Cat wound near tail

[tabiclement]

I just got back from vacation to my cat having a large deep wound near the base of her tail with fur missing around it. I have no idea what caused this, she goes outside but has a cat fence so other animals can’t get in. She doesn’t seem to be in pain, but will not let me look closely at it, let alone clean it. I attached a picture. Does anyone have an idea what could have caused this? The black section is already scabbing, so I’m not sure when this happened. Does this require a vet visit, does it look infected?

 

[stephanietx]

I would get to the vet ASAP. It could be a ruptured abscess or a deep wound. It probably needs to be cleaned out to keep any infection at bay.

 

[StanAndAlf]

Definitely a vet visit, especially so close to the spine. You don't want to risk any infection getting worse. The vet should also be able to give it a good flush with some sterilised water as well.

The fact that she won't let you touch it is a good indicator that she is actually in pain. Cats are very stoic and cover up a lot of their pain, so it can be hard to tell.

In the meantime, if there are no holes in her cat fence, then check for any places she could have hurt herself on. That is, anything without a rounded edge. I agree with above that a ruptured abscess could be the cause as well.

If you can't get her to a vet straight away, you can try washing it out with some diluted betadine in the meantime.

Best of luck, please give an update!