Does this need vet attention?

[Lougle]

I've just noticed a wound on my cat, on his neck. I assume he must have been fighting? Or maybe caught it on some chicken wire? Do I need to take him to the vet, or just keep it clean?

That looks nasty, I would definitely see a vet for that. Especially if it involved another cat. Our cat was wounded in a fight earlier this year, the wound got infected and she got very poorly very quickly.

I don't know how it's happened. I was just stroking him and noticed it. I don't know him to be a fighter, tbh, but something has happened to cause it.

It's hard to know. It doesn't look infected and it looks too old/scabby to be able to stitch it together at this point, unless they debride it. I imagine the vet would just clean and tell you to allow it to scab over and heal naturally, which it will eventually. I'd be inclined to clean with cotton wool and cooled boiled salt water and leave it a few days to see how it goes but to see at vet if there is any sign of infection. Can you send the photo to your vet for their comment? It should be cheaper/less stressful than carting the cat down there.

Thanks, I've contacted the vet and described it. They've said keep it clean and go to them if it shows signs of infection. It's so hard with animals - if it was me, I'd just keep it clean, but when it's my pet, it feels different!

You'll know if it gets infected as cat will get poorly quickly. Our cat had infected abscesses a couple of times. Didn't even realise he had been bitten until he suddenly got sick and we rummaged in his fur and found a wound. Antibiotics sort it out quickly if that does happen though

Bumpity bump.

I think if you can be sure it's a 'wound' rather than a 'growth' then just keeping an eye on it will be fine.

🐾 💕

I'm pretty sure it's a wound - there's a jagged edge on the outside of it, which I presume is the result of his skin tearing. It looks quite superficial to me, but I'm using human nursing eyes rather than veterinary eyes. I'm happy to watch and keep it clean for now.