Popi is a 3-year-old Maine Coon cat. She first came to the clinic as she was suffering from a recurrence of othematoma. This is a bruise of the outer ear resulting in blood and tissue fluid accumulating in a painful pocket between the skin and the cartilage of the ear. These tissues are very loosely attached, so when they are separated, they don’t easily come together again.
Popi’s previous vets had drained it before and put her on special ear medication but unfortunately the problem of shaking her head did not go away and the haematoma came back.
We decided at the appointment to go ahead with x-rays of her skull and a video otoscopy to look for underlying causes and then drain the haematoma and put stitches in place to hold skin and cartilage together. There were no abnormalities found on further exam or on culture of the drained liquid which means that the cause of the original haematoma had resolved. Maybe it was just an accident, only Popi knows for sure.
She came in every couple of days to check on the haematoma – unfortunately 2 weeks after the first draining the haematoma came back again. Another procedure was performed to allow any liquid to drain and Popi’s owner had to very carefully clean her ear every day. She also had to wear a collar and got pain medication to help her not scratch and shake her head.
After 2 months and a lot of back and forth to the clinic we are pleased that Popi is comfortable again and able to enjoy life without a collar!
Well done Popi!