Black stuff in ear

for Misty. Those are some scary symptoms!

I talked to another vet from the same place this morning, He also thinks its a ruptured ear drum and/or the infection is deep inside the ear so I have to give her antibiotic by mouth now. I don't understand why she didn't show any problems before they worked on her ear.

Am I wrong to be upset with the whole deal right now??

I just gave Misty the antibiotic in her mouth and the same thing, she foams at the mouth real bad right away so it looks like this won't work either. I called the vet again, waiting to hear back from them.

Originally posted by Tom W:
I talked to another vet from the same place this morning, He also thinks its a ruptured ear drum and/or the infection is deep inside the ear so I have to give her antibiotic by mouth now. I don't understand why she didn't show any problems before they worked on her ear.

Am I wrong to be upset with the whole deal right now??

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I think you have every right to be upset.

I found something in an article that makes me believe the vets should want to see Misty again to determine whether the ear drum is ruptured or intact. Here is the info I found:

Since these symptoms are similar and usually mean an infection, can I just buy some medication without an examination for my cat?

There are several kinds of bacteria and at least one type of fungus which might cause an ear infection. Without knowing the kind of infection present, your veterinarian will not know which drug to use. In some cases, the ear infection may be caused by a foreign body or tumor in the ear canal. Treatment with medication alone will not resolve these problems. Also, the cat must be examined to be sure that the eardrum is intact. Administration of certain medications can result in loss of hearing if the eardrum is ruptured. This determination is made by the veterinarian and must be done in the office.

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Link:
http://chai-online.org/en/companion/...ng_cat_ear.htm

If the vet who saw Misty yesterday didn't say anything to you about a ruptured ear drum, then the ear drum must have been all right. So if the vets are speculating about a possible ruptured ear drum today, you should be able to find out what the situation is.

Hi, Thanks for all the good vibes for Misty, she really needs them today.

Misty's eyes are close to even again but her balance problems are getting worse. The vet that first worked on her ear said that she didn't see a ruptured ear drum or any tumor in her ear.

Misty is throwing up early this morning also. She can't even walk along the top of our big couch to look out he front window without major problems now. She also don't want to eat either, I got her to eat a few cat treats last night but if I give her some of the cat food she normally eats she puts it in her mouth and then spits it out. I don't know if she has drank any water either. She laid by me most of the night so at least she don't think I did this to her, I was afraid she would start avoiding me.

It's real hard for me to not blame the vet who first worked on her ear, but when she was not having all these problems before I took her in and then have all this come up right after the vet visit I think most people would be upset also. I also don't know why they don't want to see her to double check her ear again. We are tight for money but I still want everything that can be done to help Misty to be done. I wish my favorite vet had worked on her in the first place, but she was not in the day Misty went in, and every time I call I get someone different calling me back who didn't work on her. I have never had a problem with this place before but I am not to pleased with them right now. Its probably not there fault but like I said before she was acting fine before I took her in.

I was told the foam is extra saliva from stress and bad taste of the meds. I was told she has to have the antibiotic and to take a extra syringe with water to give her right after the med to help wash away the taste and they can put flavoring in the med to make it taste better if need be.

I am really scared for her and she is such a nice well behaved girl who never hurt anyone, she don't deserve to be put through all this. Maybe if I had taken her in earlier it might not have come to this but I never seen her act like she was having problems, I just happened to see the black stuff one day in the bright sun light so I figure I would have it checked out.

After what I went through with Tuffy I am a little gun shy that a simple problem with Misty will snowball into something real bad and I will loose her too.

I am sorry to be ranting a little and whining on here but I guess I just need to vent a little. It won't take much more and I will be telling the vets office what I think of this whole deal also.

I love this site, everyone goes out of there way to help me out when I am having trouble.

Tom

Tom, I'm so sorry you and Misty are going through this.

Like you, I also don't know why they don't want to see her, I absolutely can't understand that. The vets at the hospital I go to would have seen a cat in Misty's condition immediately. I'm wondering, can you possibly call the place and get in touch with your favorite vet, or would that be impossible on a Saturday? I do believe Misty should be seen again since she got so sick after the vet visit. Please, if at all possible, give them a call this morning, try to get Misty back in for an exam.

I'm sending many, many prayers and get well wishes for Misty. I hope she starts feeling better very soon.

Hi, Well I called the vet's office first thing this morning, and I ran her in right away and a different Dr looked her over. Her ear drum is not ruptured but he said it is bulging out from pressure behind it. He injected a bunch of fluids in her, injected a couple different meds into her, I think one was a antibiotic and the other was a pain/anti-inflammatory med and also gave her a pill antibiotic. The vet is hoping to get the pressure down behind her ear drum before it ruptures or what ever the term is. He told me to watch her ear for any wet looking stuff, he said if there is a bunch of it then the ear drum probably ruptured.

The vet who looked at her today is a young guy who I never met before, but I was impressed with him and everything he did for Misty this morning, he even offered to keep her there till Monday morning ,but he said if they kept her they would do the same things they did to her anyway and after talking it over we decided it would be less stress-full for Misty {and me} to be home. They always have someone on call in case of emergencies so if something would happen on Sunday she would be seen if need be.

After I got her to the vet I noticed her eyes were going from side to side like she was having trouble focusing her eyes, The vet said with the pressure in her inner ear it was like the room was spinning to her so she was trying to focus on something.

I went away for a few hours today, when I got home she was still resting under the bed where she was when I left. Yvonne was going to go along with me today but she stayed home to watch Misty till I got home again.

Right now her eyes are not going side to side like they were but she is still having problems walking because her balance is still all messed up. She finely walked out to the living room and managed to jump up on the couch by herself and is resting.

