Head Wound.. Squee Bot Removal?

[Spanky]

So this is one of the kids that has been free for a few months now. I've been watching his head for the past few days. He had what initially I thought was an insignificant injury. Basically his hair was mussed up but I knew there was something under that which I could not see. Over the past few days he started losing hair and what was developing looked to be a bot (poor guy has one coming out on his thigh for certain). I did notice was what at one time I thought might have been a small "sliver" barely protruding, but I could not handle him or really get close enough to tell for certain. This was on the edge of where he was losing hair but not in the middle like a warble hole... I can't say I can remember ever seeing a warble on the top of the head like this.

Yesterday I was convinced this was a warble developing, but today he showed up with this "mess". This is significantly worse and different than what I have been keeping an eye one. It is rainy her so that contributes to it looking so wet...

Could he have dug out a warble?

Or maybe it was a puncture the entire time and now it's infected? Or he has removed the sliver in a very invasive way?

Any other thoughts?

I did manage to get a gob of neosporin on it... but as he ran off he shock off a good part of the glob. Better some than none.

[SammysMom]

Poor guy! I have no not experience except photos. That looks like one to me. He looks pretty bright eyes for a raging head infection.

[Mel1959]

That's a great photo! If you have a vet you can converse with I'd send the photo and get their input.

[HRT4SQRLS]

Spanky, it's very difficult for them to dig the bot larvae out because of the hooklets but I would guess that if one is near leaving the hole it would scratch out pretty easily. You know my history with bots.... it's pretty disgusting. During one of the ordeals with Susie I had removed a couple of the bots. She had a few more that were VERY close to exiting. I watched as one was actually exiting. I ran to get the camera. When I came back it was half way out. Susie shook herself and the bot flew out like a rocket and hit me right in the chest. :frustratedx :hissyfit Can I just say ONE more time how much I hate those *******s.

Does that have the typical capsule shaped swelling under it? The black in the hole does look like a bot larvae. When you put the salve on it you should be able to see the darn thing move inside. They just hate having their hole blocked. :shakehead
The very young bot larvae are white but even the smaller ones are black. When the vet removed 18 from Susie they were ALL black including the small ones.

[Spanky]

Just to clarify, if this was a bot it was not very far along. That hole, gouge / wound is MUCH larger than what was presenting just yesterday. Here is a pic of the bot in his thigh that I just took: That warble in his thigh had been emerging and obvious for a week before I noted anything with his head. And the mess on his head now dwarfs the thigh bot.

I did figure that "if" he had done a self-surgery for bot removal (bot-ectomy?) that any "eviction" would be rather invasive (otherwise I'd suspect we'd see it more often?).

I am leaning away from bot now though... I am realizing that the "baldness" pattern was not from the middle and out like happens with a bot, it developed as a circle of baldness and the fur remained in the center until then this mess this morning.

He is very bright-eyed and active.. he has not slowed down a bit.
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[Spanky]

Head Guy is doing well and seems to be on the road to recovery. The head injury became quite a big hole that was mostly dry and you could see his skull (or more likely the dura?) for a few worrisome days. Then it started to get weepy and today it is scabbed over nicely.

The "thigh bot" is also dead... it never developed beyond the first few days and now it has started to heal up but not as quick as we see after a mature bot leaves (or is removed).

My best guess is my original one. This Guy seems to have dug a bot out of his head and also evicted or otherwise killed the bot in his thigh. It is the only thing I can see how it started as a mussed up part of his hair and kept expanding until there was this huge hole... maybe a spider bite and necrosis? But the fact that that thigh bot has met an early demisehe killed, or otherwise the other bot was killed seems to support this theory?

This pic is from a couple days ago and the head wound has a nice dry scab today...
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