08/12/2026
*Graphic photos*
Who knew ear mites could do such damage?!
This unaltered male feral cat was posted on Humboldt Lost Paws Cause on Monday with a lot of community members concerned about his head wound. A local volunteer trapper saw it in time and stepped in to assist in trapping.
The wound in question was behind one of his ears, a large laceration that would have made anyone's skin crawl just looking at it. It seemed to have been a wound that kept trying to heal, but was continuously being irritated and instead of healing, kept opening up more. From certain angles, it almost looked like his ear was about to fall off!
Once sedated, we realized he had a terrible infestation of ear mites and that his wound was sadly self inflicted. Who knows how long he had been dealing with those creepy crawlies but we fully flushed them out and gave his ears a good deep clean!
The laceration behind his ear was also fully cleaned out of any debris and dead skin that prevented it from healing, and he was sutured up. With the root of the problem, the ear mites, being treated he won't be manically itching at his ear so the area should be able to fully heal. This tough guy was then neutered, given a rabies vaccine, and ready to get back out there. He had plenty of other battle scars from fights, including his good ear looking pretty mangled. Luckily now that he is neutered, his fighting days are almost all but over.
The volunteer trapper who brought him in was kind enough to host the feral cat after surgery. She said after just one day he is already looking better and the wound is almost unrecognizable now.
We are so grateful to the amazing community that comes together in times like this! Treating animals like this feral cat is only possible thanks to donations towards our Feral Fund. If you'd like to contribute to cats in situations like this, please consider making a tax deductible donation below:
https://www.spayhumboldt.org/donate
