Ear Hematoma question

Many of you know Jordan has a hematoma in his ear. When it first happened, the vet did not want to do surgery. It has gotten bigger. His ear is a little crumpled up, which I don't mind. I've read that it can correct it's slef, but that the ear till always look funny. At this point I'm leaning against surgery, but I'm wondering if anyone here has experience with hematoma's. Have you either allowed one to heal on it's own, or had surgery? I'm just trying to make the best decision possible for my "crumples" (that's his new nick name, because of his ear.)

My beloved Buster had a hematoma in his ear in 2002 and I took care of it immediately via emergency surgery. I am surprised that your vet is so nonchalant about it because my vet did not give many options other than surgery or draining. She said it does not correct itself and the cat could possibly lose his ear. Surgery was a great idea and Buster was much happier when it was done. His ear never looked the same after that but it just gave him unique charm. In my opinion, I would definitely recommend the surgery.

Well when it started it was very small & at the base of his ear. It has slowly continued to get bigger. He now has a large buble of blood in the top part of his ear.

She did drain it, but said at the time that it was not big enough to be worth surgery.

Buster's ear was flooded with blood within a matter of 24 hours. By the next morning, it was completely folded over and felt warm. He definitely appeared uncomfortable and tried to paw it. The surgery was expensive but worth it. His crumpled ear made him special.

I wasn't going to call the vet, but when I got home last night, his ear was visably worse. Much more blood in the upper part & hung down like a dogs ear. He doesn't appear to be in a whole lot of pain, but I'll talk to the vet.

Just talked to the vet & she said that I have to decide if I think he's bothered by it. The price was aroud $500. She said the ear would look funny either way, but that it would resolve faster with surgery. Lets just say that I could charge it, but that my employment is not stable right now, so I'm a little nervous about spending the extra money. I will watch him for a couple days & try to make the best decision I can.

I spent close to $900 when Buster's surgery (that includes boarding him at the hospital because my work schedule at the time would not allow me to tend to him). So, it looks like you're getting a better deal than I did. I'm the type of person that will spend more on my cat's medical care than myself, so I used my credit card. I did not have the money at the time but I realize that owning a pet requires a financial obligation on my part, so I did what was best for my cat.

Hi Angie,

My dog had a hematoma and the vet told us the only reason to have surgery was to make his ear go back to normal (or close to normal). He was almost 12 years old so having a perfect ear wasn't really important at that stage in his life.

The vet told us nothing needed to be done, that it would go away by itself. It did after a few days and he was just fine.

Maybe there is some difference between dogs and cats that would make treatment different, but I wouldn't think so.

Just wanted to let you know my vet's advice.

Thanks for the opinons guys. I personally don't care what his ear looks like, I'm more worried about his comfort & health. I'm in sort of a difficult spot because I know that at least 1 of my cats needs a dental. Jordan was just at the eye specialist & has to go back again in a couple months. He is only 6 & over the last 2 years has probably cost me $3000 - $4000 so it's not a matter of not taking care of him. I'm just trying to prioratize his medical needs with the other 3 cats.
Jordan kept me up most of the night last night running & playing with the other cats so I don't thing he's super uncomfortable. He does need a follow up blood test to check on his blood calcium & one of his kidney values so I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do.