Although there are several different types of skin cancer that cats can get, there is one particular form of skin cancer that is triggered by sun exposure and it is called a squamous cell carcinoma.

White cats with pink noses are the most common patients

I used to see a lot of this type of skin cancer in Australia, but even in the UK we still see cats with the classic scabby lesions on their noses or ear tips. It is usually pale, non-pigmented skin that is most susceptible, so white cats with pink noses and pale/white furred ears are the most common patients.

I recently had a patient with classic lesions on both its ear tips. The lesions can look quite innocuous initially, with small non-healing scabs along the ear margin. Gradually, the scabs get bigger and spread down and around the ear tip.

My patient had cancerous lesions halfway down its ears. Fortunately, that still gave us plenty of room to remove the ear cancers, even if the cat wouldn’t have much ear flap left. The pathology laboratory informed us that we had caught the cancer before it had a chance to spread, so my patient should go on to live a long and healthy life with quite a lot of street cred!

Use pet-friendly sunscreen

If you have a fair skinned cat with a suspicious scab on its ears or nose, get it checked by your local vet. You can even get pet-friendly sunscreen for your feline friends, or consider keeping them indoors on very hot summer days.