Nasal Polyps

I have had my cat for less than 2 months and through all that time she has been congested off and on. We saw the vet today and we found out that it might be nasal polyps. We are taking her for testing on Saturday to see if it may be a fungal infection or something that is not responding well to type of antibiotics we have been using.  I'm so upset and frustrated. When we got her we had $1500 saved and I figured we'd save more as we went along. We would figure out if we would need pet insurance, etc. My husband has had cats all his life and had never had any serious problems with them. I guess when anybody takes in a new pet they expect it to be healthy unless otherwise told. I think what is upsetting me the most is that if we need a CT scan I don't know if we will even be able to afford surgery after that. I think that would wipe us out financially. I guess the reason I'm writing is for some sort of peace of mind. Has anyone had a similar experience? Knowledge about prices? What recovery would be like? How long can a cat go without the surgery?

I've only heard of one other cat where they suspected nasal polyps, and when they went in to check if that's what it was...it wasn't. 

Why exactly do you think they suspect that.  What are his symptoms other than congestion since you've had him?  Does he have a lot of sneezing, does his nose run constantly?  The other cat had snot literally dripping from his nose all the time  (sorry for that description, but I don't know any other way to put it )

What kind of testing are they going to do? 

Thanks for your reply. When we got her she had what they called a 'kitty cold'. Her eyes were not watery, no coughing or sneezing, but she was sniffling. She was snoring and when she was playing you could hear the deep congestion in her nose. I would say a somewhat runny nose, but she keeps licking it, so it is hard to say how runny. She went on antibiotics and it went away. A week later, the same. She went on antibiotics a second time and it went away again. A week later here we are again, same symptoms. We are going to do a more through test to see if it was possibly a fungal infection (seems unlikely since it seems like it was responding to the antibiotics) or some kind of infection that needs a different type or stronger type of antibiotics. The vet said that it sounded like she either had polyps or an irregularity in her nose that has been collecting bacteria so every time we would give her antibiotics it would clear up the infection only to have bacteria collect again and she would get sick again. Essentially the stuffy nose is not caused by the polyps themselves, but the collecting bacteria. May I ask what happened to the cat you mentioned with supposed nasal polyps?

Let's just hope with your little one it's simply a case where she needs a different antibiotic .

The one case that I knew of that ended up NOT being nasal polyps...it was scar tissue from who knows what...ear mites, infections, you name it,he had it .    That cat was extremely old, malnourished, and had had the issue for many years before anyone sought treatment.  By that time, it was too late.  I don't really remember exactly what happened, but because of the constant snot hanging out of his nose, he had no appetite, as I recall, so was skin and bones, had a difficult time breathing, etc. He ended up dying less than 2 weeks after them discovering there were no polyps, NOT from the surgery, but his new owners think he just gave up from trying so hard to keep breathing, even though they had started him on steroids and holistic measures. 

Oh, that's so sad. My cat is only 2 years old, which I read somewhere polyps tend to be more likely at that age. She had mentioned a possible irregularity, but seemed to pass by it like it was unlikely. I'm not even sure what would be done if she did have something like scar tissue.

In your case it's probably NOT scar tissue.  I think it was scar tissue in the other cat's case because it had been neglected for years (whatever the cause), never any antibiotics or anything, poor dear, and that constant runny nose was bound to cause raw tissue, I imagine, over that time. 

When I first started looking into the possibility of my cat having a nasal polyp I didn't hear a lot of stories of others' experiences, so I wanted to tell my story so if anyone else could identify similar issues in their cat it might help them out.

I got my cat back in August from a shelter who claimed she had a 'kitty cold' and that she would be better in a couple days. We took her to the vet who put her on Clavamax antibiotics. A week later she was better, but a week after that she was ill again. She had no watery eyes, no sneezing, no serious nasal discharge, but she was really, really congested. We thought she might have herpes having such problems with URIs and coming from the shelter. I put her on L-Lysine and asked the vet for another dose of Clavamax. A week later she was better and then a week after we were right back where we started.

