Peanuts Mom - how did your kitty do after her ablation? Felix had both of his ears done because he had polyps in both ears that had completely jammed up his ears and there was vile stuff coming out of his ears. But he looks awful, his best friend runs from him when he looks at him, he is miserable, and I am wondering, after $5,000.00 if I did the right thing?? Will he ever be the same?
Hi Steve,
My kitty just had one of her ear canals removed. It was a week ago Tuesday. While it's a little different than your kitty, I can make a few suggestions considering I had the same concerns before I decided to go this route.
First, I would ask about polyp removal only. I tried this with my kitty, but as it turns out, they couldn't remove it because it was a mass that had grown around her ear canal. They biopsied what they could remove and it was inconclusive. The threat of cancer was always there.
I then decided to take her to a different vet for a 2nd opinion. She indicated that if it were her cat, she would have the ear canal removed so that she can continue on with life without chronic ear infections. She is 11, and I was afraid, but I took her advise and consulted with a specialty vet (surgeon) who did the surgery after determining that she was capable of handling the operation.
I can only say that if she has 2 ears that have polyps, and you want her to continue to be an indoor/outdoor cat, I would see about removing the polyps BEFORE have the ear canals removed. This would render her completely deaf, and if she wants to go outside, that might not be a good idea. Unless you decide to leave her inside, strictly, and how awful would it be if she got lost? She wouldn't be able to hear predators (coyotes or fischers) or you calling for her if she wasn't around. If you are asking these questions, you must care enough about her to want to know everything that could happen.
If I could have just had the polyp removed, I would have opted for that. But I had no choice. Please research a little before making a decision that cannot be reversed. I wish you lots of luck and your kitty an easy transition regardless of which route you decide to go. Our kitties are part of our family, and it's very traumatic for our furbabies and US to have any health challenge!
Peanut's mom