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My cat has an aural haematoma caused by head shaking (no earmites and no infection) but i am really worried about both options of either leaving it alone or having it surgically removed as both have risks of disfiguring his ear.
Which option will be better cosmetically for him?
Thank you
Hello!
I’ll show the vet the video as well, but that won’t be for some time now. Until then, could you take a look at it and let me know if this looks like FHS? Should I try to get an earlier time to check with the vet?
Here’s the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkdWxhOc1FI
More details:
New member of the community and new cat owner here, we’ve got Haku 2 months ago. She is 2 and a half years old, neutered.
Ever since we have her, she had constant mini-episodes, consisting mostly in vigorously shaking her head multiple times in a row, trying to clean her ears, and trying to run and hide from the shaking. I define a ‘mini episode’ as around 10-20 seconds of shaking during the span of 1-2 minutes.
First we attributed it to the ear mites and the fleas she had. However, the ear mites and the fleas had been treated, and the episodes do still happen, albeit at a lower rate, once or twice a week.
She also has a bit of a hard time passing stools (she only goes potty once every 2 days), so on our last vet visit they prescribed some Royal Canin GI Fiber kibble.
After 2 days of combining the prescribed kibble with her usual food, she had this episode shown in the video, which was more severe than what she usually has (it might have lasted for a good 5 minutes, with another 5-10 minutes of less shaking afterwards). As seen in the video, she also has twitches all over her body and she tries to clean herself all over.
I feel like the episode was also triggered by stress, as we brushed her teeth beforehand.
One day later (today, the 25th Oct), she also started an episode while playing. We immediately stopped to let her calm down and by the time I got the camera up, the episode stopped as well.
We thought the more severe episode could have happened partly because of the Royal Canin Fiber, as she currently is on a lower carbohydrates diet. We stopped giving her the RC kibble today, I thought I’d discuss it further with the vet.
From what I gathered with the limited data I have, these episodes could be triggered either by stress or by ‘being too excited’, as in ‘im ready to pounce and play!’. So basically strong emotions. Is this something that can happen with FHS?
I will keep a closer eye on her and try to get the camera if she ever gets another episode. I will update this post if I have any updates.
Thanks for reading through this!
Hello,
I would be very interested to hear about what your vet thinks this might be? Have you consulted them?
This is not a platform to diagnose. It is a platform to help educate and inspire. Along with sharing experiences and assistance. We are happy to help adjunct the information and care your vet provides. If needed a neurologist might also provide invaluable insight.
my cat is maybe 1 1\2 – 2 ish years old. she is not fixed but she has always been very healthy and active and very into food and snacks. i couldnt find her for dinner time and thought maybe she was just sleeping somewhere hard, when she finally came out she did not seem interested in me making her food, i showed her the can and she slowly walked into the kitchen, no meowing or jumping on the table as usual. when i put her food down she sniffed it and walked away. since then she has been laying down, she has an odd expression on her face that seems very blank. her stomach seems to hurt as she stayed hunched over when she stands or moves and growled when i was trying to feel it. when she does stand or move she does it very slowly and as if she doesnt have enough strength to do so. she tried to stretch once and her back leg only shook a little, she tried to get up and move and meowed in pain. every now and then her ears seem very warm. she has recently had her first hairball from her new sister cat that has long hair. she has eaten the same dry food and about a quarter of a can of wet food at night and in the morning. shes not eating or drinking and she has not vommited since a hairball the other day or had diarhrrea.
Honestly, this sounds like a vet visit needs to happen immediately.
I agree with Laura. This sounds like you need to get her seen right away. Anytime appetite vanished and lethargy sets in, I consider it an emergency.
This is an emergency. I hope you have taken her to the vet ASAP!
Hi Shyla, it’s been a few days. What did the vet say?
Any ideas on how to fix behavioral cat peeing outside the box? My cats about 6 or so and she randomly pees on things that are in the floor. Rugs, blankets, baskets etc.
Make sure she doesn’t have a UTI, make sure she has a space safe from your dog. Make sure she has at least two litterboxes, one on each floor of the house. Use cat attract litter. And make sure those boxes are spotless.
Often, inappropriate urination is due to a UTI and can continue afterward as they associate pain with the litterbox. If the above tricks do nothing to curb this, and you’re 100% certain she’s clear of a UTI, you may want to consider changing the box type as well as litter type. Dr. M has mentioned in the past that plain old dirt (like from the garden – pesticide and fertilizer free, of course) can attract cats.
Thank you for the tips. Ive not heard of cat attract litter. Ill look into that. I dont see any signs if a uti, and she’s been doing it once every few months or so since I got her a few years ago. Just one pee outside the box then nothing else. I should rule out uti though I know. I’ll work on that next. Still dealing with my dogs issues from being spayed. Plain dirt is also interesting. Ive never heard that before. Such good ideas. Thanks.
