Ear Cleaning gone bad!

[tessblack]

I had Tux and twitch's ears cleaned today and about 2 hours after Tux keeps losing his balance and falling over. He is constantly shaking his head. I took him to the night clinic and they were not much help just telling me it is inner ear issues. He would not let her get close to his ears without making a horrible noise. I am dropping him off at the regular vet in the am but I am so worried about him. He is wanting to play and everything else is fine. The falling does not seem like it bothers him at all but scares the crap out of us. Anyone have similiar issues?

Thanks
tess

 

[Mews2much]

My Mentor had her cats ears cleaned at the vet and she has a broken ear drum.
This happened 2 weeks ago.
I would have them check for that.

 

[PitRottMommy]

Tess,
This is not a common occurrence after having had your companion's ears cleaned. As the after hours hospital mentioned, this likely is something to do with an inner ear disruption. It could be because something is pressing against the ear canal or because something inside of the ear is compromised. Because of how sensitive your companion is now that this has happened, you may have to elect to have him sedated and an inner ear evaluation performed. This would not be unwise considering sedation will likely be required to remove anything that may be down deep and causing these symptoms. Make sure, if they do elect to sedate, that ketamine is not used. Go for something more safe like Iso or sevoflurane gas.

 

[abbyknitter]

I am so sorry I hope everything goes well and he gets better soon

 

[TanyaT]

ohhh nooo! Poor poor baby!! I hope they figure out whats going on and it gets better real soon!

 

[kiennasmom]

I've never had any of my cats lose their balance but the first time I put a drop into Bayleigh's ear, she started excessively frothing at the mouth and gagging and making this horrible sound. It went on for what felt like forever but was probably only 5-7 minutes. I was scared she was seizuring or something. Just as I started to put her in her carrier to head to the emergency vet, she stopped. She was kind of in a daze for several hours. My knees were like jelly and I was a wreck thinking that I had hurt her. I never really found out what was wrong but only use moistened cotton balls now. I never put any kind of drops directly in her ears anymore.

Recently when she had some dental work done, the vet did an ear irrigation (?) where they basically did a very thorough cleaning. They didn't mention finding anything wrong but I'm still not taking any chances. I can live with a little crud in her ears

My thoughts are with you. How scary!! I hope your baby is better very soon!

 

[Maggies mommy]

I hope tux is ok

 

[heather]

Sorry to hear this. I hope Tux is going to be ok.

 

[Rhubarb]

That sucks! It is such a horrible feeling to think something is wrong and be powerless to help them in the moment. I hope he is ok! Keep us posted!

 

[tessblack]

Tess,
This is not a common occurrence after having had your companion's ears cleaned. As the after hours hospital mentioned, this likely is something to do with an inner ear disruption. It could be because something is pressing against the ear canal or because something inside of the ear is compromised. Because of how sensitive your companion is now that this has happened, you may have to elect to have him sedated and an inner ear evaluation performed. This would not be unwise considering sedation will likely be required to remove anything that may be down deep and causing these symptoms. Make sure, if they do elect to sedate, that ketamine is not used. Go for something more safe like Iso or sevoflurane gas.

Well the vet I got to does not have a scope and said that he is only stumbling now when he shakes his head. He has some antibiotics for sneezing and she said they should help if there is an infection. I am going to wait a few days and see if he improves, he has improved a bit since last night. I just don't want to keep giving him all kinds of stuff right now. I think I am going to seek out a different vet, just don't feel very comfortable with this one. If he is not better in a few days I am going to get a scope done. Thanks for the heads up on the ketamine. What is bad about it?

Thanks everyone for your support and stories, I just feel so helpless and worried. My husband is picking him up this afternoon and going to get something set up so he can't climb too high on things and try and jump with his balance.

Thanks everyone will update soon.

tess

 

[PitRottMommy]

If your vet doesn't have even an otoscope, I am curious why we trusted him to clean the ears to begin with. Otoscopes don't run more than $50 in most cases. If the clinic you're visiting now can't afford to purchase one, please do find another. They're skimping costs in places that don't need to be skimped.

An endoscope is entirely different and doesn't much yield a better chance of discovering anything within the ear. An otoscope would work just fine to determine if there was any tympanic damage.

If he gets any worse, you need to seek immediate care. Damage to the internal workings of the ear can lead to permanent damage and behavioral changes.

