My cat's ear is scratched and swollen. What can I do before the vet?

This is probably self inflicted and due to generalized itch or inflammation infection of the ear canal. A check up would be immediately required to determine specifically underlying cause and treat appropriately. Disinfection may be started at home with very diluted hibiscrub or betadine or salted water baths. Buster collar may be useful as well to avoid any scratching. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

If Bessley is scratching at his ear, then I would recommend having your vet evaluate his ear including his ear canal. There are a few possibilities of what could be going on, but your vet will need to examine Bessley to figure out what is going on and what should be done about it. Good luck! Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Poor Beba! It could be she injured her ear, or she could be suffering from an ear infection causing her to scratch her ear a lot leading to the swelling. I would take her into a vet first thing in the morning. The vet can diagnose what is causing the swelling, and can treat her. Best of luck, I hope this helps!

Bite wounds are often worse under the surface of the skin than they appear externally. I'm glad to hear that Alfred does not appear to be forming a swollen abscess, but he probably should receive a course of antibiotics from his vet. You can try keeping the open wounds clean with an antiseptic soap (such as Betadine or Chlorhexidine), but avoid putting hydrogen peroxide on the wounds. Be sure to keep Alfred from scratching at the wound and put an e-collar on him if necessary. I hope that all goes well!

This presentation could be due to a trauma (autotraumatism) or localized spot of skin infection (likely to be caused by bacteria). A check up, appropriate disinfection and possibly antibiotics (oral, topical or in a shampoo formulation) are needed to solve the problem. Disinfection may be started at home with very diluted hibiscrub or betadine or salted water baths. Buster collar may be useful as well to avoid any scratching. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

Oreo could have a bite wound and associated abscesses causing the swelling, or have ear mite infestations and be working on aural hematomas. Aural hematomas are fluid pockets in between the ear cartilages and are very painful. When cats have ear issues they often scratch and shake their heads because it makes them itchy and painful. Oreo needs to see a vet to get her on the proper medications to make her feel better. She may need to be on a steroid like prednisolone, antibiotics, and anti-parasitic medication for ear mites, if that is going on.

Owie, it looks like your kitty has a cat bite abscess in her ear. Almost all cat bites are infected, so this is not unusual. The location is rather unusual. Maggots are gross, however in this case I think they helped clean the wound. Maggots are often used in human medicine to clean out infected wounds, so this is a tried and tested method, albeit, in your kitty's case not originally intended. This is all you can do for tonight. You did na nice job cleaning the wound and I see it is quite swollen, so now the swelling needs to go down. That might take a few days. Your vet will likely prescribe an antibiotic to keep the wound from festering again. If you have an e-collar at home, you could put that on your kitty to keep her from scratching the wound, however I suspect she will leave the wound alone anyway.