I hope these help. 🙂 Sometimes it really can be behavioral, but it’s best to rule everything out first. You can also try Feliway – that helped my old lady cat when we got our current dog. It’s not cheap but it really can help.
Please I need help my Sister found a cat and it has a broken paw we don’t have the 2,000 dollars she got quoted at vet… what can we do??? Please help we want to help this cat the worse thing is this kitty is semi feral she’s friendly but is in pain we only have meds for 2 more days and if we can’t afford they suggest amputation ???????????? PLEASE HELP my cell is (562)324-0501? Thank You ????????
Hello,
If she is not handleable safely then I would try gage rest for 6-8 weeks to allow it to heal. Quite honestly I wouldn’t suggest amputation unless this is a very docile vaccinated house cat. They can’t be let outside without a foot.
If possible have her spayed, vaccinated and then places on cage rest (ie big cage with litterbox food water and bed). She stays in there 24/7 until the foot is healed. (They heal. Promise. But only if not allowed to run or jump). As she is in the crate you can work on trust so she can safely become an indoor cat. You don’t need $2000 you just need time and patience. Ty for saving her.
This is why I like you Dr. Magnificent, such an honest answer. No vet would say that. I was going to suggest reaching out to a rescue group for help with funds, but so true. A feral outdoor cat cant properly defend itself without a foot. Perhaps the vet could prescribe some long term anti-inflammatories to help while being on cage rest. They make metacam for cats, seems to work well with little issues.
Thank You so much
Can you suggest any rescue groups please
Thank You so much
Is there any rescue groups you can suggest?
My vet thought my cat had a polyp. He went in this morning for them to look into his throat under anesthesia. Turns out he doesn’t have a polyp just has an inflamed throat. They said they can just give him some medicine and he’ll be good. He’s had these symptoms for years.. can an inflamed throat last that long? do you have any advice? will the medicine cure it or just treat it?
Hello,
I’m glad they looked for you and hopefully started to give you some answers. Yes you can have chronic inflammation. Ask your vet for a short and long term treatment plan and then start there. Good luck.
So I took my cat to the er on Saturday for being blocked and he came home Tuesday evening 2,178$ bill that I couldnt aford I borrowed money from my dad …and 24 hours later be blocked again…wtf ! Why didnt they just keep him longer and leave the catheter in longer then 2 days ?? What am I to do now …I have no money ! And they wont do payment plans …am I suppose to just let him die ???!!! I have an appointment…but I cant pay it ….I had to make a go fund me ! I’m just so lost !
Please see the previous response.
Cats often re block when they are having issues. Im not sure why they didn’t refer you to your normal vet to continue with the catheter. X-rays and ultrasound would show what’s inside the bladder such as crystals or bladder stones, and then you’d have a better idea how to treat him. When I worked for the vets office we used royal canin urinary so food. It helps dissolve the crystals inside the bladder and helps to stop it from reoccurring. However this isn’t helpful while he is blocked since being blocked is an emergency. I would recommend taking him to your regular vet as an emergency hospital is twice as expensive. Look onto care credit to help with paying the bill, and reach out to rescue groups, maybe they can offer some help. Good luck.
Can very large amounts of dry cat treats given almost every hour cause bright red stool and vomitting?
Hello,
I’m sorry I don’t understand your question. Amounts of what? To whom? Is there a veterinarian involved in this to ask for help for your pet?
Hello. My vet suspects my cat has one or more nasal polyps. I’ve been going through this process of getting towards his surgery for a while. The vet told us he has a heart murmur, but only a grade 1 out of 6, I brought him to a 2nd vet and they said his heart sounds great, I went back to the first vet and they looked at him again and the doctor said he has a murmur and even his vet tech looked over it and didn’t hear it the first time and the doctor had to tell her where to listen and she finally heard it. They said we would need some test on his heart before during surgery to make sure his heart doesn’t fail while under anesthesia. I got an x-ray done of his heart which came back fine and i also got blood test done which came back fine. The test he got were included in the basic wellness screen. I’m thinking he has a intermittent heart murmur because of his heart rate going up due to stress of being in the car and at the vet. The vet is still telling me i can have an echocardiogram done to be really sure his heart is really fine. That’s another $390 on top of the $500 i’ve already spent and i just can’t afford it. I believe if 2 vets could simply look over it, and it’s only a grade 1/6, and the test and x-rays came back fine so far, he should be good… right? Well another thing is they don’t know how many polyps he has or where exactly they’re located, we asked for a throat/head xray and they told us they can only do it if he’s under anesthesia first. They are adding on so much stuff i feel like he doesn’t even need and gave us a price estimate from $450-$1,500. We asked the other vet and they said they can do a head x-ray, but they don’t even know if the procedure of removing the polyps is even anything they can do, and he might have to go to a specialist. Can the polyps for sure be seen on the x-rays because i really don’t want to waste any more money on something that doesn’t even help get down to the problem. I’m thinking i can just skip over the echocardiogram because it doesn’t seem it’s really needed, i get an x-ray of his head, find the size, how many, and where the polyps are located, then get a real price estimate. Can someone please answer my questions or give any advice! Thanks:)
Good morning- sorry you are having such a time with all of this. I am thinking that an X-ray won’t show much because a polyp is soft tissue. It is my understanding that an X-ray will only show bone? I am guessing you would need something along the lines of a CT scan to check where and what size any soft tissue mass would be. I’m thinking you should sit down with your vet and have a frank discussion about budget and options and explain your thoughts. At the end of the day- you both want what is best for your cat. Perhaps in talking through it, you both can come up with something that you’re both comfortable with. Best of luck !!????????
