I could really use some advice about my 7 year old cat, Squeak. I posted a comment on Dr. Magnifico’s YouTube video about a cat named Bear that had ear polyp surgery but thought I’d post here, too. I am an emotional wreck right now because yesterday morning I got some very bad news regarding Squeak’s cytology results from a FNA that was done at a specialty hospital. Sadly, my poor boy was diagnosed with malignant melanoma for the 3rd time in two years! I’m heartbroken… The trouble started at the end of December 2022 when I noticed a small lump on his right pinna. My primary vet did a lumpectomy and sent it off to be evaluated. Came back malignant melanoma. Excision was complete with clean but narrow margins. All was well until September 2023 when I found another lump at the base of the same ear. My vet advised me to go for a consultation with an oncologist and it was recommended that Squeak get a TECA-BO done. I was told that this procedure can be “curative” in some cases. The cost was astronomical but I wanted to do the best for my cat. He means the world to me! I began calling specialty vet hospitals to schedule the surgery as soon as possible but none near me were able to fit Squeak in. I finally found one in Pennsylvania and made an appointment for a surgical consultation. The surgery was done on September 25. My boy was a real trooper and recovered well. He did lose the blink reflex in his right eye but it resolved in about 2 weeks with me putting moisturizing drops in his eye daily. I was thrilled with Squeak’s progress and I thought we might have won the fight even though there was no guarantee that he’d be out of the woods now. I had to take money out of my retirement savings to pay for this surgery (it was actually more than $10,000!!) but it was worth it to save my cat’s life. Recently, I noticed that Squeak had been shaking his head and scratching where his incision was. I had an appointment scheduled with my regular vet for a checkup and to get some chest x-rays to make sure all was well. While there, I mentioned about the scratching and head shaking and asked if maybe it was scar tissue causing the reaction. My vet wasn’t concerned and just said “Maybe he feels something.” X-rays were clear and showed nothing concerning. I was told to come back for a recheck in 6 months. However, the symptoms gradually became more frequent and I brought Squeak back to the vet. This time, thinking it might be an infection of some kind, he prescribed Baytril and prednisolone for a course of 2 weeks. There was no improvement and this was very concerning for both the vet and myself. He said that it would be beneficial to get a CT scan to find out what we were dealing with. I was beginning to panic because I had a feeling where all this was leading. I took Squeak to the same hospital where he had his oncology consult. He was examined by a veterinary surgeon first and she did a FNA . Unfortunately, the CT scan could not be done because their machine went down. I got the cytology report yesterday morning. The pathologist’s interpretation was “Lymphocytic proliferation and many atypical multinucleated cells; suspicious for lymph node with metastatic amelanotic melanoma.” The vet that did the FNA said she would consult with an oncologist and get back to me with options for “treatment”. Surgery, radiation and/or chemo was mentioned . Meanwhile, I have been scouring the internet for any information I can get to help me make the right decision about what to do next. I have also posted on numerous cat health forums but only got one response from a vet in Virginia. He said that radiation would be recommended if there was a concern about margins but chemo would not be a good choice for this kind of cancer. He wanted me to keep him posted so I told him about the cytology results. I have not heard back from him yet. Can I please ask for your opinion about all this? I posted this in hopes that Dr. Magnifico would see it because she has done a similar type of surgery for a cat. Can anyone give me some guidance about how I should proceed? I will be discussing this on Monday with my regular vet after he reviews the report that was sent to him. I know I should just calm down but I’m basically a mess! Any information about a way to extend Squeak’s life and keep him comfortable would be SO much appreciated. Thank you!

My son’s dog need surgery. A very expensive surgery. I have been trying to find a place that will help with this with no luck. If my son’s dog doesn’t get the surgery he will need to put him down. There is something wrong with his jaw and now having a hard time eating. Someone plz help me save my son’s dog.

Hi Dr. Magnifico,

Our adopted cat (former stray cat, now 100% indoor) has always shown all of the signs of a nasopharyngeal polyp (about 4 years now). I didn’t know what it was until I saw videos of cats with similar breathing noises and eventually saw your YouTube polypectomy videos.

Three short videos of his breathing sounds (turn up your volume) follow:

Called our vet for a surgeon referral, but they’ll only refer for a CT scan ($2000) before they’ll refer to a surgeon. Surgeon’s websites all indicate that they will only accept appointments by referral from a general Vet, so I can’t just make an appointment for examination by a surgeon (which I’m happy to pay for).

Bottom line, looking for a second-opinion / consult (happy to pay!) on whether it’s really necessary to do a $2000 CT scan *before* being referred to a surgeon for (a probably $2000) surgery. I’d rather just have a surgeon put the cat under anesthesia, go in, look for the polyp, and remove it if they see one. Happy to pay $2000 for just that surgery, even if it turns out there’s no polyp.

Thank you in advance for any response.

My indoor/outdoor cat has jaundice after being gone for two days. He came back with fleas and looked as if he lost weight. He also is already diagnosed with ulcerative colitis so I’m not completely sure what could be causing his jaundice. I can’t afford to take him to the vet at the moment and I’m not sure how long he can be left untreated. I’ve been feeding him foods high in protein, vitamin b, and omega 3s; tilapia, eggs, milk thistle. Although he’s been eating and drinking regularly, he’s lost a decent amount of weight over just a few days and I’m not sure what to do. Any help or advice is greatly appreciated

Hi, my baby girl ambull has a hiccup for almost 2 weeks, anyone know how to treat or a medicine thank in advance

Help Saving Ava, our 7 yr old chihuahua! She is currently at our vet in oxygen, fighting for her life, her trachea is 100% collapsed. She also suffers from epilepsy and is on 3 different meds to control her seizures. The specialty vets want at least $10k to just get in the door. We are fairly close to you, is there anyway you or someone you know can perform this surgery??? They have her on numerous injectable medications to try to bring the inflammation down including several antibiotics, we went to visit her today but if we take her out of the oxygen even for a minute or two her tongue starts to turn blue. Please help if you can, we are desperate at this point! She’s only 7 ????

how can i best extract bowels from my injured cat? she is not using the litter box, but there is some leakage. she has no tone in her anus and most likely is healing from nerve damage. i have figured out how to extract her bladder. she is still eating and lively. more details of her condition and our process to support her below.

moonstone is about a year old and showed up at our house 4 months ago brave and spirited. she disappeared for a week and came back with a serious injury. we took her to the er because she was leaking urine and had a limp tail and left hind leg. we learned that her bladder needed to be urgently expressed and that her bowels were backed up. we also learned that she had a tail avulsion and a fracture in her left femoral joint. they expressed her bladder and bowels and sent us home with pain meds and anti-inflammatory medication. we went to aspca the next day hoping to get treatment for her fractured bones, but they suggested nursing her at home and learning how to express her bladder and bowels to see if she could regain control and tone in her anus. they said that maybe in a few weeks she could regain feeling and be able to use the bathroom on her own, and then they would consider amputating her tail and treating her leg. we have quickly learned how to express her bladder, but are struggling to get her to poop. please help us keep moonstone alive!