tip of the tail is bald

So a few days ago we managed to tame and bring to our home a black tom cat. and I noticed that the fur at the tip of his tail was very matted...he is extremely calm and tame so im guessing hes an abandoned house pet, Anyways i was trying to wash it off so it wasnt matted but all of the fur and what i thought was matting was actually scabs maybe? It all came off and now all thats left is a very red very bald tail tip. What could it be?

It was probably bitten or was injured somehow and it probably abcessed under the skin, burst and then dried up with the fur. If it scabs up Id keep it open to make sure everything has drained. It should grow back if not you can just tell people it's the new thing in cat haircuts [emoji]128540[/emoji]

It sounds like just scabs, but it's possible it's also ringworm. Is there any flakiness around the bald spot? Could you get a photo of it?

i dont think it is ring work...i cut the hair off and looked at it closer and the very end of the tail looks all black and theres no movement of it and its hard...almost like its been dead for awhile? ill try to get a photo

Frostbite?

Oooooh poor thing looks like he may have gotten it slammed in a door or caught on something. I would not mess with it anymore unless you are prepared to take your cat to the vet ASAP. I had a cat with an injury near the tip of his tail and I was treating it with solution after it burst and he started knawing On it and pulling skin off. I had to take him to the ER vet because he was under my bed trying to get rid of it. He had to wear a collar for awhile. The vet said when they have an injured tail it is not uncommon for them to try to get rid of the offending appendage. I would probably get him to the vet to have them remove it or at least tell you to leave it alone and it will fall off on its own.

If it looks like the tip is dead, he needs to go to vet.

There are a lot of conditions that can hurt or kill your kitty if a 'dead' body part is left on him. The tip of his tail might seem like no biggy but the flesh can keep dying down the tail... and even enter his blood stream.

The vet will want to amputate the end. It should be a rather quick surgery and he should be fine quickly.

But if it's is dead, he really should go the vet ASAP.