Stray/Abandoned/Lost cat wandered into apartment; found fresh wound behind ear

Question

Last Saturday a cat walked into my apartment and wouldn't leave. He was clean, seemed well fed, and had a collar on, so I assumed he belonged to someone in my complex. I took him to the vet and he is not microchipped, posted him on several lost pet boards in the area, etc. I am still actively trying to find his owners and holding onto him in the meantime. He has not left my apartment or been around any other animals since last Saturday; when he first came in, there were no visible scars/wounds/etc. on his body that I caught. He just hopped up on my bed and I saw this wound behind his ear:

He does not seem to be in pain and is not acting strange. The only vet in my area only has an open appointment next Monday (which I scheduled). I do not know any of his history.

Is this a bad wound? What should I do? Can I clean it - if so, how?

This is my first time having anything like this happen to an animal around me, so I'm sorry for being clueless. Thank you for any assistance.

Answer 1

This wound doesn't look bad at all and you can probably cancel the vet appointment if it doesn't get worse.

Looking closely, you can see some dry scab below the ear that is almost skin color. That's probably why you didn't notice it at first. Skin color means that the wound didn't bleed when it scabbed over.

Just like in humans, healing wounds itch and the cat probably scratched himself. By doing so he might have pulled off a piece of scab which caused the minor bleeding. Nothing to worry about.

If you notice that he scratches himself very often around the ear or that he loses hair in that area, he might have something in his ear like mites, dirt or excess ear wax. That is something that should be checked by a vet.

Otherwise he looks very healthy and well cared-for.

Answer 2

The wound does not look bad so the vet will probably not do anything about it, except cleaning it and looking for signs of an infection.

The cat does obviously have an owner somewhere missing the cat; I hope you will find the owner soon, it is a terrible feeling when one's cat is missing.

To find the owner, you need to use the local shops to hang pictures and notes about the cat you have found; put a note at the vet, too.

If the cat wants to go outside, you need to let it go; it is highly likely it will walk home on its own.