My cat has been getting in some fights recently with an unknown animal. He has a cut on his ear, another big one on his neck, and a few smaller scratches on his chest. The one on his neck first had a gumball sized swelling underneath it, but he scratched at it until it broke open, making a yucky spot of pus and blood. His ear swelled up a bit first too, but not as much and he managed to break open that swelling as well. Both larger wounds appear to be healing fine on their own, with no lasting signs of infection. He has scrapped most of the fur off around them, and now they are well scabbed, with the scabs getting smaller.

I'm thinking it's another cat. We are the length of a few football fields away from the nearest house, but I think they have an orange tabby. It's getting reasonably cold around here, with temperatures typically dropping below freezing at night, but the cat still wants to go out at night. I think he is agoraphobic, because he does not like being out during the day at all, even when it is warm. When he does go at night, I think he spends a lot of time under a bush at the front of the house. Even in the below freezing weather, he's out there a few hours. The cuts don't seem to have deterred him at all, although he does thing where he stands in the door for a few seconds looking out, then winds up and darts away quickly.

This concludes our cat update for the year.