Does This Look Like Someone Been Burning My Cat’s Tail To You?

Any update did you get your cat to the vet today?

Took him in and the vet said he never seen anything like this before. Said it look like someone dipped his tail in super glue which made it very hard. He also said if I could narrow down the time when this happened then I can ask my sub for camera footage and hopefully it was caught on tape. The problem is he was AWOL for two days and we only have CCTVs in the opposite ends of our streets. He also said to keep my cat indoor for the time being, just like someone here suggested.
Why kind of psycho we have now adays?

I'm so glas he's doing ok, and yes definitely keep him inside! I'm so sorry this happened to him, did they clean up his tail?

I'm surprised the vet hasn't seen a degloving injury before. The membranes dry and harden on the bone and that's what feels like superglue, and it's dark-colored too. I mean, I only have the picture to go by but I'm pretty sure that's what it is. I've seen it on farm cats, at farms where it is known for sure that nobody burned them or dipped their tail in superglue.

But anyway. What treatment did the vet recommend?

I asked him about degloving injuries and he said this isn’t it. Said the tail is pretty intact, no necrosis, skin falling off. Just the very tip is harden. His tech clipped off the end and cleaned the tail with antiseptic solution. That’s pretty much it and I’m $40 poorer but at least he won’t need surgery , which I surely can’t afford at this time.

Trust me there are truly psychotic people out there who will do torturous things to animals, i have seen pictures and videos in animal welfare campaigns that i petition to where i would love to find these people and do the exact harm to them. When i was young i always thought people were kind to animals but 15 years ago i finally opened my eyes to what psychotic humans are capable off and what they do everyday its horrific. And then there is the innocent by standers who video for evidence but are too scared to stop it. Its a scary world out there and it saddens me deeply that it gets worse. Today in Melbourne, a another uni student taught his cat a lesson for scratching him on his leg , so he told the court that he put the cat outside on the balcony, except that cat fell 45 storys to its death, this jerk walked out free with no charges. Another one is were a man bashes his dog in the head into a shower step several times in front of his daughter to the point this poor animal bled from its mouth and nose, the dog probably suffered brain hemorrhaging . There is more i can tell you, but it will be a very very very long encyclopedia because these people arent caught yet and are free among the innocent animals and humans and they keep doing it.

JohnV713 --

A couple things come to mind in looking at your pics.

(1) A couple months ago, one of my outdoor cats had a lump on his tail -- much higher up on his tail and a bit larger than on your cat. My cat wouldn't let me touch it. But, I assume he got it injured (scratched hard) in a fight. A few weeks later (3?), it was back to normal size, but the underside was thin on fur. That, too, though, has healed since.

(2) Two other outdoor cats, at different times, developed that "wick" end on their tails. I observed, and assumed, it was from chewing the ends of their tails, because of something irritating them. (Their chewing matted the fur, giving them the "wick" look.) One cat's tail looked looked very dry (cracked skin) at the end. I put a little avocado oil on it, a few times, and it healed quite nicely. The other cat, more recently, was chewing the end of her tail. I don't know what was irritating her; I didn't see fleas, etc. I only put warm water on it, a few times. (It didn't look dry, so I didn't apply oil.) It has been healing nicely on its own.

Perhaps, your cat got injured (in a fight?) and that lump (swelling) is irritating, so the cat is bitting the end of the tail, causing the "wick" look.

Just a possibility.

I just checked my cat's tail (the "recent" mentioned) and it's back to its fluffy self. The whole ordeal might have taken place over three weeks.

You did the right thing to get some medical advice but I would definitely keep the cat inside. A few blocks away from me last week someone shot a cat in the leg with a BB gun and then seemingly went over and trounced the leg and snapped the bone in two. The cat dragged itself home to the owner and was taken to the vet where it was saved at great expense.

Years ago when I rescued my first GSD from a tree to which he had been tied in the Angeles National Forest I was advised by AC themselves that it was fine with them if I just kept him at my house, as opposed to CA laws about bringing a stray to a shelter, and was warned that I should not advertise that I "found" a dog as many who are animal abusers will come back to try to finish the job if it was not done the first time.

Genesis 123 the fact that three cats you know who have access to outdoors all had the same type of tail injury makes me suspicious that you gave a sick animal abuser in your neighborhood and no animals who are left outside are safe from this sick person.
I've taken in feral adult cats and kittens and had many cats from birth or young ages to death of old age or illness. Several gave had some allergies. My Ruby is allergic to everything and had ringworm as a kitten. I've dealt with lots of fights and scuffles.

I've never had a single cat have any tail injuries, let alone that one. Cats who fight or squabble go for the face and neck not the tail

I would personally try to make all cats inside cats or call a rescue and make a police report. ASAP.

Geneses 1 2 3 -- I think inkysmom has an excellent point. Not all domestic animal abusers turn into serial killers, but many serial killers got started torturing & abusing pet animals.

Very true unfortunately. I will say that kittens and puppies when playing will pounce on anything that moves, including a lashing tail of an angry cat. But I've never seen a kitten or puppy strong enough to inflict that kind of damage on multiple cats.

I've been bitten and attacked by countless kittens and adolescent cats and dogs of all ages and sizes daily at the dog park who are either young and untrained or exuberant and poorly trained. Jumped on, scratched, hands mouthed, you name it. I get scratches and bruises but nothing to that extent. Adult cats with fur protecting them should have even less damage.

Kitten or puppy overexuberance would very quickly be socialized out of that behavior by its peers. So unless you've got some unsocialized stray giant breed ninja puppy or kitten (think St Bernard or wild cat size!), I think this is a human sociopath.

