Problem with ears

I just joined this site an hour ago, so haven't had a chance to even put up an avatar or read the entire thread here, but my kitty Jake has a 'new to me' ear problem. It's black stuff, but not the grainy mite variety, & not the waxy stuff. It's chunks! Literal hard chunks that are driving him crazy & he'll shake his head & they fly out. They are sometimes the size of small peas but irragularly shaped & hard! Hard like little stones! We took him to a new vet (we're new to this area) & she said it was wax buildup. I do not agree & don't know what else to do for him in the short term. Any suggestions would be so appreciated. Has anyone else even seen this kind of thing before?

Did this vet give you any treatment? Wax can cause a lot of pain and irritation, not to mention damage, if it is not removed.

My Mazy cat's left ear was inflamed and shedding little waxy chunks. Not as big as you describe, but still, she sleeps next to my pillow every night, and every morning there was a littl pile of stuff shed from her ear.

The vet used a swab to clean out some of the gunk (never ever do this at home) and put some of it under a microscope. Diagnosis: a combination of yeast, wax, and staph bacteria. Poor Mazy, and she never complained at all!

She is now on tresaderm ear drops and clavamox antibiotic for 14 days, to help her fight this problem.

I recommend you find a better vet, who will take your cat's health more seriously.

Welcome to the forum and please keep us updated on your Jake.

One of my cats had a waxy build up and he acted just as you described. He would shake his head and small chunks of dark wax would fly out. I also found them in his bed. He would als dig at his ear with his paw. Maybe ask the vet how often (and how to do) you can clean his ears to prevent the build up.

My boy's eventually got better and he has not had anymore problems.

Welcome to the forum!

My Callie has perpetual ear wax buildup and if not treated, it gets impacted in the ear canal and she acts like she's got an ear infection, ears down, shaking head, constantly scratching ears, and sensitive to having ears touched. I have her ears cleaned out annually while she's under for her dental clean up and that's helped a lot.

You can try a couple of drops of warm (not hot) olive oil in the ear canal then rub it in. That will lubricate the ear canal and help that gunk come out.

I would also encourage you to seek a 2nd opinion or just start going to another vet.

One of my roommates cats recently had an ear infection. We think it was the result of one of my cats scratching her on the ear, and some of the blood getting into the ear and causing an infection. The vet prescribed ear drops, and her ears look great now. The drops were for both fungal and bacterial infections.