Black growths in cats ears

bugmankeith

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I just noticed my 11 year old cat has multiple black growths in various locations inside both her ears. She has a vet visit this month anyway for vaccines and ear cleaning because I suspect her ear mites have not gone away she is always shaking her head and scratching her ears and clear fluid comes out of them. Now I've noticed these growths and I'm double worried because of her age. At first I thought they were engorged ticks they are black, raised, smooth, and somewhat shiny in appearance. I gently felt one but it's not hard like a tick and there are many of them per ear and there are no visible legs like a tick would have. My cat now is scratching her ears so bad she has sores outside and she hasn't been herself for months, these growths were not there at all last year so that's why I'm shocked to see them.

What could they be, I want to know if the vets need to surgically remove them and for her ears do they need to put her under anesthesia to really get a good cleaning because the q tip method and ear cleaner just don't work good anymore. Now I'm thinking these could be growing in her ear canal further causing issues and threat of going deaf!
 

stephanietx

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That doesn't look normal.  I'd get her to the vet sooner if possible.
 
 

mrblanche

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Looking like hematomas (sp?) to me.  They can damage the external ears pretty quickly.  Not sure what causes them.  I'm not a vet, and I'm just judging by what I've seen on the shelter cats and here on this site, so a vet visit promptly is probably a good idea. 
 
 

merlycat

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I know this is an old thread but I was wondering what the black growths ended up being in your cat's ears. My cat has growths that look EXACTLY like the pictures you posted of your cat. I took him to the vet this morning. The vet is recommending removal but didn't want to say if it was something benign or if it was cancerous. He said because they were black in color that concerned him. If you could let me know what happened with your cat I'd very much appreciate it!! I love my kitty! 
 
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bugmankeith

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I know this is an old thread but I was wondering what the black growths ended up being in your cat's ears. My cat has growths that look EXACTLY like the pictures you posted of your cat. I took him to the vet this morning. The vet is recommending removal but didn't want to say if it was something benign or if it was cancerous. He said because they were black in color that concerned him. If you could let me know what happened with your cat I'd very much appreciate it!! I love my kitty! 
Nothing about looking cancerous was mentioned, I was told they are blood filled cysts caused by excessive scratching in the ears, my cat had bad ears so mabye the vet is correct? The only thing I was told is if they get larger they have to be removed because they could block the ear canal and that can cause excessive wax buildup, infection, not to mention the cat scratching more till a cyst bleeds. So far they haven't grown but were keeping an eye on them.
 

merlycat

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Thank you for your reply! My cat has always had issues with getting yeast infections in his ears. After researching and hearing what you were told I believe that these are probably just cysts in my cat as well. That's what they looked like to me before the vet said anything. Thanks again for the reply! 
 

hazelcat

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I have a 20 year old cat and I found a growth just like that in her ear after I saw her really having problems with her ear.  I'm taking her to the vet today and I hope that it might only be a cyst. She has been a major part of my family for a long time and I'm really scared.
 

merlycat

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Good luck! I think if it looks like the pictures on this thread, it's very likely it could just be a cyst! :)
 

niik

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Looks like Feline Apocrine Cysts (Cystomatosis) Look to the underlying cause of them, they usually come up due to irratation, so was there a mites problem prior to it, a fungus or bacteria infection prior? Maybe an allergy to a food or something in the environment, or maybe excessive scratching?
 
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bugmankeith

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I wanted to give an update being this is an old thread. Sadly my cat was put to sleep 2 years ago.

our vet told us this was cancer, the lumps when scratched would bleed profusely. A year after posting this topic the lumps got larger and multiplied in both ears to the point my cat couldnt scratch her ear without bleeding and blood splattering everywhere daily. She had constant ear infections and pus despite us getting her ears cleaned weekly and was in severe pain. On top of that she started not being able to hold her urine and suddenly one day couldn’t walk she could stand leaning against something but then just fall down and had no broken bones or injury.

When she was young she had severe ear mites which were treated but our old vet never cleaned her ears years after and that’s when the lumps started getting bigger. We were told they’d have to cut them out surgically but there was so many and she was 16 we felt it was best to end her pain.
 

jefferd18

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I wanted to give an update being this is an old thread. Sadly my cat was put to sleep 2 years ago.

our vet told us this was cancer, the lumps when scratched would bleed profusely. A year after posting this topic the lumps got larger and multiplied in both ears to the point my cat couldnt scratch her ear without bleeding and blood splattering everywhere daily. She had constant ear infections and pus despite us getting her ears cleaned weekly and was in severe pain. On top of that she started not being able to hold her urine and suddenly one day couldn’t walk she could stand leaning against something but then just fall down and had no broken bones or injury.

When she was young she had severe ear mites which were treated but our old vet never cleaned her ears years after and that’s when the lumps started getting bigger. We were told they’d have to cut them out surgically but there was so many and she was 16 we felt it was best to end her pain.


I am so sorry to hear about your kitty. You made the right decision. At age 16 she was not going to bounce back and you spared her the anguish of trying to.

A few years back I noticed that one of my cats had the foulest stench coming from one of his ears. When I took him to the vet the first thing she thought of was cancer. She was right and my cat succumbed to it four months later.

Once again, I am so sorry about the passing of your feline friend.
 
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