Ketamine is an old-school sedative that has a tendency to cause problems in pets with cardiac disfunction (and is overall consider "unsafe" because we have absolutely nothing on the market to recover the pet with, should there be an emergency while the pet is sedated). Sphynx are predisposed to heart problems, many don't learn about this until their pet dies under sedation because so few people choose to scan their cats. In addition, there are much better items on the market. My favorite is iso/sevo gas and injectable propofol.

 

[Brooke]

Well the vet I got to does not have a scope and said that he is only stumbling now when he shakes his head. He has some antibiotics for sneezing and she said they should help if there is an infection. I am going to wait a few days and see if he improves, he has improved a bit since last night. I just don't want to keep giving him all kinds of stuff right now. I think I am going to seek out a different vet, just don't feel very comfortable with this one. If he is not better in a few days I am going to get a scope done. Thanks for the heads up on the ketamine. What is bad about it?

Thanks everyone for your support and stories, I just feel so helpless and worried. My husband is picking him up this afternoon and going to get something set up so he can't climb too high on things and try and jump with his balance.

Thanks everyone will update soon.

Whoa, am I reading that right? The vet doesn't have a scope to look in ears? That's shocking...they are as commonplace as a stethoscope for listening to heartbeats - especially for animal hospitals, where ear issues are so prevalent!

Ketamine increases heart rate and blood pressure, and has been known to cause heart failure or instant death in cats with HCM. Because of the prevalence of HCM in our breed, it's just not worth the risk. Besides, like pitrottmommy mentioned, there are better options! In addition, there was a recall on ketamine recently. I don't know the details, my vet doesn't use it so I didn't bother to research.

Good luck! I hope he's feeling better!

 

[tessblack]

Yeah I have been having second thoughts about this clinic. Funny thing is it is a large chain and just assumed they would have it. I like the place and the people are great but the vets just don't have any experience with sphynx. I am going to start looking for another.

Thanks everyone.

t

 

[Mews2much]

When Wrinkles was altered last week I gave the vet a list of what not to use.
They used what Sami and Kay Marshall suggested.
Ka lost a cat to ketamine when he had a teeth cleaning.
To tell you the truth the large chains are bad.
They are corps and care more about money then the pets.
Some of my friends worked at them and I heard so many bad things.
Go to another vet and I hope he feels better.

 

[tessblack]

Yeah going to start doing some research for a new vet today. Also I was wondering if I should get both my cats scanned for HCM? What kind of test is it and is it costly? Also does anyone have a good list of things that should not be used on these guys?

Thanks
tess

 

[Mews2much]

Ketamine should not be used for sphynx.
If there are cat shows that do HCM scans in your area I would go there.
They are cheaper.H
Here UC Davis was $400 and it is $150 at the shows I go to when they have the scans.
I would start scanning when they are around 1.5 years old .
I have to have Cleo scanned soon.

 

[ultra_stella]

Poor little guy. I hope he gets better real soon!

 

[BareOnAHotTinRoof]

As an FYI, most of the Ketamine has been recalled for safety concerns.

 

[tessblack]

Well we got him home last night and they gave us some predisone to use.

This am when we got up he is really bad stumbling when he is walking slowly. My husband is dropping him off at the vet this am so they can watch him. We are both working and right now is a crazy busy time and my husband leaves for out of town tomorrow so this is really stressful

I feel so bad for him right now and have not had a chance to speak with any other vets in the area.

I am so angry that our vet took a healthy cat, cleaned there ears and now something is wrong and have no good explanation for it. And as you said PittRorMommy don't have a tool to check it out. I am going to try and find a vet today that I can take him to tomorrow if there is no improvement. I am assuming this had to be from the cleaning because what else would have done this right after I got them back.

Just very worried and stressed and feeling so bad for Tux.

Thanks
tess

 

[kiennasmom]

Poor Tux I feel bad for him and for you guys as well. I don't blame you for being upset with the vet. My thoughts are with you. I'm praying for a quick & full recovery for your baby!!!

 

[ckutkuhn7]

wow,,,really hope he gets better soon and that you can find a better local vet.

 

[lemmysmommy]

Oh my goodness....that is a scary story. I hope that Tux gets better real soon!!

 

[susi794]

Praying for you, Tux! Get a new vet and get better soon!

 

[tessblack]

Today Tux is better, on antibiotics and a steroid for the inflammation. Went to see my husbands family vet and he told me to keep doing what I am doing and monitor his progress. Hopefully he will be better everyday but the vet said it can take up to a month to get completely better. Going to look into a specialist for his ears so I know what to do with cleaning and care.

Thanks everyone

tess

 

[heather]

Definitely glad to hear Tux is feeling better today. I hope a specialist can offer insight into why this happened after the cleaning.