Cat has a swollen nose, what now?
December 2, 2018 1:20 PM Subscribe
Our cat has a swollen nose. We thought it was maybe temporary irritation (smokey air?), but it's been a month now, and it hasn't gone down, maybe gotten slightly worse.
The vet said it could be a slew of things and recommended a bacteria / fungus test ($190), which we did. Negative / inconclusive. They're now recommending a test for $550 (a "punch biopsy") to put the cat under and collect a sample to send to a lab. They're saying "maybe cancer, maybe a lot of things," and not even sounding convinced that the test will tell us what's going on.
Honestly, we're getting nervous about what this is going to cost and wondering if there's a better approach. We have spent $3000 on this and other cat emergencies in the last 4 months, so our cat fund is already in the red (mostly on the other cat). (Unfortunately, vet insurance wasn't a cost-effective option since they both adopted us as strays, and because this one is FIV+.)
When we Google "swollen cat nose," we see other explanations that seem a lot less mysterious and potentially more curable, like a sinus infection or a tooth abcess. Not sure if we should get a second vet opinion or if that'll just be $100 to hear someone else to say "hmm, concerning, but it could be a lot of things."
Any advice? Here is a picture. The black dots are just birthmarks.
Other than this, the cat seems relatively normal for his age. He still eats and drinks like he was before. He doesn't seem sensitive when you touch his nose.
The vet said it could be a slew of things and recommended a bacteria / fungus test ($190), which we did. Negative / inconclusive. They're now recommending a test for $550 (a "punch biopsy") to put the cat under and collect a sample to send to a lab. They're saying "maybe cancer, maybe a lot of things," and not even sounding convinced that the test will tell us what's going on.
Honestly, we're getting nervous about what this is going to cost and wondering if there's a better approach. We have spent $3000 on this and other cat emergencies in the last 4 months, so our cat fund is already in the red (mostly on the other cat). (Unfortunately, vet insurance wasn't a cost-effective option since they both adopted us as strays, and because this one is FIV+.)
When we Google "swollen cat nose," we see other explanations that seem a lot less mysterious and potentially more curable, like a sinus infection or a tooth abcess. Not sure if we should get a second vet opinion or if that'll just be $100 to hear someone else to say "hmm, concerning, but it could be a lot of things."
Any advice? Here is a picture. The black dots are just birthmarks.
Other than this, the cat seems relatively normal for his age. He still eats and drinks like he was before. He doesn't seem sensitive when you touch his nose.
Our cat has some bumps on her nose and we're still not totally sure what it is, but when she got antibiotics the bumps went away, so that reassured us that it was not cancer. Not sure if there are some immune-boosting drugs or steroids that could be tried? Those don't seem to be too expensive (not $500 anyway). The bumps are back now since she can't be on drugs forever, so we're still trying to figure out what is irritating/re-infecting her. She also seems healthy otherwise.
posted by bread-eater at 2:27 PM on December 2, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by bread-eater at 2:27 PM on December 2, 2018 [1 favorite]
How are kitty’s teeth? Has the vet verified everything is all good there? Really bad dental infections can break through into the the sinus cavity — one of my cats, with a pronouced bump on the top of her head/upper forehead everyone thought was a tumor, had this happen. I’d normally think this is something a vet would see, but it took until the third vet who realized this after finally doing the dental/extractions. We knew her teeth were bad but wanted to figure out what was going on first before dealing with that problem — turns out the teeth were the only problem after all. So the tooth abcess / sinus infection internet-diagnosis may have merit after all, or at least it did in my case.
posted by cgg at 3:52 PM on December 2, 2018
posted by cgg at 3:52 PM on December 2, 2018
It’s worth getting biopsied. My friend’s 4 year old cat was diagnosed with a nasal tumor. She chose to go the alternative medicine route and to my surprise, the tumor shrunk considerably and they bought him a lot more time. Should your cat end up diagnosed, DM me and I’ll ask her what she gave him.
posted by vivzan at 4:08 PM on December 2, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by vivzan at 4:08 PM on December 2, 2018 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks for the replies and ideas. Teeth are the number one suspect in my book, so we've emailed the vet to ask if she looked at that, and if not, I'm inclined to move forward there. It seems unlikely that he was stung or bit by an insect, but what do I know? Steroids are one of the other possible things we could try, according to the vet, to shrink down any sort of allergic reaction. And thanks for the hopeful story about shrinking a nasal tumor. I'll take you up on your offer if we go that route and get a diagnosis, thanks.
posted by slidell at 4:53 PM on December 2, 2018
posted by slidell at 4:53 PM on December 2, 2018
You can sometimes even see yourself if a tooth is bad. My friend took one look at my cat’s teeth when she wasn’t eating and said “yeah, that tooth is grey. Get it checked out.” Sure enough, it was bad. So, look for grey teeth? Just a thought.
posted by greermahoney at 6:38 PM on December 2, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by greermahoney at 6:38 PM on December 2, 2018 [1 favorite]
Hey there, I’m a licensed veterinary technician who works for a surgical oncologist. If this were my cat I would want to get the biopsy, get full blood work and chest radiographs to start. I would also ask for a referral to either an oncologist or an internist.
posted by OsoMeaty at 8:59 AM on December 3, 2018
posted by OsoMeaty at 8:59 AM on December 3, 2018
If it were me I would get the biopsy just so I knew if it was cancer. But I also understand your money concerns and the frustration of paying for tests that just come back inconclusive. If you aren't ready to go for the biopsy, I suggest asking your vet if she's willing to throw some treatments at it before running any more expensive tests. Sure, it could be some sort of infection, or some weird inflammation. So why not toss some steroids and antibiotics at it first, and see if that works? If not, then go to the next step.
My brother has a dog that has some sort of systemic issue. The specialists at the local emergency place went through a million tests, including removal of a bad eye, but couldn't figure out exactly what was going on. After months of frustration, and believing the dog was going to die at any time, they took her back to our regular vet. She offered to throw some treatment options at it, not being completely sure what was going on. They found an antibiotic that made her feel better. Seven years later and she's great. Every once in a while, she starts to feel sick, and they give her another round of antibiotics and she's fine again. Still no idea what's causing it, but she's living a long, happy life so who cares.
posted by thejanna at 9:05 AM on December 3, 2018 [1 favorite]
My brother has a dog that has some sort of systemic issue. The specialists at the local emergency place went through a million tests, including removal of a bad eye, but couldn't figure out exactly what was going on. After months of frustration, and believing the dog was going to die at any time, they took her back to our regular vet. She offered to throw some treatment options at it, not being completely sure what was going on. They found an antibiotic that made her feel better. Seven years later and she's great. Every once in a while, she starts to feel sick, and they give her another round of antibiotics and she's fine again. Still no idea what's causing it, but she's living a long, happy life so who cares.
posted by thejanna at 9:05 AM on December 3, 2018 [1 favorite]
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posted by Hermione Granger at 1:53 PM on December 2, 2018