Please help, my cat turned up today with scar on head and fur missing - she been missing for a week?

Question

For the last year I have been feeding a feral cat. She comes every day and gradually she's become friendlier (she lets me clap her but not pick her up). She is pregnant and don't think she's got long to go. My problem is that she disappeared a week ago and turned up today with a scar on her head (about an inch in size) and a line where her fur is missing. The scar is already scabbed over. It looks like someone has maybe shaved her as it's a very neat line where the fur is missing (from the scar -inbetween her ears and partly down neck). She looks abit down but she ate abit and drank lots of milk. She still looks huge so she's not given birth yet. Do you think someone did this to her? Am I best just to leave her to heal naturally? Thing is I wouldn't be able to catch her to take her to a vet as she still too wild. If I could I would get her spayed aswell. Unfortunately where I live there is no capture, sterilise and release program. What do you think?

Answer 1

Chances are good the scar is from a fight with another animal. Feral animals frequently fight other animals. As for the shaved fur, if you say it looks very neatly shaven, chances may be that someone tried to take a look at the cut. If the missing fur is incredibly neat, I doubt it's because of the same mechanism that caused the wound, but it could be.

Now, if the hair isn't growing back there's a possibility of infection in the area of the wound. That may or may not cause the hair to fall out/recede around the wound, but it probably wouldn't be incredibly "neat" looking if that was the case.

The other possibility and possibly even more likely is that the scar came when someone, kids likely, or some less than savory person, thought it might be funny to shave her. I remember one of the neighborhood kids on my block when I was young trying to do this to my neighbors cat She may have taken the wound from the razor as a person tried to shave her, while she fought to escape.

Check the wound for pus, discoloration, or a bad odor. If you find any of these things chances are good it's infected. Most likely the infection will go away, but if she gives birth while fighting off a bad infection it could cause problems with the pregnancy (Just because her body and immune system may be weakened).

If the infection is terribly bad, she will need to see a vet. 10 to 1 odds she will heal on her own just fine, but if you could capture her and get her to a vet, they could take a look at it. They have medicine to knock her out so she won't act wild while she's there. They also have sedatives (Or at least some locations do) that you can give a wild cat to keep it tame while you care for it at home. In time, it's proven, that if the cat adjusts to you while on the sedatives at home, it may actually calm down naturally, requiring reduced doses of sedative/taming agent. You could get a new pet like this. Again, some vets won't do this. Some will. I've seen it done for larger animals, but never for a cat.

If you're concerned, try to get her to the vet. You might have to trick/capture her. Otherwise, it should heal on it's own. Depending on where she is living, her kittens, or her own life may be in peril. Likely she'll find a temporary "home" while she's feeding the kittens, where she can easily find food for herself, and there is relative safety. If you can get her to hang around your house more often until she births, she might decide to stick around for a while until the kittens are old enough to take care of themselves.

That's all speculation though, I should note. I'm a cat person, but I'm certainly no cat doctor :)

Answer 2

That's so nice that you are taking care of a feral cat. I would suggest putting a carrier outside, as the previous person has suggested. I don't think it would take a lot to tame her, and you definitely want to have her spayed when the kittens are about 7-8 weeks old, as they will be almost weaned by then and on kitten food. This happened to me once, but the cat was tame( the father of her kittens brought her here) Wasn't that nice of him?? The father was also the neighbors cat, who decided he no longer wanted to live with them. So I gave him a home. Bootsie had 6 kittens and when they were 7 weeks old I took her and had her spayed. The vet said the kitties could continue to nurse from her, if she tolerated it, and she did let them for a few days , until she left them know enough was enough.. We found all of the sweet babies a home, and took DAD to be neutered and the two had a happy life together!! Good luck, it will take a little patience, but it seems like you are willing to handle it. I think also if you make her a place to have her babies she will maybe accept everything.As an afterthought, you could try Bachs Rescue Remedy, which you can get at a health food store and put a few drops on her fur between her ears, as it is absorbed and this will help to calm her.

Answer 3

1. If you could disinfect the wound with some Betadine, it would be good. If the wound is already healing, and it doesn't look infected or full of pu, it is probably going to be all right.
2. Don't give her milk. Cats are lactose intolerant and it gives them diarrhea, although they like it.
3. I am sure you can catch her if you really try. Since you go close to her enough to touch her, you could grab her and put her in the carrier. She will definitely bite and scratch you, and she will freak out, but you can do it. I am not saying you must do it, feeding her and caring is already enough. But it would be a good idea to spay and vaccinate her.
4. As for what happened to her, i don't know, I haven't seen it. Usually it happens from a cat fight, it may just look shaved, but if it is shaved indeed possibly she visits someone else like you who also cares for her and perhaps he took her to the vet. Just a wild guess, I don't know!

Answer 4

My cat came home with a scar on his tail and the fur mising around it and like you I was very worried about him. I took him to the vet and the vet said that he had just got into a fight with another cat and the fur falling out around the wound was natural and that it would grow back. Sure enough the wound healed naturally and the fur grew back and you cannot tell that anything had ever happened to him.

Answer 5

It sounds like you are doing all you can for her. If she was gone for so long it sounds like you aren't the only one looking after her. I would guess that she probably got hurt and someone took her to the vet where she was shaved and treated. If you are really concerned, put a carrier outside and put food in it to entice her in. Run a string through the back of the carrier and tie to to the door of the crate. When she comes to eat pull the string and trap her inside. Then you can take her to the vet or bring her inside to have her kittens. Just make sure to take it slow and keep her in a quiet room so she doesn't get too stressed. Good luck.

Answer 6

ummm no I dont think cause my neighbors cat they go missing for a while they come back bout to deliver kittys..... and some patches of hair are missing....so its like a pregnancy thing for cats......hope this helps....