than rum (although I am not sure whether absorbing alcohol through the skin would also be bad for the cat).
Thank you, that's something I was trying to get pinned down. My first thought had been to have the cat wrapped up so that the stitching could be done, but the cat lover in me was wanting to ease the pain as much as possible for the cat, so I was trying to use an alternate method. Since I want the cat to survive, it sounds like if I keep the stitches route, I'll need to go with having the cat held down. Thank you! :)
I'm also going to try and hunt down the book mentioned by giandujakiss, it sounds like it just might be exactly what I've been hunting for.
Yeah, anaesthetic for critters probably isn't plausible (laudanum was common for humans--honestly, being drunk is a LOUSY anaesthetic anyway--but I wouldn't be at all surprised if laudanum is also toxic to cats. Lots of things are).
it sounds like if I keep the stitches route, I'll need to go with having the cat held down.
Yeah, and given the trouble I have holding uninjured cats down for nail trimming...man, I would NOT want to try to stitch one.
Yeah, and given the trouble I have holding uninjured cats down for nail trimming...man, I would NOT want to try to stitch one.
Exactly the reason I was trying to find a plausible way of having the cat be "calm" enough to be stitched up - if there was one - without killing the cat in the process. I've tried giving a cat a bath before - one time nearly losing a goodly portion of the skin on my left arm was enough to cure me of that! I won't dare try to trim nails with a clipper, and using a vet suggested method of a nail file ended up with the cat thinking the file was something to be chewed on, and me with an interesting scratch pattern on my thigh.
I'd briefly considered laudanum, but dismissed that early on because I was concerned it would prove to be toxic to cats. I'm definitely going to go with a lesser cut that doesn't need stitches.
The scenario I would like to use is to have rum poured on the wound to cleanse the area and/or numb it
Have you ever poured alcohol on a cut? It would send the cat right up the mast.
Also, this was before the concept of disinfecting wounds was even thought of. Joseph Lister discovered antisepsis, and he wasn't even born until 1827. They might stitch it up without any kind of cleaning at all. Or wipe it down just so they could see better. But they wouldn't be thinking of "cleaning" the wound. This was still back in the days when doctors looked for "laudable pus" as a sign of healing.
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In one of the articles I found online there was a slight mention about animal experiments, to gain knowledge and such, but it didn't indicate to me in that particular article that they were looking for ways to help injured animals, and what could/would be done at the time. The article seemed to indicate it was more for human benefit. It was also aggravatingly short and very general. That's been the most frustrating part of the search, finding something that almost gives me enough information, but not quite enough to say yes, this could be done with what the ship will have on hand and the people on ( ... )
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If the ship has a doctor, they'd probably have rubbing alcohol for disinfecting wounds, which would be better than rum (although I am not sure whether absorbing alcohol through the skin would also be bad for the cat).
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I'm also going to try and hunt down the book mentioned by giandujakiss, it sounds like it just might be exactly what I've been hunting for.
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it sounds like if I keep the stitches route, I'll need to go with having the cat held down.
Yeah, and given the trouble I have holding uninjured cats down for nail trimming...man, I would NOT want to try to stitch one.
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Exactly the reason I was trying to find a plausible way of having the cat be "calm" enough to be stitched up - if there was one - without killing the cat in the process. I've tried giving a cat a bath before - one time nearly losing a goodly portion of the skin on my left arm was enough to cure me of that! I won't dare try to trim nails with a clipper, and using a vet suggested method of a nail file ended up with the cat thinking the file was something to be chewed on, and me with an interesting scratch pattern on my thigh.
I'd briefly considered laudanum, but dismissed that early on because I was concerned it would prove to be toxic to cats. I'm definitely going to go with a lesser cut that doesn't need stitches.
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Numbness is not the effect of alcohol applied to wounds. The effect would be pain.
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Have you ever poured alcohol on a cut? It would send the cat right up the mast.
Also, this was before the concept of disinfecting wounds was even thought of. Joseph Lister discovered antisepsis, and he wasn't even born until 1827. They might stitch it up without any kind of cleaning at all. Or wipe it down just so they could see better. But they wouldn't be thinking of "cleaning" the wound. This was still back in the days when doctors looked for "laudable pus" as a sign of healing.
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