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- Nov 17, 2005
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I've never heard of this before in a cat - at least not prior to November 2010. Since it seems to be relatively uncommon, I decided tonight to start this thread in hopes it will help someone in the future.
In Oct 2010 Squishy had a dental cleaning. A scope was inserted into his ear where a tumor or mass was found. Options were to leave it be or try ear surgery. His ear would drain blood so in November 2010 he had ear surgery.
An ear ablation involves removing the ear canal - Squishy's was far more extensive than anyone imagined, as once the vet got in there his mass was much bigger than anticipated. It was non-cancerous, so the vet proceeded with the surgery.
I picked up my 16 - 18 y/o boy the next day & took him home in tears. I couldn't believe what I had done. What followed were 6+ weeks of recovery - I'd hazard to say it took 6 months to fully heal. The first 6 weeks were awful, I had to take great pains to ensure he didn't scratch it open, etc.
He had to wear a cone for short periods of time, thankfully a gauze pad/gauze neckwrap kept him from scratching his ear open. Nail caps kept his claws covered so he couldn't do so much damage.
Then - Nov 2010
Today - May 13, 2011
Normal ear canal
Ear ablation ear - no ear canal
In Oct 2010 Squishy had a dental cleaning. A scope was inserted into his ear where a tumor or mass was found. Options were to leave it be or try ear surgery. His ear would drain blood so in November 2010 he had ear surgery.
An ear ablation involves removing the ear canal - Squishy's was far more extensive than anyone imagined, as once the vet got in there his mass was much bigger than anticipated. It was non-cancerous, so the vet proceeded with the surgery.
I picked up my 16 - 18 y/o boy the next day & took him home in tears. I couldn't believe what I had done. What followed were 6+ weeks of recovery - I'd hazard to say it took 6 months to fully heal. The first 6 weeks were awful, I had to take great pains to ensure he didn't scratch it open, etc.
He had to wear a cone for short periods of time, thankfully a gauze pad/gauze neckwrap kept him from scratching his ear open. Nail caps kept his claws covered so he couldn't do so much damage.
Then - Nov 2010
Today - May 13, 2011
Normal ear canal
Ear ablation ear - no ear canal