# My cat's NOSE came off!



## red_kittycat (Dec 30, 2003)

I have a feline leukemia positive cat who has been the picture of health since we adopted him about 9 months ago (he's about a year-and-a-half old). Last night I noticed he was sneezing, and I saw a dot of blood just at the bottom of his nose. I was thinking eosinophilic granuloma. But when I looked more closely, I saw that his entire nose seemed to be wasting away, like it was dehydrated. There was a big, crusty area that I thought was dried mucus, and I thought maybe that was chapping his nose leather. I dabbed it with a warm, wet cottonball to soften the crust, and it was obviously painful, because he cried. When it had softened a bit, I very gently tried to pull off a bit of the crust. To my disbelief, at the gentlest touch, all this blood just started gushing everywhere. I held a cottonball to the area with pressure to try to stop the bleeding. The bleeding did stop, but when I pulled away the cottonball, his nose was literally stuck to it. His entire nose leather came off! And then it began bleeding more profusely. I held another cottonball to it, and it stopped bleeding promptly. Once the bleeding was stopped, he went back to his normal self, eating, running, playing, as if it never happened. He will go in to the vet today, but I wondered if anyone knew, is this characteristic of an eosinophilic granuloma? I know it could be a squamous cell or basal cell carcinoma, but hopefully that's not the case...he's young and doesn't go outside. Or do you suppose my boogie theory could be true? No signs of feline herpes, but could this be a unique manafestation?


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## drjean (Jan 6, 2004)

*nose came off!*

Whoa, that's a weird one! Poor kitty! 

The first thought that strikes me is autoimmune disease like pemphigus or lupus, although he's a bit young, and these are uncommon in cats. Another thought is vasculitis from the FeLV or one of the Rickettsias like Ehrlichia. And of course, your guess of eosinophilic granuloma is a good one. Probably should get some bloodwork (tick titers, if you are in an endemic area) and a biopsy. 

Keep us posted on this one!! And pat yourself on the back for keeping a cool head in the midst of what should rightly have been a major panic!

Cheers,
Dr. Jean


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## Bean (Mar 10, 2003)

I don't think I can go into this post again - it irks me too much. Feel too bad for the poor cat.

I applaud you though to be willing to care and love for a cat with medical problems. I think I would feel to sad for it (although most probably the cat is plenty happy for the fact that someone loves and cares for it) - I just don't have the guts to.

I suppose I say that now, but if I were brought into that situation I would not give up a cat for such trivial reasons.


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## red_kittycat (Dec 30, 2003)

I truly believe caring for sick and unadoptable animals is my calling. It's extremely heartbreaking and does take a lot out of a person. "It's a tough job, but somebody's gotta' do it!" There are times I feel like I can't bear it anymore, but then I see the faces of the kitties who depend on me, and I can't turn my back.

The vet felt with great certainty that it was an eosinophilic granuloma and didn't think testing was warranted at this time. I was a bit concerned about putting him on a corticosteroid, since he is already immune suppressed, but the vet felt one shot of cortisone should help and not hurt. 

On the summary for appointments, the receptionist had written "nose came off". The vet was apologetic, but she had to laugh! "You never cease to amaze me," she said.


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## Zalensia (Aug 25, 2003)

I dont know much about this, well infact nothing. I just wanted to say that you should be carful using cotten wool on wounds, since it gets stuck inside the wound. Just so you know


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## Snoozer100 (Jan 31, 2004)

aww poor kitty   Take him to the vet,*deffinetly*


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## stormy (Dec 7, 2003)

Wow, I've never heard of such a thing happening before...poor baby!!!!

Please let us know how kitty is doing.


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