I feel so embarrassed posting this because I feel as though as his cat parent I should have done more to prevent this somehow but I would also like to hear any advice people may have since I’m not sure if this is something I should go to a physical vet about or not 🥹
For some context; my baby boy had a smaller injury on this same ear for about a year now, when he initially got it I thought maybe he acquired it from a fellow kitty getting too rough with him or maybe even a bug of sorts ? It was very sore when he first had it and I was concerned and wanting to take him to the vet since he kept itching off scabs that would form on it and I was worried it would get infected but my dad was very stubborn about it (I have no form of transport or way of getting to the vet myself). Thankfully, it did eventually heal into a little circle through his ear which my friends liked to call his little ‘piercing hole’ given the shape of it. All seemed good as it didn’t appear to give him any pain and he’s been in as good as health as ever.
However, today I’ve woken up to now see his same ear like this! I’m not quite sure what has happened (whether he has scratched it himself and caused it or he had another similar incident like when he first got the injury) but even though it’s not bleeding or anything, he seems to pull his ear away whenever it’s touched so I think it must be tender in some way 😭 I don’t know what course of action I should take; whether I just leave it like I did before, do some at-home medical work or if it would be best to take him to an in-person vet? Any advice would be appreciated 💜🥹