Hello. My 16 year old female burmese “crashed” Feb 29, and March 2nd was diagnosed with Feline Lower Urinary Disease and Chronic Kidney Disease.
Her Kidney values are now stable and her only elevated numbers are Creatanine at 2.6 and Bun at 46
but her bladder keeps flaring up
When diagnosed she was shooting projectile urine. Her bladder wall was thickened. Covenia did nothing but Amoxycillin resolved the infection.
2 months later she had a couple of accidents and it appeared that she had another infection. Once again Amoxycillin worked! She had a culture done and it showed no bacteria..
She has been taking supplements Kidney Gold, and Moxxor Fish Oil since April, and started CBD oil around June
Late July I started her on D-Mannose and COrn Silk Extract as suggested in the FLUTD facebook group
last month she started peeing blood clots, Vet instructed me to give her Sub Q 100ml to flush her and start amoxycilin immediately.. 7 day course and she was fine, but 2 days after the course finished was a repeat episode.
This time the vet suggested a higher dose at 1ml morning and night for 10 days.. Well it seemed to work amazing but last night was exactly FIVE DAYS after stopping the amoxycillin and she had another episode
We are doing a third round of antibiotics, this time amoxy mixed with something stronger..
He asked me to stop the corn silk and D-Mannose completely since they were the newest added to the regeme and he is wondering if they could have changed her bladder PH for the negative.
How can I minimize the recurrence?
Oh I have read all about stress being the cause and my new born baby was 4 months old at the end of Feb when Tashee had her first crash.
My vet and I talked about future possibilites in regard to Amitriptaline, Gaberpenton, Adequan injections
Cat’s diet = she refuses any wet food besides kitten fancy feast.. she will not eat anything else and will starve herself.
She is offered 2 fancy feast cans per day
she does steal dry kibble so my vet told me to get the Royal Canin Kidney kibble so that when she eats kibble its good for her
Sub q is 150ml twice a week as to minimize the pressure or force on urethra.
Cat is 100% indoors, burmese female steralized
Hello,
Wowza. That’s quite a story. I think I would recommend the following options to discuss.
1. Seek a feline exclusive practitioner. If available they are really helpful for the tough cases.
2. Consider an ultrasound.
3. Add cosequin daily
4. Consider an iv fluid hospitalization to really flush out the bladder
5. Xray of the body. May or may not need to do if doing ultrasound
6. Add a fountain, feliway and lots of litter options. Even a very low litter box like a baking sheet.
7. Environmental enrichment. Toys. Catnip. Window seat with bird feeder view. Etc.
Let me know what happens.
In my experience (with one of our dogs) it went away after the body had time to reabsorb it. Took some time, but we decided on a “wait and see”. I recall during that discussion with the vet that many times after draining with surgery, they do return. After it was reabsorbed, the ear was back to normal. Hope this was helpful.????????
It was helpful! Thank you! Was the haematoma on your dog big (filled the hole ear) or like medium sized like mine?
Hello,
Cats are much harder than dogs. In my opinion. The pinna tissue is much more fragile and they almost always wrinkle and deform. I have found the after appearance to be much worse if you don’t surgically remove the fluid. I usually do a large S shaped incision on the inside flap and sew it to the outside flap. It takes times and you have to be precise of the war will be to heavy and it will shrink, wrinkle and collapse leaving a cosmetically unpleasing ear. The other important point to discuss is that if you don’t treat it correctly the first time the ear is significantly more predisposed right problems down the road because the ear canal is occluded.
Thank you for the response, so in you opinion it’s best to just proceed with the surgery? Is there any chance that the ear can still stand up normally after the surgery?