Crusty cat

There is a new member in my feral colony. He is an orange tabby with quite a problem. I will be catching him soon, but I thought you guys might be able to help me in the meantime. He has some sort of skin lesion. It looks crusty and verrucoid and covers his left ear. It makes the fur on his face look wavy and seems to obscure his eyes. The condition also extends to the back of his neck. I know it is hard to figure out without seeing him, but if this sounds like anything anyone has seen before, I would appreciate all the help I can get before I trap him. Thanks.

Oh my goodness! This is eerie, there's a feral orange tabby in my neighborhood with a lesion on the left side of his neck as well! I love cats, but this guy likes to come into my backyard and fight with my outdoor cat, Pearl.

I love my little Pearl and would bring her in, but I already have 2 indoor cats. I rescued Pearl 4 years ago when she was a weeks-old kitten, along with her brothers, sisters and mother. They were running around on a busy street and I brought them home. Pearl is the only one of the 6 cats that I kept.

I know outdoor cats don't have very long lifespans, but I don't want this mean orange cat to cut Pearl's life even shorter! I assume the injuries on that cat's neck are from fighting with other neighborhood cats. (I hear them fighting almost every night). I can't seem to ever get close enough to see his injury before he runs away.

Anyway, when I read your post, I had to look at your profile to see if you were one of my neighbors, but you're on the other side of the country!

With a feral it could be anything. It could be ringworm or some sort of alopecia. The only way for you to tell will be to catch him and have the vet do a skin scraping. Hopefully you can keep him long enough to treat him.

Thanks everyone for your responses. My first responsibility is to catch the pregnant feral, and then Crusty will be next. I will keep you all posted.