Deep Ear Infection

Phil P. wrote:


Ask your vet to take an x-ray of your cat's tympanic bulla- its a sac-like
bone that acts like sort of a resonance chamber for the ear. Pus and other
infectious crap from untreated external/middle ear infections can accumulate
and plug the bulla which in turn can cause resistant, recurrent infections.
You might luck out with just a good draining and cleaning.


She did x-ray his ear (actually his whole head) and found material on
both sides -- in both ear canals. She did a saline flush on the side
that is infected and washed it out as best she could without the surgery.

I need to talk to her again when the culture comes back and get her take
on where to go from here. I wasn't here to get the report after surgery.
She knows his situation and is a good vet, I trust her.

I mainly posted here because I wanted to see if other people had cats
that went through this and what they chose to do -- and the outcome.

Rhonda

Hi Rhonda

Did he have a lot of dark waxy stuff in his ear, too?



His symptom was scratching and digging at that ear. The scratching got
better with the antibiotic drops but the infection did not go away.


Rhonda

"Rhonda" wrote in message
...

Toni,

I don't think I've met you -- are you a vet?



Not at all.

But I have groomed 15 dogs/cats a day five days a week for 34 years so have
looked inside well over 100,000 sets of ears, plus have followed each of
these animals over the course of their lives.

I understand that the lack of a medical degree renders my opinions useless,
but I have seen hundreds of animals that seemingly do not feel pain despite
raging chronic problems.

It is my opinion that they are just amazingly able to compartmentalize pain-
in other words learn to ignore it.
It's the only option they have if the problem remains unresolved.

I did not mean to imply that the animal should be catagorically euthanized-
I feel that he should be cured. I did mean that euthanasia is preferable IMO
to lifelong chronic pain the magnitude of deep ear infections and that the
surgeries work so please go for it.
It is worth a try, no?

Maybe that's all I should have said.
The surgeries work..


--
Toni
http://www.irish-wolfhounds.com

Buddy,

You can't really see in Bear's ears, they are almost crumpled flat.

The vet looked down in with equipment when this first started and said
they were "very dirty." She said it was a lot of pus and other debris,
and I did see very dark stuff come out on the equipment.

He did also have a yeast infection in the beginning but that seems to be
gone.

Rhonda

Buddy wrote:

Hi Rhonda

Did he have a lot of dark waxy stuff in his ear, too?

Maybe what you were doing to make your point is to play on emotions and
were not really making a snap internet decision to break the choices
down to surgery or euthanasia. Believe me, you don't need to play on my
emotions.

What I'm trying to do for Bear is make the best decision for his
particular case. He's 14 years old and a surgery like that is a major
decision. It has to be worth it for him -- there has to be a good chance
to get rid of this. I don't want to put him through hell and have the
infection still be there.

So my questions remain the same -- do you know any cats that have gone
through this particular surgery? Did it cure the infection?

Rhonda

Toni wrote:


Not at all.

But I have groomed 15 dogs/cats a day five days a week for 34 years so have
looked inside well over 100,000 sets of ears, plus have followed each of
these animals over the course of their lives.

I understand that the lack of a medical degree renders my opinions useless,
but I have seen hundreds of animals that seemingly do not feel pain despite
raging chronic problems.

It is my opinion that they are just amazingly able to compartmentalize pain-
in other words learn to ignore it.
It's the only option they have if the problem remains unresolved.

I did not mean to imply that the animal should be catagorically euthanized-
I feel that he should be cured. I did mean that euthanasia is preferable IMO
to lifelong chronic pain the magnitude of deep ear infections and that the
surgeries work so please go for it.
It is worth a try, no?

Maybe that's all I should have said.
The surgeries work..

"Rhonda" wrote in message
...