The lady I got Misty from answered the phone this morning and I told her what was going on and she said to bring her in right away and they would see her. She is as upset as I am about the whole deal, she was even crying a little when she was talking to Misty. She can't understand either how she could be fine and just have her ear cleaned and meds put in it and then end up with all these problems. I asked the new vet the same thing and he gave some lame answer about her being worse off than it looked at first, but if that was true why didn't she show any problems before I took her in?? Maybe I shouldn't say that on here in case people that work there happen to read this, but every one I talk to about this all think it's strange that she was OK before and get so bad so fast after the first visit.

Sorry for the long post, Probably more stuff than most need or want to know about all this, but I want to tell all that is going on with Misty and she is being taken good care of now.

Tom

What are you giving her?
My cat foams from most antibiotics and can only take a few kinds.

Hi mews2much,

At first it was Tresaderm drops in her ear, what's real odd is she foamed at the mouth from the ear drops almost instantly. Then they tried Clindamycin Hydrochloride liquid in her mouth, she foamed at the mouth real bad the first dose and then foamed real bad and then threw up the med on the second dose. I was told to try and squirt water in her mouth right after the med to try and wash the bad taste from her mouth but she still foamed real bad and threw up.

This morning they gave her a shot of Metcam, I think that is the pain/anti-inflammatory med that is good for 3 days, and a injection of Baytril and a 22.7 mg pill of Baytril, I have a bottle of the Baytril pills for her, must be the antibiotic. Also injected fluids in her because she has not been eating or drinking since Thursday afternoon, at least I have not seen her eat or drink. He said I should put butter on the pills before I give them to her, it will make them easier to swallow and taste much better.

Tom

It's almost 1:00 am here, Misty is still so bad she can hardly walk. I gave her some cat food and some treats and she wants to eat but she can't even make her mouth work, she picks up the cat food pieces but when she tries to chew them they just fall out of her mouth. She seems to be alert and knows what is going on around her and she stumbles around to her normal resting places falling down allot on the way as she tries to walk.

The best way I can describe how she acts is like she is really drunk. She tries to sleep but I don't think she can do that very well either, she twitches and has like mini spasms.

I feel so bad for her and helpless. I hope she can pull through this and be OK but I am starting to get more worried that she won't.

Tom

Originally Posted by Tom W

Hi mews2much,

At first it was Tresaderm drops in her ear, what's real odd is she foamed at the mouth from the ear drops almost instantly. Then they tried Clindamycin Hydrochloride liquid in her mouth, she foamed at the mouth real bad the first dose and then foamed real bad and then threw up the med on the second dose. I was told to try and squirt water in her mouth right after the med to try and wash the bad taste from her mouth but she still foamed real bad and threw up.

This morning they gave her a shot of Metcam, I think that is the pain/anti-inflammatory med that is good for 3 days, and a injection of Baytril and a 22.7 mg pill of Baytril, I have a bottle of the Baytril pills for her, must be the antibiotic. Also injected fluids in her because she has not been eating or drinking since Thursday afternoon, at least I have not seen her eat or drink. He said I should put butter on the pills before I give them to her, it will make them easier to swallow and taste much better.

Tom

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Please please URGE your vet to NOT give her anymore Metacam... It is dangerous to cats, and I don't even know why vets keep giving that to cats! Tell him to give something else. Also -make sure that the oral antibiotics is not Metacam either. It has killed many cats with induced renal failure. That makes me so mad!!
Also, as far as this happening after she went to the vet for the first time, it could be a coincidence. She might have had the infection when she went it, but because it might had been in the beginning stages, and she developed the worst symptoms later...
It sounds to me that your cat has Labyrinthitis (link). Please ask your vet about it...

It says Baytril on the bottle of pills, is that the same stuff with a different name?

I was so worried I would not be able to get the pill into Misty. I covered the pill with butter and I first let her lick a little butter off my fingers and I then gave here the pill, she swallowed it right down and wanted more so I gave her a couple soft treats and she managed to eat those also.

She is still pretty wobbly but she managed to get up on our bed by herself. I know I am a old softy at heart and I cried for Misty last night and prayed for her.

Misty ate some of Missy's soft cat food during the night. She is still have balance problems but I can see she is slowly getting better. She was even purring as I pet her last night, she has not purred since all this started.

Cozmo was trying to clean out her sore ear this morning { they groom each other all the time} but Misty didn't like it and she hissed at him and he left her alone.

Sounds like she's on the mend! I'm so happy for you all!

My Felix (former feral) had a middle ear injury (suspect he fell from a tree) when he was in the midst of the "taming process." I found him one morning in our shrubs, unable to walk, with wonky eyes, etc. A trip to the vet, with a steroid shot and antibiotics fixed him right up, and it was also the chance I needed to move him inside, where he's been ever since! He recovered with NO evidence anything was ever wrong.

Hope she's good as new very soon!

Cally

I talked to Misty's vet, He thinks she should have her balance back in a couple days. She is still improving but it is a slow process. She has her appetite back and doing her normal routine as best she can, but I have to keep an eye on her the best I can because she tries to get up on things she normally does but with her balance problems I am worried she is going to fall and injure herself.

Yes, you have to watch them. When my Felix came home from the vet after his incident, I was told to keep him confined and I was rushing around, trying to get litter, water, etc so I put him in my bathroom. I foolishly didn't even think of him panicking since he was unable to walk but he was semi-feral and in his attempt to climb out the window, he fell into the toilet! Unfortunately, my daughter was not good at flushing at that point in time.....BAD SCENE.

Poor Felix had such a bad morning...injured, car ride, to vet, inside a house, in a toilet and a bath...all within 90 minutes. He did FINE, tho, and is now my biggest cuddler of my 3 cats.

Misty is doing great!

Cally