Recurring Ear Infections - Alternatives?

Hi, everyone! I am a long-time (over 5 years) lurker ever since we moved on to our acreage and the cats started showing up... Every problem or situation that we came up against was something that had been dealt with here, and I have really come to respect the advice and storehouse of knowledge that this board has...

Our latest stray, Buddy, (#4, but he came after I signed up as meow3meow... should have known ) showed up at the beginning of November... he had 1/4-inch deep scars behind both his ears from a massive ear mite infection... with the vet's assistance, we went through several rounds of Revolution and two rounds of Panalog... each time the ears were clear for a few weeks, but the mites/sludge? returned... the last time in we tried Canaural, and this actually seems to have cured one ear, but his left ear is infected again... I've called the vet to see whether we can try another round of the Canaural, but I'm wondering why these infections keep coming back each time...

each time we're at the vets, they clean his ears and judging from his yowling from the back it's a fairly painful process by the time they're finished... the vet has mentioned that she would recommend cleaning his ears while he's sedated so that they can get every last bit, but frankly we're tapped budget-wise right now (mini-crises with two other cats, IBD and UTI), so I'm hoping that another round of antibiotics can buy us some time... I've been trying to keep his ears cleaned up, but he started to cry out while scratching them today, so I know things have progressed...

has anyone gone through this? are there any possible reasons why these keep reoccurring? could diet be a factor? sorry for all these questions and the length of this, but I'm hoping to shed a bit of light on this... thanks in advance, Monica :-)

Poor dear Buddy. This sounds like it has been a chronic problem and now is extremely painful. If these infections are not cleared up along with the mites, it can lead to serious damage to the cat's internal ear canal and ear drum. I would ask your vet about possible allergies or a secondary systemic disorder since the usual treatment is not clearing up the problem. If the cat has a suppressed immune system, that will go against Buddy and being able to overcome these terrible ear infections.

I know mineral oil can be used in the ear to kill mites and will help dislodge any dirt and wax. But I am not sure if this would work at this point. Wish I could be of more help and hope someone comes along soon that has dealt with chronic ear infections like this. You are doing a great job trying to help Buddy and I hope you can get an answer soon...

Ask the vet to culture the stuff in the ear canal. It could be a yeast infection. I went through that with my old girl. Did ear drops, Revolution and all that. Turned out she had a yeast infection in her ears! The vet gave her an ointment that he basically squeezed in with a tube that filled up her ears. It was absorbed into her ears and treated the infection. We used to have her ears cleaned out annually when she had her dental cleaning. It almost killed me to watch them clean her ears!

Its called Animax ointment. They make a cream but the ointment is what worked for my cat. Its very messy but does work for awhile. (longer than any other product.) The vets claim some cats just get yeast infections and dirty ears and some don't. If I remember correctly, its not expensive and did work.

Yes,!!! I was thinking about this overnight and couldn't remember the ointment for yeast infections in the ear, which it most likely is!!! Animax, thanks JMNULZ.

Thank you all so much for your replies! We are heading back to the vet on Saturday, and I will ask them to culture for yeast and see what that turns up... as for the possible secondary systemic disorder, any hints/clues what this might have been with others, and/or what kind of lab work might it be worth getting done? And yes, Stephanietx, it's crazy hard to watch him getting his ears examined... he's been through so much since he's come to us with a neuter-gone-wrong (extra unexplained bleeding and exploratory surgery), the ongoing ear issue, and trying to fit in with three other males who see him as the world's most supreme pest... ... but he's definitely figured out that he doesn't need to be in survival mode anymore, his tummy will always be full, he will get as much loving as he can stand, and catnip mousies are to be destroyed on sight... he's definitely a cup-all-full little guy, and we'll get through this challenge too... I'll report back when we find out what's happening... thx again, everyone...

please let us know what you find out. I'm always looking for info on this problem.

Hi again, everyone! Just wanted to update you on Buddy's progress... the cultures on both ears came back negative for both fungal and bacterial infection, so the next step was to look at possible food allergies... the vet said to keep Buddy on as few protein sources (preferably just one) to see what could make the infections flare up... He normally gets NutroMax canned food in various flavours, but also had been getting Fancy Feast at night as a treat (kitty crack rules!)... we started first by eliminating the Fancy Feast, and that seems to have done the trick! His ears only need cleaning every two weeks or so now, and we have drops of some kind to put in if need be... they smell like vinegar, so are "wildly" popular when going in! ... Buddy's a lot more comfortable now, and it's nice not to see him scratching his ears and crying out in pain... we're at the next step of trying to get him his forever home, but I'll write a bit more about that in the Strays and Feral forum... thanks again everyone for your help and suggestions!

Glad to hear he's doing better! Also glad to know it was easily figured out.

You might want to consider a LID food. Many cats have problems with commonly used grains, not just meat sources.

And while it sounds odd, environmental allergies can cause issues, too.

He'll probably hate you for it but you need to regularly clean his ears out. Most people can't safely use q-tips so try using dampened cotton balls to get as much of the visible gunk out of the ears as possible. Get a proper pH balanced ear cleaner to wet the cotton balls with and to then flush the inside of the ears with.

If the discharge builds up it can eventually lead to a bacterial infection even if he doesn't have one now.

I'm using Avena Sativa ear cleaner that the vet recommended, and then also Burrow's Oil as needed... as I mentioned, the cleaning is down to around bi-weekly and he's definitely much more comfortable... I will look into the LID food this week... thanks for the suggestion!