My wife and I went on a 2 day holiday for a friend's wedding and had our neighbour look after Oscar while we were away (just feeding him really).

When we came home we were giving Oscar a cuddle and found that he had some spots of blood in his ear. Upon further inspection there was part of a cat's claw stuck inside his ear. We decided to try and get it out gently by using a saline solution and cotton pads which has worked fairly well.

My wife is still worried that he will get an infection and that we should take him to the vet. I need some advice as I have taken Oscar to the vet many times before whenever there has been a minor issue and usually there is nothing they can do about it. Should we continue to clean the wound with saline solution a couple of times a day and see how it goes, or do we need to take him to the vet right away?

I can post a picture later of his ear.

Could you call the vet to ask their advice?

So it was another cats claw?

Cleaning it with saline solution should be fine, but the moment you see signs of infection I'd take him in to the vets. Growing up I had a cat that would get into scraps and we'd usually just treat it ourselves with no problems. You have to be vigilant however, as scratches and bites from another cats/animals can abscess very easily.

Vets commonly hand out doses of ABs with very little consideration.
(that is what would be needed for an infection or abscess - an abscess being an infection trapped under the skin)
Whether or not your kitty needs ABs the vet would most likely prescribe them as a default action because there has been a cat fight and possibility of a claw/tooth infection that the vet cant rule out (so will prolly assume).

If your vet is a little more considerate and careful about AB overuse they might prescribe something topical (antiseptic) and advice you come straight back if swelling/redness and obvious infection has set in.
You may already know kitty's claws and especially mouths are HEAVY on bacteria.

I think your attentive cleaning with saline solution (and good kitty to allow you) should be enough but if you see signs the infection is NOT clearing up (this alone is not good) soon you better get it looked at by the vet.

I agree you should try calling the vet (say you dont want to take up their appointment time if no need) but if they are more money motivated than they are keen to see more important cases they might tell their nurses/receptionist to always say ''just come in'' (''bring your chequebook with you'')

Ill comment again after seeing your pics.
24hrs to see what changes you can observe will tell you more.... a simple cut should dry up and scab and settle fast (not swell or be red and sore) if not infected.

afterthought ... this fight is likely to repeat and if you dont want that there a few things you can do... like go out WITH your kitty and interact (play games, ball, wand ect) to keep him in your garden until energy is drained and ready for nap or harness and walk/roam with your kitty to keep enemy cats away from your boy or maybe just hang around outside your house (do you let him roam free and does he go far?) to deter enemy cat from coming around while your boy is out.
Also changing the time of day you allow your boy to go out is sometimes enough to avoid an encounter with a nemesis .. the cat he fights will have a family also and they most likely let him/her go out the same time daily just out of habit and routeen (or that cats own routeen if it has free roam).

No swelling/redness = no need to see vet. So long as it is clean and dry, there is no need to clean it any more (could cause more bleeding!) Keep an eye out for swelling and redness (possible infection)

Claw scratches are slightly less likely to become infected than bites as they tend to be more open and not so deep, whereas a bite injects bacteria deep into the tissues and there is inly a small entry wound which often seals the poison in.

If there is immediate swelling/pain in the ear there may be a haemotoma caused by damage to a blood vessel which would need vet attention.

Hug for Oscar,


Heather

Thanks for all of the advice guys. I will keep an eye on it and take him to the vet if it looks infected. so far it has been looking pretty good and I was unable to take photos because the actual wound is quite small, barely more than a couple of pin pricks.

We will need to try playing more outdoors with him to help scare off the other cats in the neighbourhood. We wanted to start taking him for walks again but we had an incident with a dog that put us off.