# nasal polyps in cat maybe



## cleofish (Feb 29, 2012)

hi everyone, i am new to this forum and wondering if anyone has any advice really.

bit of back ground- my cat is cleo who ive had from a stray and ive had her 5 years and i think she was about 2 maybe when i got her so she must be at least 7 years old by now.

She originally had some breathing problems it particularly flared up after she had been playing and running about. It was more noisy breathing- mainly sounding like she smoked about 40 cigarettes a day really. She didnt seem to struggle to breath and didnt need to open her mouth and didnt pant or anything like that. I had taken her to the vet and first of all they thought it might be asthma as they told me cats can be quite prone to that. They gave me some powder to put on her food to clear up mucus and sent me home. She didnt seem to get any worse or better and it didnt seem to bother her so we just muggled on as we were.

Ive since been back again ( a couple of months ago) for something unreleated and the vet picked up the breathing, they had a listen to her chest said they didnt think it was asthma as it seemed to be mainly (the noise) coming from her nose, they gave her antibiotics and sent us home. I queried polyps with the vet as i had been researching her symptoms the vet just said it was possible but kind of tried to put me off by saying its very hard to remove or see because of the cats head and the instruments and she will have to be put under etc.

Fast forward to today and she seems to be getting worse, more noisy, sneezing fits somestime and what ive noticed recently is, the white eyelids seem to be showing on both her eyes. Am i right in thinking they arent meant to show at all?
she doesnt have any trouble with her ears and no head tilting and no eye bulging and the eyelids show the same on both eyes, so im more inclined to think its nasal polyps rather than ear polyps.

has anyone got any experience of this? is there anything that can be done other than surgery? 

and if it does go down the surgery route, anyone have any idea of the cost? i assume there will be tests before to confirm they are there? ive read things such as ct scans and such.

i dont want to leave it any longer, she seems ok still eating sleeping and playing but her breathing is very noisy (doesnt appear to be struggling though) and she snores when sleeping, but i am worried that if it is a polyp it can grow and be dangerous.

sorry for the long post and thanks in advance for your help.


----------



## Dally Banjo (Oct 22, 2009)

One of ours went for x-rays & a camera to see if he had a nasal polyps, he did'nt have any signs of a problem except his loud rumble which he had always had but seemed to be getting louder. Nothing showed up on either  the vet also thought it could be something at the bottom of the wind pipe which opens & closes (sorry cant mem the name ) which can get stuck sometimes & does'nt always show up as he camera pushes it out of the way. If your cat does have a polyps most of them can be removed when the camera is already in. I think Scutters bill for his camera & x-rays was about £360 good luck hope you get her sorted 

Oh & welcome to the mad house


----------



## Ianthi (Oct 21, 2008)

Hi Cleofish and welcome to PF,

Yes, visible haws ( third eyelid ) can be a sign of underlying illness.

Now, before considering anything more invasive like a nasal flush or rhinoscopy I'd have a nasal swab first, including a culture and sensitivity test, to identify any bacteria or viruses which could be responsible. It may well turn out to be herpes or calici with a recurrent secondary bacterial infection on top. Actually given her background this would be my first thought. It's worth noting that if bacterial ( though can also be fungal ) in origin a very long course of antibiotics is required to eradicate it completely, owing to the blood supply to this region. Allergies are another cause and I'd look to eliminating any possible triggers from the environment firstly. A routine blood test could help to identify allergies as a possibility. Is the problem bilateral and is the mucus clear or cloudy? 

Although a polyp/foreign body like a grass seed ( removed by flushing ) is possible another thing to consider is teeth as root abscesses, for instance can also be responsible though you'll need an X-ray to confirm.

Incidentally, I would only permit a very experienced vet to carry out any flushing or a rhiniscopy. Hope you find the cause soon.


----------



## Bluevixen (Feb 5, 2012)

My youngest was suspected as having polyps when I first got him - 10 now and has noisy breathing but it is just noise - it has never got worse

If it did get worse now, or he seemed to have started to have trouble breathing I would think he had caught some kind of infection

Not sure what really bad or big polyps would do though


----------



## Kcat (Mar 29, 2012)

My cat has this and I have taken him to see a specialist, the consultation cost £295 and he is due to have the polyp removed on Tuesday, the ct scan will be £1200 and the removal will be £300. The polyp has been growing for about 2 years but was only recently diagnosed after endless visits to the vets for URI and antibiotic. I was so fed up with going back and forward to the vets I looked on google and found that he could have a polyp. They can only be removed by a specialist. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.


----------

