This Siamese cat, named Sineochko (“Blue Eyes”), had symptoms of Horner’s syndrome — a constricted pupil in one eye with a drooping eyelid, lethargy and wheezing. The examinations established inflammation of the middle ear, with pus and a polyp in the tympanic bulla — a bony chamber at the base of the ear on the skull. This disease occurs in 30% of adult cats, though not all show clinical symptoms. The cause is inflammation of the inner ear unrelated to contamination or infection of the outer ear; the inflammation is most often sterile — without bacteria — and starts from within, with no signs in the external ear canal or the ear itself, so there are no warning symptoms by which it could be detected in advance.
The condition requires surgical treatment, opening the bulla tympanica and removing the polyps and the purulent exudate.
At City Veterinary Clinic, Sineochko underwent a ventral bulla osteotomy, after which he recovered fully and returned to his carefree cat life.
