My cat has a big ear tumor making its ear droop. What should I do?

Ouch! That unfortunately should be checked out by a vet in person, especially if it's growing in size and looking more inflamed than usual, as this could indicate something such as an infection or growth that requires treatment. Typically, a vet will be able to take a sample of the area to determine the exact cells present and what treatment is needed. Until you can get to the vet, placing an Elizabethan (cone) collar on Sebastian may help keep him from rubbing or pawing at it to help it heal. Keeping the area clean and dry may also help. If you're having trouble affording veterinary care, these resources may also help so that you can get Sebastian in to see a vet: https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/are-you-having-trouble-affording-your-pet , https://www.dogheirs.com/resources-affordable-veterinary-care/

A picture may be helpful. If its not bleeding or bothering him, it is not an emergency. However, I would recommend that you get it checked out, as it may be a tumor. Skin tumors can be benign or malignant, and surgery can many times be curative. Get him in to the vet when you can! thanks for asking Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Complete surgical removal of the mass and the remnant of ear tissue is probably the best and most effective way to treat it. I would recommend to discuss it with your vet as the best treatment option should consider her full clinical status (basically other problems if present).

Your suspicions are right. This is a skin mass unfortunately. Due to the color, I would recommend having Nanni seen by your vet and the mass sampled to see if this is cancerous or benign (non-cancerous). Hopefully it is not cancerous and we can just monitor it. But if it does end up being cancerous (after viewing the cells that make up the mass microscopically), then removal of the mass can be discussed with your vet. I wish you all the best moving forward with Nanni. Take care!

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. It is difficult to guide you in the right direction without seeing the tumors myself, however, I would recommend having a veterinarian assess the ear canal to see if these tumors can be removed. If the tumors extend far enough into the canal and are causing problems (chronic ear infections, bleeding, sore, etc.) then the ear canal may need to be removed along with the tumors to ensure complete removal. Again, this is something I would have a veterinarian examine so that the most appropriate diagnostic and treatment recommendations can be made. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction!

This appears to be ceruminous cystomatosis - very common in Himalayan and Persian cats. It is a benign neoplastic condition but sometimes becomes a problem when lesions enlarge and occlude the ear canal, which disrupts normal self-cleaning. With just one cyst present I would not be overly concerned but if more start to appear and/or they get larger then you may need to have treatment done. Cryotherapy and/or laser treatment is usually the first line of treatment. It does not cure the issue then surgery to remove the entire ear canal is needed (TECA). At this stage I would just recommend monitoring it. Hope this helps. Best wishes.

I'm sorry to hear that Baby Kitty's ear has been such a problem for her! Surgery is generally the treatment of choice for aural hematomas, but these issues can also develop scar tissue over a period of at least 6-8 weeks. If Baby Kitty has an ongoing ear infection, this could also exacerbate any head shaking, preventing scar tissue from forming appropriately. No surgery ever offers a definitive guarantee, but it seems that surgically addressing the hematoma would be less invasive, less painful and likely less expensive than removing the entire pinna (ear flap). The only pinna amputations that I have seen have been due to cancerous masses on the ear because the surgery can be very painful and cause a significant amount of bleeding. Consider discussing this with your vet and have her ears checked to assure that an infection is not present and causing irritation. I'm glad to see that she has an e-collar on - keep it up! Avoid using the transdermal medication on her right ear for the time being and be sure to clean her left ear prior to each application. I hope that all goes well!