DR BRUCE CHARD

contact@northharbourvet.co.nz I have an 8-year-old cat called Jasmine. She has some white on her face and a pink nose. I understand that white cats can develop cancer of the nose so how can I prevent this and what treatment is available?

Any cat with white on their ears or face with a pink nose is at risk of damage from sunburn. Usually cancer does not develop until a cat is 10-12 years old. Keeping Jasmine out of the sun and restricting her exposure inside your house during summer by screening windows is important. It is not practical to apply sun screen lotion to a cat’s nose. At the first sign of any non-healing sore or ulcer on your cat’s nose seek help from your vet. Early lesions are treated by burning the cancer with liquid nitrogen or a heat source under an anaesthetic. Larger areas are removed by surgery with mostly good results.

My 4-month-old labrador, Sidney, sometimes shakes his head and scratches at his ears. When he was last vaccinated my vet said his ear canals were clean but when I look inside there is some brown wax. Should I be cleaning his ears each day?

It is not unusual for puppies to have a small amount of wax on the inside of their ears which you can safely remove with moist cotton wool or a damp tissue. Hard to reach areas about the ear folds can be treated with cotton buds but don’t place these deep into the ear canal. Get a cleanser from your vet and use this to clean the ears every second to third day depending on severity. If the ears are infected the normal light pink to grey colour inside the ear becomes reddened and there may be a discharge and increased smell. When this occurs have him checked by your vet who will give an appropriate ointment for treatment.