Sorry for long post in advance
My cat had surgery earlier in the week to treat an abscess under his ear/chin area. While I have 4 indoor cats with all their claws, I don't think a claw/bite from another cat caused the initial wound. About 2 weeks ago, he was scratching his ear, and I noticed a small scab under it. I removed the small bit of matted hair (he is a Maine Coon), and cleaned what little I could see of the "wound".
Fast forward to Sunday night. He's really scratching under the left ear. I check it out and there is now a cut, and what feels dry, rough skin in the area. And, he's acting a little weird - aloof, and not the dog-like like a MC should be. I clean the area. Monday morning, the ear is abscessed (big). He goes straight to vet. They operate, remove/drain the abscess and some "dead skin" in the area. he's home with drain, staples and collar.
I'm feeling good that all is taken care of, when I notice this morning he's scratching at the other ear - or at least trying to under the soft collar. When I check the ear, there is a similar wound/irritation to the one that I saw two weeks ago on other ear. He's going to the vet later today to get the drain removed, but I thought I'd check out the forum to see if anyone has seen anything like this before. I'm pretty sure the bigger cut and abscess is from his own scratching, but I'm concerned that the initial wound is not just from a swipe from one of my other cats.
Thanks in advance for your time
Strange Under Ear Irritations
Re: Strange Under Ear Irritations
How can you be certain he wasn't scratched or bitten by one of the other cats? Even in play-fighting, sometimes cats can scratch or bite hard enough to cause an open wound (which can oftentimes turn into an abscess).
Just to make sure, are all your cats vaccinated appropriately, and up-to-date on their vaccinations?
Likewise, if he continued to scratch the initial wound (left ear), he could have introduced bacteria into the cut making it abscess. Although cats are impeccable groomers, their claws usually contain dirt, kittylitter, etc that can certainly introduce bacteria into a wound via scratching.
As for the second area on the right ear, it's possible this too was another initial wound, and was not noticed until now. Your vet can clean the area and if he hasn't already prescribed antibiotics, can do so, to help keep that other area from abscessing. If kitty is already on oral antibiotics, either given by the vet or prescribed after the incident this week, then ask if he can give an injection of Convenia (a long-lasting antibiotic, given by the vet, via injection - and probably ceasing any oral antibiotics already prescribed, you don't want an overload of antibiotic use).
As for keeping the wound clean at home, use only a cotton ball slightly soaked in a solution you can ask from your vet. Do NOT use hydrogen peroxide on any wounds, not only is it ineffective, but can actually delay tissue healing. Ask the vet for a small vial of surgical scrub you can slightly dilute at home and soak a cotton ball with it to gently dab at the wound(s) twice a day to keep clean.
On another note, if the vet gave you a plastic elizabethan collar to use for kitty at home, ask if he has a Trimline soft ecollar instead. The soft collars are much more comfortable for cats, and don't rub on the skin as much as the hard plastic ones. If he doesn't have soft e-collars, you can order Trimline collars online, like at Amazon. For a Maine Coon, I would suggest getting a medium or large (cat or small dog size), one of each so you know you will have one that fits correctly.
Do you normally keep a collar on your cats? Some cats are allergic to materials used in cat collars, so if you in fact keep a collar on normally, I would take it off, or consider a different type material collar.
Lastly, keep a very close eagle eye on both areas of the ears, once a wound has been sutured or stapled, the last thing you want is to not keep it clean and free from dirty debris, or to have that wound open up again. Same for the other side. Keep it clean, watch it closely, and injectable Convenia used by your vet should help considerably. Keep an eye on his behavior, appetite, etc - abscesses usually cause the cat to be painful, feverish, anorexic, and of course, bacteria sets in quickly, demanding immediate treatment.
Let us know how the vet visit goes.
Just to make sure, are all your cats vaccinated appropriately, and up-to-date on their vaccinations?
Likewise, if he continued to scratch the initial wound (left ear), he could have introduced bacteria into the cut making it abscess. Although cats are impeccable groomers, their claws usually contain dirt, kittylitter, etc that can certainly introduce bacteria into a wound via scratching.
As for the second area on the right ear, it's possible this too was another initial wound, and was not noticed until now. Your vet can clean the area and if he hasn't already prescribed antibiotics, can do so, to help keep that other area from abscessing. If kitty is already on oral antibiotics, either given by the vet or prescribed after the incident this week, then ask if he can give an injection of Convenia (a long-lasting antibiotic, given by the vet, via injection - and probably ceasing any oral antibiotics already prescribed, you don't want an overload of antibiotic use).
As for keeping the wound clean at home, use only a cotton ball slightly soaked in a solution you can ask from your vet. Do NOT use hydrogen peroxide on any wounds, not only is it ineffective, but can actually delay tissue healing. Ask the vet for a small vial of surgical scrub you can slightly dilute at home and soak a cotton ball with it to gently dab at the wound(s) twice a day to keep clean.
On another note, if the vet gave you a plastic elizabethan collar to use for kitty at home, ask if he has a Trimline soft ecollar instead. The soft collars are much more comfortable for cats, and don't rub on the skin as much as the hard plastic ones. If he doesn't have soft e-collars, you can order Trimline collars online, like at Amazon. For a Maine Coon, I would suggest getting a medium or large (cat or small dog size), one of each so you know you will have one that fits correctly.
Do you normally keep a collar on your cats? Some cats are allergic to materials used in cat collars, so if you in fact keep a collar on normally, I would take it off, or consider a different type material collar.
Lastly, keep a very close eagle eye on both areas of the ears, once a wound has been sutured or stapled, the last thing you want is to not keep it clean and free from dirty debris, or to have that wound open up again. Same for the other side. Keep it clean, watch it closely, and injectable Convenia used by your vet should help considerably. Keep an eye on his behavior, appetite, etc - abscesses usually cause the cat to be painful, feverish, anorexic, and of course, bacteria sets in quickly, demanding immediate treatment.
Let us know how the vet visit goes.
..........Traci