White cats have very little pigment in either their ears or their nose - this leaves them prone to solar damage which can then lead to precancerous and cancerous changes in the superficial tissues.

One cat that was affected by solar ultraviolet light is our case here. Lucky lead a normal healthy life and was presented at eight years old with some little scabs that had a tendency to bleed lightly on her ears - her nose also had some dry reddened patches.

The ears were diagnosed as pre cancerous changes reflecting extensive ultra violet damage. Similarly the nose was begining to ulcerate – an early change that leads to cancer of the nasal plane.

The owner wanted to do the best thing to contain the damage.  We recommended amputating the tips of the ears and performing cryosurgery (freezing) of the nasal lesions.

Lucky has made a wonderful recovery and the cosmetic effects are minimal. The hair on the ears has grown back nicely.  We advised that Lucky be kept indoors, at least between 10 am and 2 pm, on days of high UV.

What was most helpful in achieving a good outcome in this case was that the owner presented the cat as soon as she suspected that something was wrong. Had she delayed we would have had to perform more radical surgery and often in an advanced disease situation we may not be able to completely resect any cancer.