We went back to the vets and told her the whole story. She thought it didn't sound like herpes because URI usually occur from some sort of stress. And since she had been responding to the antibiotics it didn't sound like allergies. She narrowed it down to some other bacterial infection or possible fungal infection that was partially remedied by the antibiotics. Or it could have been a nasal polyp that was collecting bacteria and getting her sick every time she went off antibiotics. It might need a CT scan to identify. We spent $300 on a swab to identify URI infection causes. It came back negative.

That meant we had to start researching places with CT scans. I found a really nice sounding place that had great prices ($1000) so I called back to schedule an appointment. When I told the receptionist my story she suggested I talk to the radiologist to see if a CT scan was really necessary. I was really pleased that they were concerned about making sure I was getting the right procedure done. She thought a CT scan was not necessary and recommended I have a consultation with the specialist in Internal Medicine.

We came in with our cat in the morning, they requested she have an empty stomach. The Internal Medicine doctor wasn't fully convinced it was a nasal polyp, but said he could easily tell through a physical exam while she was sedated and if there was one he would remove it. Removing it without surgery means it might grow back, but if it did grow back we could always come back for surgery.

Was that vet shocked when he put our cat under and found a 2 cm polyp in our 7 pound cat! It was so big it was pushing her epiglottis up in a way he had never seen in a cat. We came in expecting to pay $1000 to possibly diagnose her problem and left the same day paying $650 to have diagnosed and cured her (at least for now).

Now, she has Horner's syndrome. Her right eye isn't opening fully, her third eyelid is showing, and her pupil isn't dilating properly from the inflammation of the nerve after pulling the polyp out. The doctor expects her to recover fully from it and we are really relieved. If there is anything I have learned from this experience it is to not just expect to wait out an illness in your pet. It could be more serious than you expect, the shelter told us it would go away in a few days and it turn out to be a marble sized flesh ball in my cat's head!

Wow!  I remember when you posted your thread earlier about the possibility of Nasal Polyps, and here it is that that's what it was! 

So glad it's been resolved, but sorry about the Norner's Syndrome.   Hopefully that WILL resolve itself

So glad you were willing to work through all this and help your kitty cat.  You are a Good Cat Mom!

Do you know if this cat ever had any head trauma?  My only experience with nasal polyp is with a dog, she'd been attacked by a bull mastiff who picked her up by the head and shook her.  We suspect that bone was broken, but we only reached that conclusion about 6 years later.

So pleased with this, your cat is going to feel so much better!

Thanks mrsgreenjeans! I remember talking about how rare nasal polyps are. I was telling my husband the story you told me about the really old cat. Her Horner's syndrome is already looking better, her 3rd eyelid is no longer showing only her pupil isn't dilating just yet.

Thanks to you to Freedom! The truth was we knew we would have enough for a CT scan, but were unsure if we would really going to be able to afford surgery. It was really scary. I think asking a lot of questions ended up saving me a lot of money and made it possible to have her treated. I hope anybody whose cat is sick and they feel they can't afford treatment is able to research and work things out too. She was a stray cat when she entered the shelter, I think she had been sick with URIs for a while. It's possible the irritation from constantly being sick stimulated the growth of the polyp from what I heard, but we have no real background info on her.

It's been a while since you wrote your post about possible nasal polyps. What happened with your cat concerning this issue?

I have a cat with feline herpes virus. I got her, and her litter mate, from the Humane Society. They both had the virus when I got them in 2001. They were a year old then. If I had known what was wrong with them, I would not have taken them home. My young daughters bonded with them so fast I couldn't bear to take them back.

I spent thousands of dollars on care for them over the years, mostly on antibiotics, medications, dental and vet exams. They also both developed chronic kidney disease at age 10.

Last year, I euthanized one. She was 13 when we found out she had lymphoma and leukemia. She had lost so much weight, refused to eat and drink, etc.. It was a difficult decision, but those diseases are incurable in cats. She was also in a lot of pain. I just didn't see any point in keeping alive for our sake.

