| Title: | Meower Power is Valuing Differences |
| Notice: | FELINE_V1 is moving 1/11/94 5pm PST to MISERY |
| Moderator: | MISERY::VANZUYLEN_RO |
| Created: | Sun Feb 09 1986 |
| Last Modified: | Tue Jan 11 1994 |
| Last Successful Update: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
| Number of topics: | 5089 |
| Total number of notes: | 60366 |
A friend of mine has a white cat who is about ten years old. Snowy
is an outdoor cat and has the generic outdoor white cat problem
of getting severely sunburned ears. He was also originally a feral
cat, so putting a sunblock on his ears every day or some such is
out o fthe question. My impression is that this kind of chronic
ear damage can lead to cancer, but I may be wrong. Snowy hs had
this problem for years, without seeming to be uncomfortable. Twice
in the last week or so, however, my friend has found a lot of blood
around. apparently Snow hit his ears or knocked the scabs off or
somesuch. So, next week he goes in to have his ears trimmed off.
The vet says his fur will grow over the area and he'll be okay.
My question is, does anyone have any advice that would be applicable
to this situation? We really don't know what to expect in terms
of any problems he may encounter. Thanks from us and Snowy. P.S.
the vet has been suggesting this ear trimming for some time, and
Snow's ears do look bad, so we are pretty much sure this is the
right thing to do.
| T.R | Title | User | Personal Name | Date | Lines |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 741.1 | Might be Mites | 25192::MECLER | FRANK | Thu Sep 03 1987 11:27 | 8 |
Another thing you might want to consider is infestation of ear mites.
These critters will cause the cat to dig and scratch at its ears
until bloody scabs form, tear off and reform. There is an earlier
note on ear mites but I don't remember the number. They're a pain in
the butt to get rid of.
Frank
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| 741.2 | no mites | CIRCUS::KOLLING | Thu Sep 03 1987 17:34 | 6 | |
Thanks, but Snowy doesn't have mites, and he pretty much leaves
his ears alone -- that's why she's let this go on for so long, because
the problem didn't seem to be causing him distress. It's just in
the last couple of weeks that this business of the scabs coming
off has shown up.
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| 741.3 | NZOV07::PARKINSON | Hrothgar | Fri Sep 25 1987 10:02 | 4 | |
Our neighbours' daughter once had a white cat who eventually developed
cancer from chronic sunburning of his ears; this is apparently a
real danger if the sunburning goes on and on. The cancer spread,
and he had to be put down.
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| 741.4 | CIRCUS::KOLLING | Fri Sep 25 1987 18:11 | 8 | ||
Snow had his ears trimmed on Monday, and seems to be doind okay.
He's at home now, wearing an Elizabethan collar which will come
off a week from today. He's getting lots of salmon and shrimps
and other goodies hand-fed to him, since he has a little trouble
getting into his food dish because of the collar. My neighbors
also have a new white cat who's showing signs of this problem on
her ears. White pussycats should be indoor cats.....
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| 741.5 | Snowy -> Snowy Golden Eyes | CIRCUS::KOLLING | Sun Oct 04 1987 16:40 | 15 | |
Snowy Golden eyes had his stitches token out on Friday, and is now
enjoying being outside again (my own cats are indoor pusses; I've
decided that discussions about indoors vs. outdoors are like religious
discussions). His Mum found that she could leave his Elizabethan
collar off while she was home with him, as he was very good about
not scratching his ears, and the collar made it uncomfortable for
him to eat and sleep. She put the collar on when she left the house.
He looks pretty good, and will look better once everything completes
healing and his fur grows back some more. His eyes, lovely, huge
golden, almond-shaped, are much more noticable now, hence his new
nickname.
The vet said the biopsy on his ears showed a precancerous area on
one, that would surely have turned cancerous by next summer.
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