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Hi everyone,
I recently came across this wonderful community while researching about Ventral Bulla Osteotomy surgery and Horner’s Syndrome. I tries to search for these two topics together to find a thread where it was discussed, but I couldn’t really find the answer(s) I was wanting. Please feel free to link me to any of the threads I might have overlooked.
First, some back ground information on my cat, Oliver.
In May 2021 I adopted Oliver who was rescued from Amman Jordan and flown over to the US (VA to be exact). He’s somewhere around 3 to 4 years old, but age is hard to estimate because he’s had a hard start to his life. He has obvious healed injuries and scars from previous cat fights.
When I first got him, he was a very loud and noisy breather. His soft palate was inspected for polyps but none were found.
Over the next year and a half he suffered from multiple rounds of nasal discharge and ear discharge in one or both nostrils/ears. We were constantly trying so many medications and antibiotics - Azithromycin being the main one that would get him feeling better and reduce the discharge.
The vet kept trying to say that the ears and nose were two different issues - but I’ve always known better. We took a culture of the ear crud and based on what grew, we were told to get a CT scan.
Last month, Dec 2022, the discharge stopped draining out of his nose and ears and was going straight down into his stomach.
We had to hospitalize him for a nasal flush (this got the discharge draining out the ears and nose when we got him) and we finally got the CT scan.
Spoiler alert - they found polyps and a massive amount of inflamed tissue from his inner ear to the base of his nose. He had at minimum 4 large polyps. Next step was a Ventral bulla osteotomy.
They suggested to split the VBO into two surgeries - one for the left ear cavity and base of his nose (done a week ago) and another for his right ear. This was in case the swelling was really bad, if both sides were done at once he might not be able to breathe.
The first surgery went well, the incision is healing nicely and I couldn’t be happier. He is quiet when he breathes! He has a slight case of Horner’s Syndrome but the vet said since he can blink and close his eye he doesn’t need drops to treat it.
I will definitely talk to the vet about these questions but I was wondering if anyone else could provide any insight.
Has anyone else done two VBOs before? How long did you wait in between the two surgeries?
I am thinking it’s a good idea to wait a “normal amount of time” aka 2 - 4 weeks?? For the Horner’s Syndrome to hopefully resolve itself before we do the second surgery. How long does the typical case of Horner’s last post VBO?
Even without the Horner’s, I’m not sure how long to wait in between each surgery. I don’t want the clean/fixed side to be contaminated by the dirty other side that still has the polyp. Is that a thing that could happen? Thanks for reading and any advice you can give!
I recently came across this wonderful community while researching about Ventral Bulla Osteotomy surgery and Horner’s Syndrome. I tries to search for these two topics together to find a thread where it was discussed, but I couldn’t really find the answer(s) I was wanting. Please feel free to link me to any of the threads I might have overlooked.
First, some back ground information on my cat, Oliver.
In May 2021 I adopted Oliver who was rescued from Amman Jordan and flown over to the US (VA to be exact). He’s somewhere around 3 to 4 years old, but age is hard to estimate because he’s had a hard start to his life. He has obvious healed injuries and scars from previous cat fights.
When I first got him, he was a very loud and noisy breather. His soft palate was inspected for polyps but none were found.
Over the next year and a half he suffered from multiple rounds of nasal discharge and ear discharge in one or both nostrils/ears. We were constantly trying so many medications and antibiotics - Azithromycin being the main one that would get him feeling better and reduce the discharge.
The vet kept trying to say that the ears and nose were two different issues - but I’ve always known better. We took a culture of the ear crud and based on what grew, we were told to get a CT scan.
Last month, Dec 2022, the discharge stopped draining out of his nose and ears and was going straight down into his stomach.
We had to hospitalize him for a nasal flush (this got the discharge draining out the ears and nose when we got him) and we finally got the CT scan.
Spoiler alert - they found polyps and a massive amount of inflamed tissue from his inner ear to the base of his nose. He had at minimum 4 large polyps. Next step was a Ventral bulla osteotomy.
They suggested to split the VBO into two surgeries - one for the left ear cavity and base of his nose (done a week ago) and another for his right ear. This was in case the swelling was really bad, if both sides were done at once he might not be able to breathe.
The first surgery went well, the incision is healing nicely and I couldn’t be happier. He is quiet when he breathes! He has a slight case of Horner’s Syndrome but the vet said since he can blink and close his eye he doesn’t need drops to treat it.
I will definitely talk to the vet about these questions but I was wondering if anyone else could provide any insight.
Has anyone else done two VBOs before? How long did you wait in between the two surgeries?
I am thinking it’s a good idea to wait a “normal amount of time” aka 2 - 4 weeks?? For the Horner’s Syndrome to hopefully resolve itself before we do the second surgery. How long does the typical case of Horner’s last post VBO?
Even without the Horner’s, I’m not sure how long to wait in between each surgery. I don’t want the clean/fixed side to be contaminated by the dirty other side that still has the polyp. Is that a thing that could happen? Thanks for reading and any advice you can give!
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