Just noticed that my cat has what appears to be a small aural hematoma in his left ear. Should I be concerned? He shows no discomfort, even when it is touched, and it seems to be a much milder case than others I have seen online.
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Small Aural Hematoma
- Thread starter bobbydd21
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It kinda depends on why the hematoma is there. They are, as you probably know, usually caused by mites. They can be caused by other infections, as well. Even though that one looks very mild, you'd want to be certain of the underlying cause and treat that. It certainly doesn't seem to be an emergency situation, but get it looked at reasonably soon. I'm enclosing a link to a decent article that seemed to sum up all of what several others said.
Cat Ear Hematoma | Cat Ear Problems | Feline Aural Hematoma | petMD
Cat Ear Hematoma | Cat Ear Problems | Feline Aural Hematoma | petMD
What happened with your cat's ear hematoma? My cat has one, along with several other issues and the current plan is to let it heal on its own. My cat has been diagnosed with diabetes. This was found after I noticed he was very thirsty and peeing a lot. He sticks his head under the bathtub faucet and drinks. The water drops on his head, which he shakes off. I think this head shaking has caused the hematoma. My vet says the surgery isn't always successful in draining the fluid and also isn't successful in saving the ear from being deformed. He isn't acting like it bothers him (he will even sleep on it, which I would think he would not do if it was painful). I'm not letting him drink from the faucet (to stop the head shaking) so hopefully I've found the cause. Steroid treatment would be an option if he wasn't diabetic. Wondering how long it will take to heal?
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- #4
It actually got bigger after I took these pictures so we brought him to the vet. They told us to try and ice it and see if it would stop growing and go down on its own. After icing it a 3-5 days it did stop getting bigger and took another 2-3 weeks to completely go away. His tip of his ear is slightly crinkled but it's nothing huge (actually gets a lot of compliments on how cute it looks haha). Anyways, try icing it and it should heal on its own!
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They can heal on their own, but do leave scaring. They can take several weeks to months to heal depending on the severity. Once healed the blood will reabsorb and the ear will crinkle up some in that area from the scar tissue. Usually they develope due to an underlying issue like earmites or an ear infection. The constant scratching or flicking of the ear causes blood to pool between the cartiledge and skin. It certainly could be from your kitty shaking his head after drinking from the faucet. Maybe try getting a fountain instead, that way your diabetic can still enjoy his preferred way of drinking from running water. My cat developed one and I elected to get it surgically repaired. Depending on how bad/big it is - basically our standard protocol is to place some plastic pins (we call them buttons) in it and then meshing on the outter side to flatten it out. We usually remove the device after a few weeks and voila! It's gone and it's hardly noticable that there was once an issue. Honestly I have seen A LOT of surgical repairs for these and never one that wasn't successful. If you can get it to go away on its own - perfect! But if it continues to grow and is bothersome having it corrected by a device or draining might be the best solution. It surprises me that you vet said that surgically repairing it isn't a guaranteed solution. It makes me wonder how they repair them and why they do not see ideal results. 
if it gets bigger or doesn't seem to be headed towards the road to recovery, maybe get a second opinion.
if it gets bigger or doesn't seem to be headed towards the road to recovery, maybe get a second opinion.- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #6
Strangely, my vet also told me that surgery was not guaranteed to work and that there was still a possibility for the ear to be deformed. The vet I went to was actially really against surgery unless it got significantly bigger. I got a second opinion as well over the phone and they said the same thing. My cats hematoma was pretty small though and only in the tip of his ear, even after it enlarged, so perhaps that is why they did not suggest surgery.
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That certainly could be. I'm just so surprised they say it may not work! I've never ever seen our method for correcting it not work...it does look pretty little in your pictures though. My kitties was a bit smaller than that. I do hope you can get it to heal on its own. You sound pretty savvy and on top of the situation. Especially since you did check with two different sources for opinions.