Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Cat with painful red swollen ears diagnosed with auricular chondritis
By Delmage, D A & Kelly, D F·Published in The Journal of small animal practice·2001·Department of Veterinary Pathology, United Kingdom·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Auricular chondritis in a cat.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A 4-year-old male domestic shorthaired cat developed thickened, painful ears that were red and slightly curled. After ruling out other diseases, a biopsy confirmed he had auricular chondritis, a condition affecting the cartilage in the ears. The cat was treated with prednisolone, a steroid that helped reduce the symptoms quickly, and he remained pain-free with only minor ear changes. After two years, the medication was stopped, and there was no return of the ear problem during the following 14 months.
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Abstract
A four-year-old male neutered domestic shorthaired cat developed bilateral thickening of the pinnae, with slight curling, intense erythema and pain. No ear canal disease was present. The cat was negative for feline immunodeficiency virus, feline leukaemia virus and feline coronavirus. Biopsy of the ear lesion revealed auricular chondritis. In humans, histologically similar lesions may involve the pinnae, nose, trachea, joints, eyes and heart, and the disease is termed relapsing polychondritis. The cat reported had a history of corneal damage, resulting in corneal vascularisation and opacity, eyelid distortion, necessitating an entropion operation, and radiological evidence of mild cardiac enlargement. The ear disease responded rapidly to treatment with prednisolone and, apart from slight thickening and curling of the pinnae, the cat remained normal and pain-free. After two years, the prednisolone was withdrawn, and there was no recurrence of the condition in a follow-up period of 14 months.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11688526/