A month ago, her sister cat went blind. I took her to my regular vet clinic and saw a visiting vet, who put her on an antibiotic for a sinus infection and thought perhaps high blood pressure had caused the blindness. So, she also prescribed blood pressure medication. However, after talking with one of the regular vets there a few days later, one who has know my cats for a long time, he suggested I take her to see a specialist at the Colorado State University vet hospital, which is an hour away.

My cat and I spent an entire day there with exams by several vets. She was put in an oxygen cage, had some x-rays, was tested for fungal infection, tested for FIV/FeLV, and some other diseases. No definitive diagnosis by the time we left, but at least we now know it was not a fungal infection, nor FIV or FeLV either. They concluded that the blindness was not caused by high blood pressure either, so took her off that medication. They suspected a tumor. That will be $500 please.

To get more conclusive answers would require several thousands of dollars more for her to see a neurology specialist, more x-rays, possibly a sonogram, possibly a CT scan or MRI. However, there were no appointments available for 2 weeks. If surgery would be required, that would likely be another few thousand dollars. So, I took her home to make her as comfortable as possible.

A couple days ago I discovered she's gone deaf and I think she has also lost her sense of smell. At this point, I think the best thing might be euthanizing her too. It's breaking my heart to think I'll have lost them both within less than a year.

Hello,

I'm so sorry to hear about your cats. I commend you for taking them in even when you knew they were FIV positive. I know we were very worried that would be an issue with our cat.

It sounds like they both had long, happy lives all things considered. The most frustrating thing is not knowing what the problem is so that it can be taken care of, thats for sure. I wish all the best for you and your kitty.

Hi roscoeraccoon,

I know this is an old post but they have been really useful!

My 5 month old kitten I rescued has what your cat had with the only symptom being congested. He has never had any nasal discharge. His eyes are bright, still playing, still head butting and purring, drinking, using the litter box, grooming and has a big appetite. Clavamox, doxycycline, steroids, lysine, vaporizer, little remedies, you name it, nothing made it go away. Did a bacteria swab that also came up negative.

The vet said the possibility of nasal polyps is possible but highly unlikely due to his age at only 5 months old. She said it could be a congenital abnormality or a mechanical obstruction whatever that is. She suggested a CT scan for $$$$ and to see a specialist to come up with a plan which involves lotsa $$$. I dunno why but I felt that they saw my cat's condition and just saw dollar signs! I did research online and it seems vets can put the cat under and explore inside their mouths and just yank out the polyp for around $100. I forgot how old the video was but I believe it was in Maryland or something.

You said that you were able to skip the CT scan so I am definitely going to ask alot of questions and perhaps get a second opinion.

When I read about cat nasal polyps I read how cats do head shaking and tilting and then I started observing my cat closer and he has been doing the head shaking thing like he is trying to get rid of something in his throat. Did your cat do that too?

Welcome to the site, T TanCat !
This is an old thread but a helpful one for sure -- I think roscoeraccoon visited TheCatSite a few months ago, so maybe mentioning her username officially by prefacing it with an "@" symbol can alert her to your comment!
( roscoeraccoon )

Thank you PushPurrCatPaws for helping a newbie out!

Hi all, I do still receive emails when people respond to this post/ inbox me. I'll try to help to the best of my memory, but this is on four years ago now!

T TanCat , both vets I saw said that a polyp was unlikely. We all assumed that there would be nothing and were surprised that there was one. I don't remember any head tilting or unusual movements (but that doesn't mean it's the same for every cat)-- I especially remember very loud snoring and most worrisome was labored breathing after play.

My cat's polyp has not regrown, but we haven't figured out what abnormality caused the polyp to grow in the first place. Which means she still gets snuffly breathing every now and then. And when we take her to the vet he says that she is getting irritation in the back of her throat, but we don't know why.

Absolutely, look for a place that is willing to do an exam without a CT scan, most places will not let you get a CT scan without an exam around here any ways.