Specks on ears, what could they be?

On Matilda's white ear today I noticed a lot of dirty brown specks. They aren't inside (like ear mites), just on the outside. She's an indoor-only cat. I tried taking a picture but couldn't get a decent one with my camera.

Anything to worry about?

We adopted a stray white cat years ago. The top of his ears were covered in rabbit fleas. Doubt if this is the case on indoor cat. Sounds more like ear wax, try wiping it off gently with a cotton bud and olive oil.

Maybe the spots are the actual pigment markings of the skin. My cat has those brown spots on his ear but are not really visible.

could be flea dirt.
does it come off?

Originally Posted by saya

could be flea dirt.
does it come off?

Click to expand...

That's what I'm wondering too. Are the spots raise? Are they more like scabs or dirt? You may want to call a vet just to be on the safe side. It's probably nothing and I don't want to scare you but when Jake first got sick, he presented with raised spots on his ears that turned out to be a giant scab all over his face, eventually. I'm not saying that's what your cat has. I'd just watch carefully and call the vet with any sign of growing or spreading.

Carly got those and they turned out to be little scabs as she was scratching around her ears a lot. It turns out that the new litter we were using was irritating her.

They actually come off pretty easily but I don't think it's dirt, she is indoor-only.

I use World's Best Cat Litter, but the specks are too small to be litter.

Hmm.

not dirt...

flea dirt. It's different. It's basically flea "stuff".
does your kitty have fleas?

even if she's indoor only she can still get fleas, you could have brought one in on your clothes or something.
my kitties are mostly indoor and they still get them if I don't give them flea meds monthly