Hi All!
TLDR: Unneutered male cat has been seen fighting and routinely shows up with face scratches. I got him an appointment to be neutered and they said he can't have mange. After google told me mange usually starts on the head I'm now wondering if he has mange instead of fresh fighting wounds. Any advice would be appreciated!
Long Version: I have been feeding a stray for several months now. He is tentatively named Khan. He is unneutered - I have an appointment for him at the end of the month to get that taken care of.
When he first came around he was definitely the 'mean' neighborhood cat - I feed 2 other strays (a TNR female and another unneutered male - I think I need to take care of Khan's neutering first as he is fighting other cats.) The other strays were terrified of him.
However, he is incredibly skinny and I think he's just hungry. Even though it's been several months of feeding him (TWO 6oz cans/day - which is more than the other strays get (he's so skinny!!) he's still extremely skinny. Anyway, since I've been feeding him, he's gone from being scared to be in the courtyard with me (enclosed wooden fence on 2 sides - although easy to jump over or run under in some spots) to giving me my first leg rub earlier this week and letting me pet him while he lies down. It's been a great progression.
The other strays have learned to tolerate him somewhat and I've had a handful of days where I've been able to feed all 3 at the same time without any fighting (woo!)
The point is, I scheduled this appointment for him to be neutered and they said he can't have mange. I don't know how to tell if his head wounds are from mange or from fighting. I've attached a picture. These head wounds are nearly constant - as soon as one is close to healing he gets another one. Earlier this week one of them was particularly deep. While he tolerates me petting him and being close he's still very skittish. I, frankly, don't trust him to not bite me if I try to treat his wounds. So - any advice - mange? Wounds from cat fights?
I think he really can be a sweet cat and once he's neutered I think that will help. He does spray and I think he would not tolerate being adopted, I think he truly is a stray/feral mix.
Thanks for any advice you might have!
TLDR: Unneutered male cat has been seen fighting and routinely shows up with face scratches. I got him an appointment to be neutered and they said he can't have mange. After google told me mange usually starts on the head I'm now wondering if he has mange instead of fresh fighting wounds. Any advice would be appreciated!
Long Version: I have been feeding a stray for several months now. He is tentatively named Khan. He is unneutered - I have an appointment for him at the end of the month to get that taken care of.
When he first came around he was definitely the 'mean' neighborhood cat - I feed 2 other strays (a TNR female and another unneutered male - I think I need to take care of Khan's neutering first as he is fighting other cats.) The other strays were terrified of him.
However, he is incredibly skinny and I think he's just hungry. Even though it's been several months of feeding him (TWO 6oz cans/day - which is more than the other strays get (he's so skinny!!) he's still extremely skinny. Anyway, since I've been feeding him, he's gone from being scared to be in the courtyard with me (enclosed wooden fence on 2 sides - although easy to jump over or run under in some spots) to giving me my first leg rub earlier this week and letting me pet him while he lies down. It's been a great progression.
The other strays have learned to tolerate him somewhat and I've had a handful of days where I've been able to feed all 3 at the same time without any fighting (woo!)
The point is, I scheduled this appointment for him to be neutered and they said he can't have mange. I don't know how to tell if his head wounds are from mange or from fighting. I've attached a picture. These head wounds are nearly constant - as soon as one is close to healing he gets another one. Earlier this week one of them was particularly deep. While he tolerates me petting him and being close he's still very skittish. I, frankly, don't trust him to not bite me if I try to treat his wounds. So - any advice - mange? Wounds from cat fights?
I think he really can be a sweet cat and once he's neutered I think that will help. He does spray and I think he would not tolerate being adopted, I think he truly is a stray/feral mix.
Thanks for any advice you might have!
