Cat paw swollen after constriction by hair tie

Hello everyone,

A cat of mine is recovering at my partners house from a neck wound and it's been a challenge to keep him from scratching his wounds. I initially bought him some rubber no-scratch mits to use on his paws to try to keep him from scratching the area, but couldn't get them to stay on. So I found some baby mittens that I then foolishly tried to attach to him via a hair tie. They were very gentle grip with a large surface area, and I could wear it on my arm all the way up to my shoulder without significant constriction despite their original size being roughly the size of a quarter.

Roughly 24 hours later when I was next able to check on him I discover that it was too tight and his paw is now swollen and urgently take the mitten and hair tie off. I very gently massaged the paw for a short while to try to encourage circulation. He is barely able to put any weight on it at that time.

It has now been 8 hours since I restored circulation but the paw is still rather swollen, and the skin is purple-ish pink. I do not have a great reference for his normal skin color. He still avoids pressure on the foot but can stand on it. I think the paw is a bit warmer to the touch than the rest of him, but it's tough to evaluate because he has been laying on that side / paw trapping the heat.

Photos at the below link:

https://imgur.com/a/I0tKxhr

• Blue dot is photos of normal paw

• Red dot is photos of swollen paw now

• Purple dot is photos of swollen paw at time of hair tie removal

I'm still just panicking a bit and trying to figure out if I need to take him to an emergency vet. Any insights as to next steps / things to look out for / if an emergency vet is needed would be greatly appreciated.