what is a cauliflower ear and what care is needed for it

my newly adopted cat from a friend has a cauliflower ear(she is a Blue Russian) approx. 5 yrs old. Thanks for any comments. I've only had her 3 days.

sorry, I meant Russian Blue; a blue Russian would be interesting to say the least

When I read "cauliflower ear" the first thing I thought of was a boxer's ears! I had to look that up, and thankfully it's less extreme in cats. From what I read it's not a huge problem unless the fluid doesn't drain, in which case it is painful for the cat. Once they get it they will always have the scarring and a somewhat crinkled appearance. Is this an old injury? Could you upload a photo of his ear?

That's how I know of it too, from boxing and wrestling. We had headgear in HS and I always wore it, so luckily never had that problem. Also, due to some strange rule, you could smack your opponent on the head gear and not get points taken away for it, so I used to do that to get my opponents angry and/or annoyed, then shoot in for the takedown. Ah, that was fun!

I just googled cauliflower ear in cats, and it's the exact same thing:

http://www.vetstreet.com/our-pet-experts/why-i-hate-ear-hematomas

http://animalwellnessmagazine.com/cauliflower-ear-in-cats/

http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/Health_Information/aural_hematoma.cfm

The last link points out that it's probably a bigger problem for cats than for humans, what with their whole "satellite dish ears" thing. All the links recommend bringing your cat to the vet.

thanks. I plan on having a conversation with the former owner..