Black bump in ear?

lllindsayy

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My cat (Cinnoman) has been sneezing more than normal lately. Also, she has been panting pretty heavily at times throughout the day. I've had her for 12 years, so I'm very familiar with her typical behaviors. This is not normal for her.

Then I remembered that for some reason we are having a tick problem in our house this season and Cinnoman is an indoor cat. I, myself, have pulled three ticks off of my own body in the past week.

I have been checking Cinnoman on regular basis for ticks, but she's not on any medicine for them. I wasn't sure why she has been acting strange lately, so I decided to look up information on symptoms a cat would display if they had a tick on their body somewhere.

I never saw sneezing anywhere, but I did see panting. Anyways, I decided to do a very thorough check of Cinnoman and I found a black bump in her ear. Whatever it is is embedded under the skin of her ear. It appears to very very bulbous and it slightly squishy to the touch. It's hard to tell, though, because she is very reluctant to let me near her ears.

I managed to snap a picture, though, and I'm attaching it. It should be very clear where the bump in question is located, but if not, direct your attention towards the middle of the right-hand side of the picture.

Thanks for any help any one can provide. I'm new here and I'm looking forward to your responses.

 

mrblanche

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A better picture would help, of course.

I would run, not walk, to the vet. I'm not even going to mention here some of the "worst case scenarios" that spring to mind.

It might be a hematoma, though. Which is plenty bad enough.
 

strange_wings

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It's hard to tell from the picture, but her ears get a little waxy - don't they?

I've seen that in cats that get waxy ears, it's like a pore clogged up. Another thing that looks about the same is bruising when there's old blood pooled up - like a blood blister. ..that can be caused from scratching at ears if rough enough.

Since you said she's acting oddly, get her in to see the vet. Because she's a senior she may need a senior blood panel done if she hasn't had one lately. I honestly think her little bump is likely unrelated to anything else that is going on here.


As for the ticks. You need to make sure you're taking proper precautions. You could be bringing them in and you, of course, are getting bit - which is very bad. Look into using something to treat your yard if that's where you're getting them from, or call a professional. Make sure your yard is kept trimmed and there's not a lot of tall cover or shrubs for them to hide in - tick habit is to climb up high and grab a hold of whatever brushes by.
 
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