On Apr 29, 9:36*pm, (~Cat Lover~) wrote:
I have a 15 year old kitty cat. About a month ago I noticed her right
eye could not blink. Her third eyelid DOES close, so she is keeping her
eye moist. Took her to the vet, did tests, seems she has some facial
paralysis. We scheduled an MRI for her in Madison (I live in Wi, that is
about two hours away *from me and it is where out *Vet. Teaching
Hospital is). The neurologist said the following:
*She has a lot of fluid in her middle ear area (but they do NOT think
that is what's causing her paraylsis. ) HOWEVER- if not treated it could
lead to other infections, diseases etc. The MRI showed NO sign of brain
disease.
My options are to do a bulla osteotomy, or *just flush the ears out. But
flushing *may only get some of the fluid, and probably will come back.
**He also said if we DON'T do it, there more than likely will be
problems, infections, diseases as a result down the road.
**I guess my reluctancy is due to this- she has had this for awhile,
and
she has done ok so far... my concern is putting her thru this. THEY
were not concerned about her going UNDER again a couple days apart-
that's MY concern?! *(She was under *for the MRI today, the surgery
would be Friday.. her organs are fine.)
She has had chronic upper respiratory infections, sniffles etc * for a
couple days at a time, then just go away. It was always treated.. she's
had this for *over 10 years.
*She had a *bad *ear infection last year, all kinds of meds & cultures-
finally went away. Then developed a polyp, biopsied it, it was negative.
My concern is to ME- *she dosn't have all the signs that warrants this
type of surgery...
**Maybe this is the source of her chronic upper respiratory issues,
but
she has them for a few days and then is fine. (He didn't say that, I
just concluded it)
*She has had head twitching or jerking (like up & down) too. * You don't
see it unless you stare at her, it hasn't gotten worse within the last
year either. Maybe the fluid build up *is causing that, *but nothing was
conclusive... I am also concerned if I DON'T do it now, she will be
older when I may *HAVE to do it!
*ANY *help, thoughts, input? *PLEASE help us out ....
*Shirley

Hi Shirley,

I understand your dilemma. I too have a 15 year old cat and am always
trying to decide between quality of health and quality of life when it
comes to what I am willing to put her through at the vet's for the
sake of a better "long-term" outcome. It is possible that persistent
chronic fluid in the middle ear can lead to respiratory infections,
but it's tough to make a judgment call based on what might happen. Do
they feel that it is in any way related to the open eye? If not, then
that too is a red herring in your decision. However, you might want
to ask about the head-twitching or jerking because fluid in the ear
will affect sense of balance and if it is bothering her then you have
active symptoms which are making her daily life a bit uncomfortable
(or maybe more than that since cats will not generally complain about
much out loud when they are in discomfort or even downright pain). Do
you see any evidence that her hearing is in anyway affected? Even if
her hearing is normal, you might want to think about tinnitus or any
upset in her hearing which is most distressing to a cat.

I'm not trying to scare you with unlikely possibilites or anything,
but I suspect that if you have any evidence that she is having
symptoms from the fluid in the ear that might guide you toward doing
something about it, regardless of whether or not the infection risk is
higher or not.

By the way, the sedative used for the MRI is probably not the same
thing as the gas anesthesia used for surgery so it's not likely to
increase her anesthesia risk.

Good luck, whichever way you go

--tension