ear infections

Luci,male 7 years old, keeps on getting ear infections.

He had in ear infection(left ear only) in May. The vet just swabbed his ear, looked at the discharge and said it was an infection. She cleaned his ear and prescribe Panalog.

In September I noticed Sushi, my kitten I got in June, was scratching his ear. Sushi ear wear a little dirty so I carefully cleaned his ear(only the viable part) with a cotton swab and put it an a plastic bag. Inside the plastic bag I saw the tiny ear mites crawling around. I checked Luci's ear and saw tons of gunk in his left ear. It was wet and grayish like when he had in an ear infection back in May. I brought Luci and Sushi to the vets. The vet did ear miter swabs on both kitties. First Luci, no mites. On the other hand Sushi did have ear mites. He gave Sushi and Luci Milbemite. I guess he thought Luci had an ear infection from the ear mites.

Today I notice Luci has gunk in his left ear like he has an ear infection again. Sushi & Sully ears are fine, just wax.

Since the vet office is closed right now I have call on Sat(if I get up early enough) or Monday to make an appointment.

Why would he keep on getting ear infections in one ear? Water couldn't have gotten into his ears because I haven't given him bath.

what is he eating?

have they been checked for ear mites?

It could also be something physically wrong with the ear, like a polyp.

My suggestion: Get up early and call around the time they open. If it's really bad and reoccurring they may want to anesthetize him and flush the ears out so they can get a good look inside the affected one.

And if, after this third visit, you don't get a solid feeling of comfort that the vet knows what he's doing/talking about/prescribing, then get a second opinion.

Ear infections can be incredibly painful, so, IMO, you want a vet who's going to treat the situation aggressively.

Originally Posted by Auntie Crazy

And if, after this third visit, you don't get a solid feeling of comfort that the vet knows what he's doing/talking about/prescribing, then get a second opinion.

Ear infections can be incredibly painful, so, IMO, you want a vet who's going to treat the situation aggressively.

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Agreed also call first thing tomarrow

Originally Posted by sharky

what is he eating?

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Back in May he was fed canned Wellness. Then in June/July I switched to canned Innova EVO.

Sometimes I give them dry food. Before he had Innova EVO dry and I just bought Wellness Healthy Weight this week.(I planning on mixing it with Wellness CORE)

Originally Posted by sharky

have they been checked for ear mites?

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Only Sushi and Luci back in September.

Has the gunk in his ear been tested for a yeast infection?

I went through a couple of years of recurring ear infections with my older kitty, Callie. Finally, when we went to the new vet for the 3rd time for the same thing, he said, "Let's check for a yeast infection!" Brilliant!! That is indeed what it was and he treated it by thoroughly cleaning out her ears (while she was knocked out) then he put this goopy, icky, thick gel like medicine in her ear. It effectively treated the infection and she's not had another one since. The med worked its magic and worked its way out of her ear in about 2 weeks. She hates that medicine but it really works well for her. If you'd like, I can find the name of the stuff.

We went to the vet today. (I called on Saturday and they were closed because they where helping a TNR organization raise money.)

He looked in his ear with an otoscope, and said it was clean (in the canal) and no ear mites. He said Luci has sensitive ears that makes a lot of wax. He put Panalog in his ear and cleaned it. He gave me Panalog to treat his ear when it starts to bug him.