Hello Dr. Magnifico,

I called your clinic about cat ear polyps. I watched your videos on Youtube about these. I believe my cat has one and was wondering what price range your office charges for the removal of these. Here I either get we can’t give an estimate at all without seeing them or very expensive. I live in Wisconsin and am having problems with resources regarding this situation. I don’t know who else to contact. I want to get my cat help with his ear.

Thank you,
Valerie Wild

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!

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, a 6-y/o female feline cat with a persistent cough diagnosed with moderate asthma has been prescribed to use an inhaler twice a day, until symptoms improve, then recommended at least once a day, everyday. I have not heard of a cat needing or prescribed an inhaler. The cat has been on prednisone for a few weeks to help the cough, which did help improve the cough. Would you recommend seeking a second opinion? Thank you!

My cat will be having I-131 therapy. We have been instructed to use flushable cat litter or to keep the used litter in a closed container for 90 days before discarding. Our preference would be to use flushable cat litter, but we are having trouble finding one. Several were on Chewy.com but they are all out of stock. Any recommendations?

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!

Hi . I have a 9yr old DSM/Tabby female cat. I’ve recently taken to JVet but for years she was seen at Banfield Pet Hospital since I adopted in March of 2015..for years she has chronic ear infections most of the time tested positive for Yeast bur one year was positive for bacterial, however usually it is her left ear that bugs her the most then her right ear…however I thought maybe this could be an issue with possible food allergies because I do see her scratch around her face, neck and ears.. I first had her on Purina kitten. Pro plan then transfered her to adult pro plan..bur noticed she had stressed locked some fur off her back right leg due to maybe a grain allergy so I changed her to grain free diet of Purina Beyond; which she was fine for awhile but by the time she was 7 yrs of age Banfield recommended she be put on Royal Canin Satiety support diet …..which ik not sure if maybe the carbs in the dry food may be causing her to have an allergic reaction…. recently ive decided to take her off dry food completely and go to an wet food diety. I have her trying backwoods , weruvia and backwoods.. she seems to like the weruvia gluten free. Grain free and Carrigan free series and the backwoods duck & rabbit giblet/shreds … how would you recommend to portion her wet food so she go from 11 lbs to 9 lbs over time gradually and for allergies what symptoms I should look for if it may collate to her chronic yeast infections in her ears?

I have her schedule to be seen at JVet soon again since I don’t feel at all satisfied with the care at Banfield

This question is for Dr. Magnifico.

I looked for your video on herpes in your cat’s eye to get the medication you use for your cat so I can ask my personal vet for it. I can’t find it. Can you please let me know as soon as possible? Koneko is having a pretty bad flare up again.

Thanks Michelle Polansky

Hi! We’ve adopted an old cat who was previously a stray, he has hyperthyroidism and is underweight (6.5 pounds at last vet checkup a month ago). He’s been getting better in most aspects (his labs are normal now, no FIV, etc), but he’s been fighting ringworm consistently since January. We’ve done regular rounds of lime sulfur dip, miconazole spray and baths, and pretty constant environmental spore cleaning (regular laundry, Rescue antifungal spray, cleaning/vacuuming) for 2 months but he keeps picking it back up. We’ve been UV lighting him often, and when it finally seems to be going away a new spot pops up!! Any tips? We were initially discouraged from getting the prescription oral antifungal med for him due to his health fragility at first, but with his labs more normal and a higher weight would the systemic medication help?