Cat bites Man or ...?? Bizarre Case

Several years ago I was presented with a cat for examination which had a swollen ear.  As I looked her over I found the typical presentation of an "Aural Hematoma".  An Aural Hematoma is a swelling of the ear flap in which blood accumulates between the skin and the cartilage of the ear.  It usually is an end result of trauma to the ear flap.

Have you ever seen the ears of people that are wrestlers, boxers or ultimate fighters?  They often have crumpled over ear flaps due to the trauma caused by fighting.  First a hematoma forms and then as it heals scarring occurs which causes them to deform. In people the term "cauliflower ear" is used to describe it.

Well, the same thing can happen to dogs and cats.  As I examined the kitty before me that day I started enquiring as to whether the cat was an outdoor cat thinking that maybe this swelling was secondary to a cat fight. The owner replied ... no.  The questioning continued as I tried to get a handle on what had caused the hematoma to develop. I examined the inside of the ear canals and there was no evidence of any inflammation.  Sometimes a hematoma will develop in cats and dogs secondary to an ear infection. The irritation and itchiness related to the sore ear will cause the pet to shake its head violently and the ear flap will travel at great speed, sometimes banging into a piece of furniture which can cause the bleed to occur. However, this wasn't the situation in this kitty.

I was pretty much stumped as to what could have caused this hematoma until the owner finally quietly spoke up and said..."I think I know what caused the swelling".    He went on to say that he was playing with his cat until the cat had obviously had enough and ended up biting him firmly on the finger (not hard enough to break the skin).  In retaliation and to "teach the cat a lesson" the owner reflexively bit back!  He leaned down and nipped his own cat on the ear!  And the end result was a hematoma and several hundreds of dollars in Veterinary Fees for surgery to repair it.  Instead of the owner teaching his cat a lesson, it turns out that in the end the cat taught the owner a big lesson.  Don't bite your pets! :)