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My condolences. It must be hard for vets to know what to do, cats are so much smaller than people and have less skin to find things in and be able patch up with healthy skin. Hope Molly gets better somehow.
Posted 44 months ago.
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My cat Otis's ears were a mess. They were rotting away and smelly. I finally found a vet who didn't charge an arm and a leg and my first-born child, so he finally got his ears amputated last Friday. He is 13-years-old. I happened upon this page www.flickr.com/groups/whitecats/discuss/72157594159071995/ with someone whose cat went through the same thing. I live in Hawaii in Kona and it is usually sunny here.
My mom's cat in Foggy Bay Area, California had skin cancer on his ears and he lived to be 18. His ears were never treated, but they weren't so bad as my cat's.
What did the vet say about her back end?
Posted 43 months ago.
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I've heard this happens to cats when their ears are very light, or pinkish. My vet also told me that Luna, my white cat, is not to go outside in summer. She would just get a terrible sun-burn. And over the years, skin-cancer becomes a possibility. Very sorry for your situation, always difficult to make such decisions.
Posted 43 months ago.
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I'm new to this group and wanted to comment on your concerns regarding your cat's skin cancer. I have two white cats - brothers. One with blue eyes and the other with amber eyes - neither are deaf but they both do have skin cancer. They are now about 7 years old and I've had them since they were 4 weeks old. Cat's with skin cancer can lead normal lives, you will need to just monitor them a little bit closer and provide them with supplements etc. For my cats nose, ears and other areas of their skin I use 'All Clear Ointment' , bathe them with Neem Soap (my cats love bathing!) and as a supplement I bought them the 'Cancer Fighting Kit' from Petwellbeing.com.
Plus I make sure that they stay out of direct sunlight as much as possible and give them an organic, natural diet. All of this has helped both my cats to live very happy lives. One word of caution though: Cats are pretty good at hiding pain and discomfort until they really cant stand it anymore. As soon as you notice your cat act strange please take it to the vet asap. Good luck with your cat!
Posted 43 months ago.
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I hear it happens due to them laying out in the sun. That because of the lack of pigment, its like less sunblock and it happens often in all white animals.
Sensie died from cancer that was in his mouth and Im convinced if he hadnt been food wet food all his life, things could have been different. I miss my baby. Its very hard so everyone take care of your babies!
Posted 39 months ago.
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I see that the original post in this stream was a long time ago, so I don't know what the current situation with your cat is. I sympathize as my beautiful white cat (see my photostream) eventually had to be put to sleep after developing skin cancer on the nose and ears. The ears were not a problem and were trimmed back immediately with little impact, but the nose cancer was very aggressive. My vet convinced me that she had a good chance if they cut the nose away. Once it heals they can apparently live normal lives again. It looked horrific and deeply disturbed me and my cat was clearly distressd at first. Unfortunately it did not heal properly because some cancer was still there and I decided she was suffering too much and I had her put to sleep. Maybe if all the cancer had been removed it might have been the right decision, but I would never recommend having the nose cut off to anyone - it was the most disturbing thing to see - my beautiful white cat with a red hole in her face.
Please don't feel guilty if your white cat gets skin cancer - I had known the dangers and my cat was covered in special cat sunscreen all her life whenever she went outside. And her outdoor time was limited to avoid the middle of the day. This was Australia which has one of the highest skin cancer rates in the world (in humans), so its a difficult problem. Short of never letting your cat outside at all (which I don't believe in - cats love the outdoors), it seems almost inevitable for white cats.
Posted 37 months ago.
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hi yitchie, so u wouldn't recommend it at all, to cut the nose off??? i am just about to do that for my white rescue cat as i can't face that he will die otherwise within the next 6 -12 months as the vet said.
i don't know what to do...
stef
Posted 22 months ago.
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No I couldn't recommend it. Please see my personal message to you Stef164.
Posted 22 months ago.
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Thank you for all the info on skin cancer. i also had heard that cats with pink skin are more prone to get this disease. I didn't know that a cat sun screen was available. I hope your kitty can get better. So sad.
Posted 20 months ago.
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I put ppl sunscreen on my white cat's ears and nose (what i use for my own skin). He then rolls in the dirt, which adds another layer of sun protection :) but he isn't pretty in the summer time. He licks it off his nose but that doesn't seem to harm him - he's been doing it for 10 years. I live in Perth, Australia where summers are very hot. I should have trained him to be an inside cat, but didn't think of it when he was a kitten.
Skin cancer in white cats and dogs, as well as people, is very common in Australia. We should all be using much more sunscreen.
Posted 17 months ago.
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