Ear polyps

alana0011

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My 10 year old was diagnosed with Horner's Syndrome and he has an ear polyp. I have an appt. in late January with the specialist.
For now, after almost a week's worth of medicine, he is doing better and acting pretty normally. Since Saturday, he has had Tresaderm ear drops and since last Thursday, Meclizine.
My vet said that the polyp is not obstructing the ear canal, but it is close to the eardrum so they don't want to perform the surgery in the office.
I have been reading as much as I could about ear polyps, including on this site. I'm thinking of going to another vet to see what they say. I know the polyps come back after a simpler procedure, but he's 10, and if I don't have to put him through a more complicated surgery, I don't want to. My vet said she doubted he would need a total ear ablation.
 

fionasmom

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Welcome to The Cat Site! Are you concerned about the recurrence rate of the polyp if you don't do the complete ablation?
SAGE Journals: Your gateway to world-class research journals
This study may or may not help, but the stats are interesting that they recurrence rate was much higher in inexperienced surgeons.
Inflammatory Ear Polyps in Cats - BluePearl Pet Hospital
50% recurrence rate with traction in this article
Surgery STAT: Examining options to treat feline inflammatory polyps
But pred stopped recurrences in this study

Going to a specialist is a very good move for several reasons. I have always taken my animals to specialists/surgeons if any delicate procedure was done. Your vet was honest with you about this when she could have opted to do the surgery herself.

Your cat is 10 and could live many more years. How quickly do recurrences appear after the procedure? Could your cat need this procedure again over time if there is recurrence...which means another surgical event in the future.
 

Mamanyt1953

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Do discuss this with the specialist. That's why you are seeing them. 10 years is considered a senior, but so many cats live healthy lives into their late teens and early 20s. You don't want to need to repeat a surgery a few years down the road when he is even older.
 

Mamanyt1953

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Be sure to let us know the outcome! Now that you're here, in some small way, your cat becomes our cat, and we'll fret!
 
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alana0011

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That is very kind of you! Jasper is doing good for now, although one of his eyes doesn't look completely normal yet. I'll take him for a visit to his regular vet and then depending on what they say, I may drive 30 minutes to get a second opinion before I make the trip to Greenville.
 
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alana0011

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I took Jasper to another vet, and after an exam, he said that I could probably treat the polyp with Tresaderm and see how it goes. He recommended cancelling the appt. to the specialist vet. He said Tresaderm drops every other day might be good, and I wonder about this. I was going to talk to my other vets before I started this regimen.
 

fionasmom

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Did Tresaderm do anything before? I don't know if I would cancel the appointment with the specialist.
 
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alana0011

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If his polyp can be treated with Tresaderm, I will probably opt for this instead of putting him through a surgery. We'll see. He was on Tresaderm another time, at least, but this last time, it worked wonders.
 
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