Give good cat summer care. Prevent cat sunburn and skin cancer.

Yes, cats get sunburn too - and skin cancer! So, providing good cat summer care is essential. Just as we humans are advised to protect ourselves from too much sun to help reduce our risk of developing skin cancer, so it can apply to your beloved pet too!

This is especially the case with white cats and those with white ears (just as fair skinned people are more at risk as well). The fur on the ears tends to be much thinner than on the rest of a cats body and this, combined with a pale colouring means there is very little protection from the sun. And the fact that so many cats just love to sun bathe all day long means the risk of cat skin cancer is even greater.

Learn From Our Little Mo!

Lump on ear caused by sunburn by kate Tilmouth

Our happy cat Mo is a complete sun worshiper and one summer she got sunburnt on both her ears. It didn't look too bad, but it went a bit scabby and very slowly a lump started to develop on her left ear. We took her to the vet who took a biopsy. This proved that the lump was not malignant (cancerous) but we were told to bring her back if it got any worse because it could still develop into cat skin cancer.

Well, it did keep growing and when Mo had a scratch, she would catch the lump with her claws and make it bleed. So the decision was made to remove the lump and unfortunately most of her ear with it. So what could we to prevent this from happening to her other ear?

Protection Means Prevention!

Well, as part of our cat care routine, every spring and summer and on any other nice hot sunny day, we make sure we put a high factor sun block cream on her remaining good ear. We rub it in well so that when she washes she won't ingest very much, and it seems to be preventing any further problems. If only we had realised we needed to do this from the beginning!

Our vet informs us that in Australia and similar hot countries it can be common to remove cats ears as a preventative measure, as skin cancer is so common over there! Other methods of protection we have heard about are tattooing dark pigment on to the ear, or regularly using a permanent black marker pen to colour the ears black. Still Cute even with one ear. by kate Tilmouth

But we have found sun block cream works just fine and little Mo has got quite used to having it put on, and she doesn't even try to wash it off. We don't know how successful the other methods are, and if anyone has any other tips on good cat summer care, then we would love to hear them.

Shade and Fresh Water.

It is obviously an important part of good cat summer care to always ensure they have access to a shady spot in the garden, and a fresh supply of clean water to drink. It can also be a good idea to keep your cat indoors during the hottest midday hours on particularly sunny days, as this is when the risk of sunburn is at its highest. They can still go out and enjoy the sun later in the day when things have cooled off a bit.

Mo remains a happy cat despite losing her ear (and she still worships the sun!) but we would hate it for her to have to go through the same thing again. By following these simple tips on good cat summer care we hope you too can help protect your own cat from getting sunburn and risking developing cat skin cancer.

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