Thanks - I'll see if my vet will try something other than an actual surgery. If she has to put him under I can't take that chance. Fortunately he's not a show cat so I guess the appearance of the ear doesn't really matter. I just feel bad for him because he's had such a rough life, with the paralysis and pressure sores. Poor little guy looks like he's been through a war.
--- Jennifer Phaewryn O'Gwynn <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > hematomas are usually not a big deal, and are easily > lanced and drained. The only > thing that is difficult with cats with hematomas is > that you should place a pressure > bandage on the ear, after it is packed with a roll > of gauze, then tape the ear down > on the roll, and wrap the head with bandages to keep > pressure on it so it doesn't > refill. On dogs, no problems, on cats... they think > you are killing them and fight > the bandages (plus their anatomy makes it difficult > to bandage the head without > limiting their ability to open their mouth). I would > think you could place a small > drain in the incision, and put a couple of stitches > in it, if the vet uses a really > small drain that is flexible and light, it shouldn't > bother the cat too much. You'll > have to keep an elizabeth collar on him until it's > removed so he doesn't pull it out. > The risk there is that the ear will tend to have a > "deflated balloon" look as it > heals. The pressure bandages help to hold the ear > shape as it heals. It's possible > you could use a piece of foam and ear glue with tape > (like they use for newly cropped > ears on dobermans) to try to save the ear shape as > it heals... without the pressure > bandages. The vet would have to put the drain in the > back of the ear, and cut the > foam to fit the inside of the ear, and glue it on, > then try to wrap the tape around > it without blocking the drain. I'd be willing to > give it a shot, but not sure if you > could convince your vet to try it (you could always > just have him do the surgery and > insert a drain in the back of the ear and then do > the aftercare at home yourself). > Chances are, you're going to end up with a wrinkled > ear though. Hopefully this isn't > a show cat.... > This page shows the basic method, of course, you > modify the size and shape of the > foam to do this to a cat: > http://www.semperfiboxers.com/semper_fi_boxers2_038.htm > > Phaewryn > > Please save Whitey! http://ucat.us/Whitey.html > VT low cost Spay&Neuter, and Emergency Financial > Assistance for cat owners: > http://ucat.us/VermontLowCost.html > Special Needs Cat Resources: > http://ucat.us/domesticcatlinks.html > > > ____________________________________________________________________________________ Yahoo! Music Unlimited Access over 1 million songs. http://music.yahoo.com/unlimited
