Bleeding Inner Ear

[Goldibabi]

My cat, Ace, had surgery behind his ear on the 16th of August. He's quite the rascal, and he ripped open his incision not once, but twice. He's had a cone on since August 19th when he first ripped it open. Last night, I was doing a final check of the incision, and I saw a large black lump in his ear, which turned out to be wax. It was easy enough to get out, but it was quite large and hard. This morning I was able to take his cone off - yay! - but he's been digging at his ear quite a bit. I looked in his ear just now, and I can see another large chunk of wax near the bottom of the part of the canal, but there's definitely no way to reach it and I don't want to hurt him and try. There is blood, though, a bit of blood on the outer part and some in the inner part, but I can't tell if it's just a little blood or more of a pool of blood.

The vet is closed today, but I'll definitely take him in tomorrow after I get off work. Would using an ear cleaner tonight be helpful, or would it irritate whatever is bleeding? Is this a scenario where I need to rush him to the cat ER? I've been there already in the past month, and I really hope we don't need to go again.

I need to buy an ear cleaner anyway, so does anyone have special recommendations for a cleaner that wouldn't irritate whatever's going on inside his ear?

 

[Goldibabi]

Well, I'm not smart enough to edit

Ace let me look inside his ear with a flashlight, and there's definitely no pool of blood - looks more like bits of blood in and around the canal, which maybe came from all the scratching? He hasn't been able to scratch for over a month, so he's getting into it. Still curious about the ear cleaner, though!

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

It might be best to keep your eyeballs on it through tonight/tomorrow
and just wait for the vet to advise you tomorrow on any possible ear cleaner or if anything should be done (like an ear medicine, if any tests by the vet might show if that is needed). Do you think he is digging at the ear so much that the dreaded cone might be needed again prior to the vet visit?

 

[Goldibabi]

Thank you so much, PushPurrCatPaws! I will do what you said and keep an eye on it tonight instead of introducing something new, and I'm sure doc will have some good stuff for me. Oh no, the cone! We both are thrilled that it's off - nearly 40 days with it on was torture! I'm going to keep watch the rest of tonight, and I hope we don't have to go that route!

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

I just read your first post here at TCS, and I'm glad I did! He's had a rough time, hasn't he! ('Ace, the Man with The Dreaded Cone')

I still think it's a great idea to visit the vet tomorrow, and see what can or needs to be done to help him. (I am not a vet, so you need to follow your gut instincts, too, as to what to do -- you are Ace's best advocate!) I didn't know he'd had a tumor removal in August, so I really hope he continues to heal. What are your thoughts as to how he is doing?

 

[Goldibabi]

Ace has had a difficult summer! He had a malignant mast cell tumor behind his ear about two years ago, and this summer it popped up again. They used a laser to do the surgery this time, and they said they got good margins. Of course, before they decided to do surgery, he spent about three months on vetadryl and prednisolone. He's 14, but he's handled all this like a champ!

He's been on a series of meds since the surgery, including two round of antibiotics, twice daily vetadryl, healing cream and a pain killer/sedative. He's sick of it and so am I! His scar has finally formed after he ripped it down to the muscle twice. He managed to get through the first cone, and then he got under the second cone and tore a sock off his foot. I took the cone off today, which was done up with several layers of tape to make it tighter, along with several rounds of athletic band. He also has two thick baby socks on his foot, and both are wrapped with various types of tape to stay on. I took the cone off this morning, but I'm leaving the sock on for a while.

His scratching has irritated the scar but not broken it open. It's a little red, but not enough that I am incredibly worried - yet. I'll definitely be calling the doctor in the morning for his ear! I'm happy to say that Ace is nearly back to normal. He's a grumpy old man cat, but he's fairly active still and likes to snuggle!

Thank you for asking about Ace! I love him so much, and I just want him to be well