Dear Dr. Magnifico,

I’m sorry to hear of the loss of your mom. I lost my mom a few years ago, and it takes a while to go through that grief. Take care of you!

My question:
One of my cats from a feral group (not living in the house) came home with a jaw degloving injury (see photo). I took him to the vet and the vet mentioned possibly correcting this with surgery but that such surgery doesn’t always hold. However, a few weeks later she said he looked okay to go home as is and not to try the surgery or he’d be worse off if it failed. He drools/slobbers now, which wouldn’t be so bad, but it has a bad smell, so I wonder if that’s normal. The vet didn’t think he needed antibiotics (I had asked if she could give him a long-acting antibiotic injection since it is next to impossible to pill him now without hurting him and/or making it bleed).

He is a precious boy, and I want him to be as comfortable as possible. I’m keeping him in the house now and have found a home for him with the same people who adopted a different feral from us, so hooray for that. Not sure if the injury is bothering him (or just bothering me with the smell). Will the smell go away over time?