A surface graze or scrape

What this tends to look like

• Surface layer scuffed off, pink or slightly raw, with no open edges to bring together
• Little or no bleeding, or a small amount that stopped on its own
• Sometimes weeping a little clear or straw-colored fluid, which is normal
• Often on a bony point that took the contact: elbow, hip, chin, front of a hock
• Fur worn or missing over the area rather than cut through
• The animal is otherwise completely themselves

What is usually going on

A graze has not lost the structure of the skin, so it needs no closing and heals from the surface. What it needs is to be clean, dry and left alone, and the honest truth is that the third of those is the hard part. Almost every graze that goes wrong goes wrong because the animal licked it, not because it was undertreated.

It is worth being specific about what not to use, because the traditional home remedies are actively counterproductive. Hydrogen peroxide, surgical spirit and neat iodine kill the surface cells that are trying to repair, and studies in wound healing have shown them to delay closure rather than speed it. Thick ointments and human antibiotic creams keep the surface wet, which suits some wounds and does not suit a graze, and cats in particular should not have anything applied that they will then groom off and swallow.

What actually helps is dull: rinse with clean lukewarm water or sterile saline, pat properly dry, leave it open to air, and check it once a day. A clean graze on a healthy animal is usually dry within two days and closed within a week. Calendula is a reasonable, gentle thing to use on the surrounding skin if it looks tight, and we would put it in the category of comfort rather than treatment.

What people commonly use

Educational information only — not veterinary advice. Check with your vet before starting anything new.

Where to find them

Sold by third-party retailers. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

What you can do at home

• Rinse with clean lukewarm water or saline. A teaspoon of salt in a pint of boiled cooled water is fine
• Pat dry properly and leave it open to air. Air-dried grazes close faster than covered ones
• Trim the fur back around it so hair is not lying across the surface trapping moisture
• Stop the licking. A cone, a recovery suit, or a t-shirt is worth more than anything you can apply
• No hydrogen peroxide, no surgical spirit, no neat iodine, no thick human antibiotic ointment
• Look at it once a day in good light, and photograph it on day one so you have something to compare against

What progress should look like

How long to give this before you conclude it is not working.

• First 24 hoursWeeping should stop and the surface should start to dry out.
• Two to three daysDry, no longer tender to a gentle touch, redness fading at the edges.
• Five to ten daysClosed, with new skin over it. Fur takes several weeks longer to fill in.
• If it is worse on day twoSpreading redness, swelling or discharge means stop home care and get it seen.

When to stop and call your vet

• Spreading redness, heat, or swelling around the wound
• Any discharge that is not clear, or a smell
• Still not closing after ten days on a graze, which is longer than it should take
• The animal becoming lethargic or off their food