Ear problems, growths in ear, surgery?

My senior cat has very bad ears that get constant wax buildup. She's been to many vets over the years and nobody has found a solution. To make things worse we are unable to clean her ears at home or put in ointment, and the constant trips to the vet are stressful for my cat.

The most recent clinic I had gotten two different opinions from two vets. One vet said the purplish growths in her ears are fluid filled from scratching/head shaking and that keeping her ears clean the growths will vanish, he even popped one but my cat screamed when he did it then kept scratching at it for two months having it bleed daily!!! he said the growths are making the wax build up clogging the ear up.
The other vet said the growths are not from scratching but just skin growths, kind of like our moles, and could continue to grow and clog up the ear canal and scratching makes them worse and they are causing discomfort. She asked me if I had them biopsied and I said no.

Both vets said there is an operation to remove the growths which will make more room in her ears so hopefully wax will not build up. But they COULD grow back so it might not be a permanent solution. My cat was there for a tooth cleaning but the vets never got back to me if they are willing to remove the growths, I asked about pet dermatology and nobody is answering me. It seems like they don't want me to remove the growths so they make a buck knowing I come in and they clean her ears and charge me for it.

I can't switch to any more vets, and the fact two vets said different things from the same clinic worries me, and the fact what if these are skin cancer? Nobody seems to be telling me the facts.

I was thinking about the surgery, im not sure how these growths are removed, are they cut or burnt off? Will my cat need to wear that collar like will if she tries to scratch the scabs if growths are removed? Are antibiotics needed? She's 14 and surgery worries me but the ear issues worry me just as much she's in pain and discomfort constantly.

Have you tried researching on your own?  Because if the vets won't give you any answers then that could give you a direction.

I have very little experience to draw on, but it sounds like it could go both ways--any weird growth should be making you think cancer first, but older cats especially can get benign tumors and weird growths.  My parents' boy got a bunch of weird ones when he was younger and they were malignant, but then my girl had a benign one as a senior that was fine (but it also didn't bother her at all).  I know the vet popped the one, but if they're causing her a lot of pain and bleeding on their own then I would definitely be concerned that this is something more serious.  But it's also possible that they're benign and wouldn't actually hurt her if she didn't worry at them so much.  Either way it sounds like they may need to come off to give her relief.

If you can manage it, I would definitely do the biopsy.  They could be trying to squeeze you, but they also really can't tell you much about what's going on until they know how the growths are behaving, and it'll save you a lot of grief and wondering whatever the answer is.

All the best to you and your cat!  I'm sorry she's suffering so much and I hope you can get some answers soon.  

When I adopted my cat, he suffered from ear polyps and consequently wax build up.   I switched his diet to grain free and there was a dramatic improvement- most of the polyps disappeared.  

Theyremine said:

When I adopted my cat, he suffered from ear polyps and consequently wax build up.   I switched his diet to grain free and there was a dramatic improvement- most of the polyps disappeared.  

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I've done that years ago it helped slightly but hasn't solved the issue. Her feline acne fully cleared up though and her coat is shiny.