Home treatment for aural hematoma on indoor cat?

[AnnS]

All of my local vets* have restricted access right now (COVID-19 related) and apparently this isn't an "emergency" because it hasn't taken up her entire ear flap *yet* and it might burst on it's own. *I'm obviously still frantically trying to find a vet willing to treat her during tier 3 restrictions. Until I can, any suggestions?

Yesterday I found a tiny bump on her ear flap and I assumed it was a small, self inflicted click. I checked it again today and I believe it to be an aural hematoma. It has grown to be a medium size lump and while she isn't showing signs of pain or discomfort (I'm allowed to touch it, apply slight pressure and bathe it) I'm upset that it's caused a small crimp/crinkle.

{I adopted her last year. She was vet treated for fleas, ticks, worms etc. I made the decision to keep her as an indoor cat because the vet mentioned clear signs of abuse and neglect. She has continued health care regarding grooming, flea/tick/worm treatments etc}

 

[Jem]

My cat had an aural hematoma, and (as per vet advice) was not treated. His was much bigger as well, taking up almost the entire ear flap. We kept putting cool compresses on it to sooth and applied moisturizing ointment to the flap as we found the skin looked a bit dried out due to being stretched out. It took a couple months but the body will reabsorb the fluid/blood. The only thing is your kitties ear will probably shrivel up a bit. Sort of like "cauliflower ear" that can happen with (human) boxers due to repeated trauma. It seemed like it only bothered my kitty in the beginning...about a week to 2 weeks. Not fun, and I felt bad, but the vet explained that treatment for aural hematomas tend to not work very well anyway. If they just drain it, it usually fills back up, unless you put a splint on the ear. If they do the surgery, the discomfort/recovery of the surgery would be at last a week anyway, plus the chance of infection and whatnot...so.... The main reason they will do surgery is to stop the ear from curling up (at least around here), but a curled ear, as long as it doesn't interfere with air flow (trapped moisture can lead to infections) and hearing, is no a big deal. I personally thought it added character to my boy lol!

 

[dkb817]

I haven't had this happen with a cat, but my last dog had a HUGE hematoma on his ear (We still have no idea what caused it, but likely from him flopping down and landing on it just right). The vet he was seeing at the time was a more conservative, farm vet who only treated in extreme cases - She put him on pain meds to make him comfortable and eventually, like Jem said, his body reabsorbed the blood/fluid and left him with a bit of a cauliflower ear. There was a small risk of the hematoma rupturing, so we just made sure he didn't flop on it and the kids left it alone.

If you're too worried about your cat potentially rupturing it, you could always try a soft collar for awhile (like one of those inflatable donut collars instead of the cone of shame) so that if they try to get at the ear, they catch the collar instead.