Ear hematoma?

[rrrager]

Hey yall, long time no post, but that's a story for another time.

Looking for some quick short term management -- not solutions -- for a bubble in my senior cat's ear that bloomed overnight. Her usual vet office is closed today and I'm gonna call tomorrow, try to get her in asap to get it checked out + drained, but I'd like to make her as pain free as possible til whatever date.

The same bubble's been present since mid summer, but I had her checked out a few times when it was much smaller and more... air filled, I guess?? Since it wasn't bothering her and I was scraping by in my budget, we decided to leave it be and hope it eventually deflated -- and here we are, it's suddenly 5x the size and definitely filled with fluid. Not sure if she had a bad itch she was trying to get with her singular back leg or what, but yeah, this came up real fast.

She tolerates ice on it for short periods of time, and I'm doing my best to give her scritches without bothering the heavy flap. Is there anything else I can do for her while we wait to have it inspected??

 

[fionasmom]

The only responsible home treatment I can see is to continue to use ice or cool compresses. Even the websites that mention "home treatments" caution that no one should actually try much more than that, but should see a vet as you are going to do. When you call the vet tomorrow, make it clear that this is bordering on/or is and emergency. She is in distress and you can't manage it for her and are worried about other consequences. If your vet won't give you an appointment quickly, you might need to go to an ER. You will find some homeopathic compounds mentioned online, but it needs medical treatment and I would not invest the time or money, or risk your cat's discomfort, by using any of them.

 

[rrrager]

fionasmom

Thanks for the reply! This is essentially what I wanted confirmed, and wanted to ask around an experienced cat community before I did anything more than just ice and calling the vet. The advice articles were making me wary and I would never risk her health over them.

I'll try to get her in asap, though she's luckily not taking it too hard at the moment. Appetite, thirst, and affection levels are still up but there's definitely something... opaque in the bubble that's making it droop. I'll make sure to mention the emergency and hopefully they can get her in or at least let me drop her off.

Thanks again!

 

[fionasmom]

Let us know what happens. I am very cautious with any home remedy on an animal as they can't necessarily tell you if it just got a lot worse or more uncomfortable.