She knows his situation and is a good vet,

If she was a "good vet" she never would have allowed the condition to
progress so far- to the point where the infection destroyed the entire
eardrum and probably the vertical and horizontal ear canal as well and will
now probably require risky major surgery. If she was a "good vet" she would
have known that otitis media is a perpetuating factor for chronic or
recurrent otitis externa and would not have delayed referring you to a
specialist for so long. Your vet is mediocre bordering on incompetent- but
you can't see that because you don't know any better.

And you- you dole out advice and advise to people to seek a second opinion
when their vet isn't making progress yet you allowed your own cat to suffer
for months and allowed a reversible disease to destroy his ear. You should
have been gone after no more than a month.


I trust her.


That's because you don't know any better.



I mainly posted here because I wanted to see if other people had cats
that went through this and what they chose to do -- and the outcome.


Yeah, I had the lateral wall resection done on a few of out shelter cats and
a TECA preformed on a feral- and they pulled through ok. If I had to do it
all over, I would have looked into a vertical ear canal ablation instead of
a TECA. But it sounds like your cat's condition is well beyond the Zepp
procedure- especially if there's irreversible changes to the vertical and/or
horizontal ear canals. If his eardrum is "gone"- the middle is ear probably
diseased as well. The eardrum is also a protective barrier for the middle
ear. In that case your only option might be a TECA.

Btw, did your "good vet" happen to mention that lateral wall resection *does
not* cure the underlying cause of the infections? -- it only helps the ear
canal to drain and ventilates the ear canal which helps to reduce moisture
and humidity- and makes cleaning a little easier. Its *not* a cure.

If only the vertical ear canal is damaged, your cat might be a candidate for
vertical ear canal ablation- which combines the benefits of both procedures
(Zepp/TECA) with fewer potential complications of the TECA. I'm sure your
"good vet" explained that to you...

I hope your sad devotion to an incompetent vet won't prolong your cat's
suffering any longer.

Phil, you live in such a strange, fantasy world where you are god of all
cat knowledge. You do everything right and everyone else, including all
vets, do it wrong.

Thanks for playing, but I don't want to.

Rhonda

"Rhonda" wrote in message
...

So my questions remain the same -- do you know any cats that have gone
through this particular surgery? Did it cure the infection?



I can (off the top of my head) think of three cats I have seen in the past
couple of decades that had the complete ablation procedure, and yes it did
clear up the infection- cleared everything the hell out, in fact. It is a
complete last resort procedure, but is effective.

I can think of perhaps five or so that had the Zepp procedure done and the
results there were more mixed, although I believe it depends a great deal on
aftercare. Some kept their chronic infections but the ears drained better
and were easier to clean.

*If it were me* I would have the total removal of everything done and call
it over.


--
Toni
http://www.irish-wolfhounds.com

"Rhonda" wrote in message
...
Phil, you live in such a strange, fantasy world where you are god of all
cat knowledge.

It just seems that way to you- its a relativity thing.


You do everything right


I wouldn't say I "do everything right". But I sure know when to seek a
second opinion. What would you have done if he was bleeding? Wait to see if
it stopped?


and everyone else, including all
vets, do it wrong.


Not "everyone" or "all" vets do everything wrong- but you and your bungling
vet certainly did. I damned sure wouldn't have waited *months* until an ear
infection totally destroyed a cat's eardrum and closed up the ear canal
before getting a referral to a specialist or at least seeking a second
opinion-- especially when it involves older cats whose diseases need to be
resolved quickly due to their overall diminished resistance.


Thanks for playing, but I don't want to.

Wise choice.

"Toni" wrote in message
. ..

"Rhonda" wrote in message
...

Toni,

I don't think I've met you -- are you a vet?



Not at all.

But I have groomed 15 dogs/cats a day five days a week for 34 years so
have
looked inside well over 100,000 sets of ears, plus have followed each of
these animals over the course of their lives.

I understand that the lack of a medical degree renders my opinions
useless,


That's not true. Credentials don't necessarily guarantee credibility- one
can exist without the other. I'm sure you understand cat psychology better
than many vets.

Phil