Cat has hole under leg, not healing.

So about a month ago my cat had a huge bump under his leg, I had no money to take him to the vet to get it checked out so I didn't. A couple days passed I saw that when he came back home (he's an outside/home cat) the bump was gone and he had a hole where I'm guessing the liquid poured out. So since then I haven't really check the hole cause I thought it would heal in a couple weeks, but a month has passed and I checked it today out of curiosity and it's still there and still the same size... My question is, will it heal? I think a month is a bit too long for it to heal... I never have any extra money to take him to the vet though. Also, everyone that will be criticizing me about how I shouldn't have gotten him if I can't take care of him, he was actually living in a much worse environment than he is now... Thanks!

It sounds like your cat had a wound that abcessed and ruptured. If it was simply going to heal on its own, it would have already. Having an open wound area is only going to put your cat at greater risk for further infection. He NEEDS to see a vet. He needs the area thoroughly cleaned and likely needs antibiotics.

Just because the outward area hasn't increased in size doesn't mean that internally there isn't some major damage.

Until you can get him to the vet, you need to keep your cat indoors only.

How much do you think it would cost?

Dab with drugstore hydrogen peroxide and keep in the house. Take to vet perhaps you could make payments to them. Sometimes if you visit vet who works with humane society or vet in a poorer neighborhood they work with you. We have one in Cleveland who works with Animal Protective League and TNR, who is very very inexpensive.

Vets can be expensive but there may be ways to pay no more than the minimum.  Do you have any shelters or rescues in the area?  If so you could call them for recommendations as to vet care, let them know that money is an issue.  You don't want to sound as if you can't afford vet care at all that can get you in trouble with groups like the ASPCA only that you need to keep costs down as much as possible.

I can't imagine that the vet would recommend anything in the way of tests but you can turn those down and just get the wound looked at and cleaned up.  Vet costs vary widely by area but the receptionist can tell you how much the office call is.  The vet clinic I go to even has their basic fees on their website.

I would think some antibiotics would not cost much!

Thanks a lot everyone! Going to call some vets tomorrow (they are all closed today) and see if I can find a good but cheap one. Again, thanks for the help.