Question:
I have a 19 year old (20, if he makes it to September) DSH who,
several months ago, developed a sore on his ear that has not healed
The ear is a "cauliflower" ear from having had a drainage tube
inserted after a bout with a rickettsial infection when he was about
eight.
The ear irritates him, clearly. I've taken him to the vet several
times and have tried several remedies, including the powder used for
"hot spots" and an elizabethan collar, but it gets no better. And it
does irritate him. It suppurates--seeps a clear fluid--and bleeds,
though the bleeding may be from him scratching at it. I have recently
begun using neosporin ointment with pain reliever and it does seem to
help, some. There is rawness and seeping both on the outside and the
inside of the eartip, though not down the ear canal that we can tell.
My vet tells me that if I choose a "next step" it would be removing
all or part of it, x-raying the cat to see if there's anything similar
in his gut (he's eating fine, though occasionally seems to have
trouble chewing on the same side as the bad ear) and biopsying the
growth. Because of his age, I am loath to do that and am quite
literally on the verge of euthanizing him, though that would break my
heart.
I am very curious, though,as to what this might be, though the vet
thinks it's a tumor. Is there a tumor that continually seeps and
irritates like this? It's hard on palpaption, not like an infection
(and we've tried antibiotics, anyway.) He's a ginger cat with pink
skin on the eartips, and it seems as though he's developing some
slight scaliness on the other ear, so a tumor does make sense.
Before I make this final decision, though, I'd like a better idea of
what we're dealing with and if there is anything that can be done for
him that won't cause him more distress than he's in, given his age.
If I do decide to euthanize, I need to know that there really is
nothing more that could have been done. I know that nearly 20 is a
ripe old age, but he seems healthy in just about every other respect
except for some arthritis, though having it myself I know how painful
it can be, but he's lost no weight since all of this began. I just
need to know, for my own sanity, that I've covered all of the bases
short of any kind of surgery. At his age I don't think general
anesthesia makes any sense.
I guess I'd feel better if I could say (to myself) that I had him
euthanized for something more specific than an "ear sore."
Anybody have any thoughts on what this might be. This cat has been my
longest relationship, sad to say. I didn't even live with my mother
for 19 years!
Answer:
Does sound suspiciously like skin cancer to me. We've got the second-highest
skin cancer rate in the world down here (in humans) and the symptoms you
describe are just what we are told to be suspicious of. Add to that he's a
pink-eared cat, and that makes it pretty much certain in my book. I'm no
expert, but it sounds right to me.
