this is probably a stretch, but i had to ask as well...

is it at all possible that the subQ fluids i give her every night might somehow leak into her ear canal or something? i mean, she does love to just lie down pretty soon after her fluids, so could some of it be draining into her ears instead of the rest of her body?

like i said, i just had to ask.

btw, the fluid might have been maybe just little bit yellowish, sorta like the color of human earwax maybe, so i didn't think it was any kind of infection. but what do i know?

 

safe to put CRF cat under anesthesia?

looking for advice and opinions. my cat has had a couple of ear infections in the last month. just her right ear filled with fluid and it eventually drained and dried up on its own after a few days each time. but i've been reading stuff online about possible causes and saw there's a possibility (however slight hopefully) that she has a tumor in the ear canal.
of course, i'd like to get it checked out, but in order for the vet to do that, they'll likely have to put her under anesthesia to do a proper exam.

with daily subQ fluids and epakitin and low phosp food, my cat's kidney values have been stable for @3 yrs, she's 14, but she also is on blood pressure meds.

i hear high blood pressure presents a real risk for anesthesia.
i do plan on asking my vet how well-prepared they are to monitor her bp if she goes under, but was hoping i could get other opinions and advice here. would you put your cat under for this exam? or should i wait till the next ear infection and hope that antibiotics do the trick and then bring her into the vet to do the exam at the same time? or is it better to put her under when she does NOT have an infection so her system is not already compromised?

thx for any help.

 

Is the ear canal exam something the vet suggested be done? I would definitely talk to my vet about this. With a hypertensive CRF 14 year old, anesthesia seems a pretty risky undertaking. I personally trust my vet enough to ask her "if this was your cat, would you do this?"

My first reaction is that I wouldn't do it. But if my vet presented a strong case for it with reasonable rationale, I might consider it.

 

I'm really ignorant on this one but sometimes anaesthesia isn't a good option. I had a tom cat (taken in as an adult) with bad asthma. I always have my cats neutered but with him (on Vet's advice) I didn't. You ahve to talk through what is best for your cat.

 

thanks for the replies. that definitely gives me more perspective.

 

Maggie,
It's not impossible to do...IF...you have a vet that has the newest equipment for monitoring all her vitals...AND...a dedicated anesthesiologist that will be there the WHOLE time monitoring her!
If I was going to do something like this, I'd be asking a lot of questions...
You're her voice, and her advocate!
Whatever you decide, I will be Keeping All Paws Crossed for her!
Sharon

 

thx, sharon. yeah, i read about finding a place that has all the right equipment for monitoring under anesthesia on Tanya's website regarding dental surgery at least and I'd actually be surprised if my own vet is that sophisticated unfortunately.

and forgot to respond to NebraskaCat's question about whether this was the vet's idea or not and actually i haven't even asked the vet about it yet. i was just trolling online and saw the discussions about tumors in the ear canal so wanted to check for stories on the forum first. wanted to be more prepared before my vet even suggested anything like anesthesia IF she even did so that i wouldn't get pressured into anything.

thx again for the help everyone!

 

Hi Maggie!
This sounds interesting...
Have you asked your vet about this?
The question about the subQ fluids, doesn't seem that far fetched to me...
Again another question for your vet?!
Hope someone whos had a cat, with maybe something similar, can help!
Meanwhile, All Paws Crossed for her!
Sharon

 

thx, sharon.
i definitely will ask the vet about all these things, but i guess it's not going to happen just yet because the fluids HAVE seemed to dry up now. it took about 5 days to dry up. i had an appointment for the vet yesterday but cancelled because i didn't think there would even be any fluid for them to test anymore to see if she needed antibiotics and i didn't want it to be a wasted and expensive trip. i'm hoping it's like the ringworm she caught from another other cat we adopted who brought it with him unfortunately a few years ago. we ended up using the cream for her ringworm but she licked so much of it off that i don't even know if it worked because the ringworm eventually cleared up after 2 weeks, anyway. i still laugh about something i read about ringworm back then - it said "with treatment, ringworm will clear up after 14 days. withOUT treatment, it will clear up after 2 weeks." ha ha! this was before we found out about her kidney problems, but maybe her system was already compromised a bit by then and that's why she contracted that ringworm.

anyway, i'm through with worrying, so the NEXT time she gets an ear infection i won't wait. i will go to the vet immediately so they can test her and give her antibiotics right away so she hopefully doesn't have to suffer (and I can stop wondering) for 5 days again. this time around i did increase her lysine hoping it would help a little...

 

Maggie,
If she has another ear flare up with fluid, please do get it checked immediately! It would be sad if she lost her hearing...although deaf cats can do very well, as long as they are indoor only!
Just a thought...
Sharon