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#1
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HELP! Scared & Confused!!
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 |
#2
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HELP! Scared & Confused!!
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 |
#3
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HELP! Scared & Confused!!
Shirley,
It sounds like this is not a life or death situation that needs to be dealt with this week. If you have any hesitation at all, I would hold off on the surgery. Maybe talk to your regular vet or other vets and see what they think. I don't see why they'd need to rush her in to surgery on Friday. I also would want to be very sure that this is the right thing for your kitty. That's interesting about your ktity's eye. Last year, our then 15 yo cat was diagnosed with a middle ear infection. We had been fighting an ear infection with him for some months and then found it was also in the middle ear. The vet put him under for a thorough cleaning out of the ear and found that his eardrum is gone. We talked to a surgeon about the middle ear operation, but somehow just could not put him through it right then. He did not seem that uncomfortable and we chose to continue to treat as we were. His infection actually got better. I don't know how the inner ear looks now, but the outer infection got much better and he seems happy and healthy. The eye -- the surgeon said one of the complications that can happen from the surgery is an accidental cutting of the nerve that controls the eyelid. He said it is near the area they would be operating and is hard to see. He said we would have to apply drops in the eye for the rest of his life if that should occur. Each cat's case is different, but just please only do this when you're certain that it's right. Take care, Rhonda ~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 |
#4
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HELP! Scared & Confused!!
"~Cat Lover~" wrote
I'd be scared and confused too. It sounds like your kitty may have had a mini-stroke to me but I guess they tested for that and didnt find anything. |
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