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My cat's bitten ear smells infected. What home treatments are safe?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | American Shorthair | Male | neutered | 4 years and 8 months old | 15 lbs

My cat has a cauliflower ear and it seems he got bitten on it. It smells infected, but smells better today than yesterday. It does not appear to be swollen or forming an abcess. Is there any home treatments I can do?

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Lauren Jones VMD

Veterinarian

Published on May 22nd, 2017

Bite wounds are often worse under the surface of the skin than they appear externally. I'm glad to hear that Alfred does not appear to be forming a swollen abscess, but he probably should receive a course of antibiotics from his vet. You can try keeping the open wounds clean with an antiseptic soap (such as Betadine or Chlorhexidine), but avoid putting hydrogen peroxide on the wounds. Be sure to keep Alfred from scratching at the wound and put an e-collar on him if necessary. I hope that all goes well!

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Other Answers

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    Answered By Karly Macon, DVM, MS, CVA Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist

    Veterinarian

    Published on

    The only thing you can do at home aside from treating the ear mites (which likely started this in the first place) is to do a warm water-epsom salt compress on the ear several times daily if he'll let you do this, to prevent the ear from getting swollen and infected and turning into an aural hematoma.

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