ear infection | Bad Cat Chris

When I took Floki to the vet last month, I discussed with the vet options to help Chris with his perpetual ear infection. He has a problem with ear polyps, which allow bacteria to fester. The problem is they go too deep into the ear canal for the vet to remove them all unless I wanted them to remove the ear canals and make Chris deaf, which I don’t want to do. So we discussed surgery to remove as much as they could, and then pack the ear with a specific treatment of antibiotics that would require just two treatments.

We had to schedule the surgery a month in advance, presumably because they were so busy. A week before the appointment, my wife said she didn’t want to do it because she feared that Chris’s age and health would put him at a higher risk of death from the surgery. I spoke with the vet looking for reassurance but she did say he was at an increased risk. Instead, we decided to try the antibiotic treatment without the surgery.

This morning I brought him to the vet with much crying in the car on the way there. When we arrived we were put in an exam room and the vet tech, remembering his last visit, decided to leave him in his carrier until the vet came in.

While we were waiting, I opened his carrier and, as expected, he had no desire to get out. This is very different that young Chris who loved to explore the vet’s office.

When the vet arrived, she asked a few questions and then took Chris into another room. After a few minutes, I could hear Chris howling. He was not happy but it didn’t take long. Soon he was back and we were ready to check out.

When they opened the door, their office cat came in. I bent down to pet him and the vet said, “You’re aware he is a biter, aren’t you?” “Yes,” I said. “He’s fine,” and proceeded to pet him. He didn’t bite me but he was interested in Chris. He smelled him for a few seconds and then put both paws on top of the carrier. Nobody hissed. That is when he was called off and we left to check out.

On a related note, I purchased a new carrier for Chris because I did not like carrying him around in a crate that was not meant for that. You can see what I bought here. Note that is an affiliate link. My wife put Chris in the new carrier while I was out moving the cars around. She said it was very easy to get him. He fit well, too, for a twenty-pound cat.

Chris has been having ear problems again. His right ear is okay but his left ear smells bad and he has been shaking his head occasionally. I had some left over ear medicine that I used for about a week but the problem persisted so I scheduled a vet visit.

You may remember he had this problem a couple of years ago. Our vet recommended surgery for about $400 to remove the ear polyps that have been a problem his whole life, but when we scheduled a time to have it done he changed his mind and said the pollyps went too deep and referred me to a specialist.

We went to the specialist a couple of times, spent about $1,000, and in return we got some medicine and a recommendation to remove Chris’s ear canal and make him deaf. I told my vet how unhappy I was with the specialist and since then we have been just controlling the problem with ear medication.

Since I started working full-time, I have been going in a half hour early everyday so I could leave at 2:00 on Fridays. So I made an appointment for 3:00 on Friday. I forgot I had a chiropractor appointment Friday morning and I was late so I had to work until 2:30, which was still fine except I got last minute things that had to be done so I left at 2:45.

I raced home and got the small crate out of the shed. Chris has gotten too big to fit in the smallish carriers that we have. So I put him in the crate and we left for the vet.

We got to the vet four minutes late which was pretty incredible, especially since I really didn’t break any speeding laws to get there.

We waited in the lobby for a short time and then we were led into an exam room. It was the first time I was allowed back there since before Covid.

I opened the crate so Chris could get out and explore while we waited but he was in no hurry to leave the crate. Young Chris would have been investigating ever nook and cranny of the room but old Chris doesn’t want to have anything to do with the vet’s office.

I eventually coaxed him out.

Instead of exploring he got on my lap.

That lasted about three minutes before he got down and went back into his crate.

When the vet came in with the vet tech we debated how we were going to get Chris out. I decided to grab the pad and pull Chris out with it. That worked well and I put Chris on the table where the tech held him down while the vet tried to look in his ears.

I sat down and watched Chris give them both a hard time. He struggled quite a bit while meowing very loudly. I soon felt the need to help so I got up and let him smell my hand so he would know I was there. That didn’t work out so well because Chris broke free and tried to climb up on my shoulders. That hurt because his claws needed to be clipped. I put him back on the table and suggested they clip his claws while he was there.

When the vet was done the tech needed to take him in the back to weigh him, clip his nails and I don’t know what else. But before that we had some time to wait.

When it was time, I offered to help bring him back there and I put a towel over my shoulders and hoisted Chris up. I then put him down on the table in the next room where two techs clipped his nails and weighed him. I went back to the first room before they were done and one of the techs went over what I owed, which was two hundred and something. I thought it was reasonable because it included a new ear medication as well as three doses of flea medication.

When we got home my wife suggested we leave the crate in the house so I put it in the cats’ room. You would think that Chris would not want to have anything to do with it after his ordeal but he almost immediately went back inside the crate.