Injured tip of ear / Follow up

Question

BagBoy   QUESTION: My 7-month-old cat, Harry, seemed to have injured the tip of one ear - it's bent
back almost 90-degrees and seems warmer than the other.  Is there something I
can do to fix it?  Splint, taping?  Would adhesive tape hurt the ear or pull out
hair?

ANSWER: Susu,

What an adorable kitty!!! Is he part maine coon, or maine coon?  He's just precious!!!

Do you know what caused his ear injury?  Is he up to date on his shots?  If he's outside, you definitely want to make sure he gets vaccinated to prevent some of the preventable illnesses from infecting him.  Luckily, an ear injury isn't life or death, as the ear is mostly cartilage, and there's minimal pain, and there's nothing major that the tip of the ear does nor is it needed by any other part of the body to function.  

I can never say for sure that you don't need to see the vet, because I can't tell you how severe it is.  Any type of cut, laceration, bite, etc, should be seen by the vet.  The vet should clean it up real well with some medicinal solutions, irrigate it, and then dress it and/or tell you how to dress it, and rx any antibx that may be needed just in case.  It would be difficult, if darn near impossible to splint a cat ear, and taping it or dressing it would only be appropriate in certain situations, which is why your vet should see it.  Is there any drainage?  Does it bleed?  Does he scratch at the ear or paw at it?  Some wounds require dressings on them, others need to be open to air to heal.  Some need to be kept dry, others need to be kept moist.  

With all that said, my guess is that it's more of a superficial wound and no dressing is needed. I'd keep an eye on it for infection, such as redness, increased drainage, purulent drainage, foul odor, red streaking down the ear or into the inside of the ear, lethargy, an ear that feels hot (not warm, but HOT--and you can tell a difference--you will know it when you feel it that it is hot!), and if your cat starts running a fever or any other obvious changes like decreased appetite, hiding, not being affectionate, not playing, etc.  These would all be things that would trigger a call to the vet.  In the meantime, I would still call your vet and let him know what happened, and let him make the decision as to whether he wants to see your cat or just observe him and see what hapens in the next few days.

Good luck!

Savannah

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------


Death to hydrangeas!   QUESTION: Harry is an indoor cat, so I have to assume that he somehow pinched or
bruised his ear himself somehow (he's a bit rambunctious).  I wanted to
answer that yes, he's a Maine Coon mix.  And here's what I did:  I cleaned the
ear tip, checked for any drainage or infection (none)... and then I had an idea!
I made a paste of corn starch and coated the very tip of the ear, curling it up
again the way it's supposed to be.  The amount of ear folding went from 90 to
45 percent in a few hours!  He didn't seem to mind and has been fine today.

Answer
Susu,

I'm so glad to hear that he's doing fine!  It really sounded like it was such a minor wound, so I wasn't too concerned, but since I can't tell you what to do since I'm not your vet nor am I a vet, I had to let you figure it out.  I'm not sure that corn starch is going to keep his ear up permanently, but it's worth a try, and corn starch shouldn't hurt him.  Keep an eye on that ear for any s/s of infection, and if you notice anything, be sure to get him into the vet immediately.

Thanks for the feedback!  Good luck.  I'm sure he'll be as good as new in no time!

Savannah