Routine checkup for Snuffly Scottie reveals a 'large' growth

At 14 years of age "Scottie" is one of our more senior patients. He visited us recently for his annual checkup and to have a vaccination. His owner reported that he had become rather snuffly of late. The checkup showed that he had lost quite a bit of weight during the last year and that he seemed to be having trouble breathing through his nose.

It was clear that Scottie needed some tests to find out what is problem was so we admitted him to hospital. Blood tests were normal & confirmed that he was indeed very healthy for a senior cat. Scottie was then given a short anaesthetic so that his throat could be examined and some xrays taken of his nose. Again no abnormalities were found until it was noticed that under light anaesthetic he could not breathe through his nose. Normally the nose in cats and dogs allows easy air flow but Scottie had a significant obstruction.

We then used a special instrument to pull his soft palate forward and look into his nose from the back of the throat. To our surprise there was a massive growth present. This was able to be removed with gentle traction. Scottie had the largest nasopharyngeal polyp we had ever seen! Once it was removed he made a good recovery and was breathing normally again.

Fortunately tests on the polyp proved it was quite benign and Scottie was completely cured. Polyps such as this can sometimes occur in cats, they grow from the lining of the tube that connects the throat to the middle ear. The good news is that they are usually easy to remove and tend not to grow back.

Scotties Nasopharyngeal Polyp - the largest one we have ever seen!