Are you sure that someone is not dipping the cats tail in some sort of acidic solution that kills the hair or sticking the cats tail in the doors ? If three cats has the same tail issues something is not right. I have had 5 cats, all 4 have gotten into fights and not one of the came back with a tail with no fur on it . When they returned they all had non-identical scratches, marks all in different parts of the body. A cat fight is so fast that they attack each other at the face, eyes , head or neck and front legs, cats use their back legs to disembowel the attacker pushing their feet forward kicking with their claws ( my cat 6.5 kg got into a fight with another 6.5kg cat and i tried to stop them, but it was like lightening the fight and ended in 7 seconds it can go longer, but when they attack again its like they hug eachother and roll around in a speedy ball . It wouldn't be long enough of a fight that another cat would sit there and chew another cats tail and the other cat will just stand there letting him chew at it. If your cat has been in a fight, you will notice in your cats fur there will be little specks of hair that fall out easily in a small tuffs of hair or looks miss placed from the rest of the fur. Also you may find the other cats claw stuck to their skin. A scratch on the cats nose, in between the ears at the top of the head or scratches on the ears and front legs and the back of the neck. Someone is doing something to your cat and other cats. A cat fight will not show identical injuries in the same location on the tail because the cat fight is so random in terms of the angle they attack each other from . A cat will not turn his back to another cat coming from behind to allow the other cat time to bite their tail.

I buried many, many cats that someone killed. I called cops, begged for help and had to rescue an entire feral colony to stop the killings. I won’t go into the details of how each was killed but you should all know they were horrific! The things I saw and found will never leave me. I was only yards away when one incident happened but without video of the event, the officers could not arrest the person. I got evidence from a vet but these days everyone expects video proof in court. The only way to keep a cat safe from humans is to keep it with you. Indoors. Even then if you have anyone in your home for repairs or any other reason, you need to be careful of leaving them alone with your pet unless you know them well. I have been told to my face that cats are only good for target practice. Treat your cats as you would a young child. The world is full of unbalanced people. It’s something that can be passed from parent to child so be wary. My worst nightmares were demonstrated here. ALL of the cats that remain with me are strictly indoor cats now. The reality is that this stuff does happen. I never thought it would happen here. It broke my heart. I’m grateful that all of the other kitties survived unharmed. I would like to prevent it from happening anywhere else so please be aware. No animal or living creature should be abused in the slightest way. Ever!

just two second ago i googled "cat kicked in the stomach" to see what symptoms it shows, then the result showed a video of a little girl in a playground stepping on a cat in its stomach, and the cat gets up and attacks the girl (good on the cat) and the stupid parents or someone who is minding her is videoing it. There are some parents, relos, friends of children who teach kids that it is ok to abuse animals. My sisters daughter think its ok to grab a wooden table tennis racket and hit cats in the head with it, and i caught her on time cause she was going to smash it on my MC in the head with it. If i didn't see that my cat would of had her head broken. Some parents will tell the kid to hit the cat and its ok, if my sister wasn't there i would have made sure her daughter will never think of doing it again to any animal. My sister like many other parents dont really care about animals and are sadistic and they teach that to their kids. Poor MC has passed now from illness so now i wont have to worry about her head being broken because of my sisters children.

Jcatbird im sorry that you had to watch these horrific things done to your cats. And i am saddened that the justice system didn't assist you and charge the SOB who did this.

Update: Cat is puttting in weight and I had to let him out. He’s been looking out the windows everyday

BTW I have some frogs that I need to relocate. Could use some help in the link below thanks

How To Rescue These Frogs?

Johnv713 said:

Update: Cat is puttting in weight and I had to let him out. He’s been looking out the windows everyday

BTW I have some frogs that I need to relocate. Could use some help in the link below thanks

How To Rescue These Frogs?

Click to expand...

Cats don't have to go outside to stay active. You just need to make time for regular play!

Also, looking out windows is a normal behavior and doesn't necessarily indicate a longing to go out. My cats love to watch birds and cars, but they don't want to join them.

Looking out the window and gaining weight aren't valid reasons to let cats to go outside. Especially when you might very well have a cat abuser in your area and you won't report it to the police and most importantly won't get pet insurance band can't afford pet vet bills.
Responsible pet owners keep their pets inside and safe from danger and find a way to pay for basic necessities and emergency vet care.
My pet insurance pays for 90 percent of everything. It's well worth the monthly fee.
Cats are safer onside. It's not at all hard to feed them less or feed them low calorie food and have them play with each other.

Well, he’s a stray. Keeping him in indoor indefinitely is kinda sad cuz he cries all the time wanting to be let out. I don’t want to but he’s used to being outdoor and do what cats do.

I'm sorry if I'm being judgmental but I've taken in several adult stray and feral cats and never let them outside and they adjusted completely fine.
They can meow all they want but I wouldnt let them outside to be hit by cars in my busy city or be tortured by sick abusive people or animals. I guess I see it as similar to parenting or having dogs or horses. You don't let small kids or even teens run around loose without supervision, you don't let dogs or horses run loose in the city or suburbs or in nonpermitted areas.
We know the dangers and pay the vet bills, the cats don't. You can give them a fun interesting environment inside and they'll adjust to it and be happy.
Cats haven't evolved to survive cars and human monsters. Your cat isn't living a natural life, he's forced to navigate a dangerous city atmosphere which he's not equipped to handle. My feral and stray cats all relaxed and could sleep and lost their constant wary watchfulness once they realized they had a safe home and werent in constant danger of being attacked.'
You wouldn't send a toddler loose in the area with a known child molester in the area.

There's other cats, there's interactive toys, there's cat grass there's catnip, cat trees, kitty condos, lots of ways to keep cats happy inside. All of that is cheaper than vet bills, or cremation expenses if this sick person kills the cat.
And abusers tend to escalate.