Precious ear was bleeding inside

avemaria02 · Jun 11, 2013

Hey everyone. I was cleaning Precious' ears out because she has ear allergies and this usually helps her feel better. I have to use a cotton swab to do so because she despises having the ear cleaning solution put in her ears. Anyway, I noticed a little bit of bright red blood on the q-tip while I was cleaning her left ear out. I know she has been pawing at them a lot lately and I figured she might have a little bit of an ear infection. Other than the blood she did have a lot of moderate to dark brown wax in her ears but it was definitely not ear mites. I know what ear mites look like and this was not ear mites. I didn't notice any discharge or anything but did notice a lot of that wax plus a little bit of blood on the q-tip. She does have chronic ear allergies. What could be causing her ear issues?

ritz · Jun 11, 2013

Sorry Precious is having problems with her ears.

My guess-and only my guess-is that while she was scratching her ears, one of her claws broke the skin inside the ear, hence, bleeding.

But you should call your vet and get his expert opinion.

Does she have seasonal allergies, could she be allergic to food or something in the environment?

mrsgreenjeens · Jun 11, 2013

When you say "she has chronic ear allergies", what exactly do you mean? Did the Vet say she has allergies that is causing her ears to build up this junk in them? If so, then it's likely it's caused by food, believe it or not! So it's mainly up to you to try to figure out which food is causing it. But before you can do that, the Vet needs to absolutely make certain that it's not something else, like a yeast infection or bacterial infection. When this first started happening, did they take a sample of the "gunk" and put it on a slide and look at in thru a microscope to determine what it was or wasn't? They probably did and that's how they determined "allergies", but it's possible they just made an educated guess, which might be wrong!

Anyway, if you feed different foods, you could actually keep a journal of what you feed when to try to determine if you are always feeding a certain food when she gets the issue. Or if you feed kibble, maybe you need to make a change (slowly though, so you don't cause tummy issues)

avemaria02 · Jun 12, 2013

mrsgreenjeens said:
When you say "she has chronic ear allergies", what exactly do you mean? Did the Vet say she has allergies that is causing her ears to build up this junk in them? If so, then it's likely it's caused by food, believe it or not! So it's mainly up to you to try to figure out which food is causing it. But before you can do that, the Vet needs to absolutely make certain that it's not something else, like a yeast infection or bacterial infection. When this first started happening, did they take a sample of the "gunk" and put it on a slide and look at in thru a microscope to determine what it was or wasn't? They probably did and that's how they determined "allergies", but it's possible they just made an educated guess, which might be wrong!

Anyway, if you feed different foods, you could actually keep a journal of what you feed when to try to determine if you are always feeding a certain food when she gets the issue. Or if you feed kibble, maybe you need to make a change (slowly though, so you don't cause tummy issues)

Yeah, my veterinarian told me she has chronic ear allergies. They did not tell me anything about it being related to food though and they also didn't examine the wax under a microscope.

That said, Precious has had this problem several times in the past and nearly every time the veterinarian said it was ear allergies. One time her allergies were bad enough that the vet gave her a shot which reduced the symptoms for about a month. Unfortunately I can't afford for her to get a shot like that every month.

That said, after cleaning her ears out yesterday morning she is feeling a lot better! I am so grateful!

vball91 · Jun 12, 2013

I agree with mrsgreenjeens that "chronic ear allergies" are most likely due to species-inappropriate food because the VAST majority of commercial cat food contains ingredients that are allergy/inflammation triggers for cats. Allergies often appear as itchy skin and ear problems in cats.

avemaria02 · Jun 13, 2013

vball91 said:
I agree with mrsgreenjeens that "chronic ear allergies" are most likely due to species-inappropriate food because the VAST majority of commercial cat food contains ingredients that are allergy/inflammation triggers for cats. Allergies often appear as itchy skin and ear problems in cats.

Well, that really sucks because I certainly can't afford to put her on an expensive brand of food or on a raw diet. Is it possible that I could just get some medicine to give her every now and then when her symptoms are bad?

Also, I always thought it was due to me smoking. Her symptoms are worse when I am smoking a lot and seem to be a lot better if I don't smoke in the apartment.

vball91 · Jun 13, 2013

You probably already know that smoking is not good for you, but did you know it's as bad or even worse for Precious? Secondhand smoke can cause respiratory problems, allergies and has been linked to various cancers in cats.

What is causing the constant ear allergies is not going to be fixed by occasional medicine. The itching is an inflammatory response to the allergen. Unless you remove the allergen, the allergies will remain constant and she will continue to scratch her ears bloody. The shot your vet gave her when the symptoms were at their worst was probably a steroid shot which is an anti-inflammatory. It helped alleviate her symptoms temporarily, but since the allergen was not removed, the symptoms came back as soon as soon as the steroid wore off.

I think you know that the best thing you could do for yourself and Precious is to stop smoking and use the extra money to buy better food for your cat. I know that's easy to say and hard to do, but isn't it worth the effort, to have a healthy and happy cat companion?

franksmom · Jun 14, 2013

Agree with the above post, never expose your cat to second hand smoke.

As for the food a homemade raw diet costs less than the cheapest wet food and most dry foods. Commercial raw like bravo is actually less than a lot of wet and dry foods. For wet food fancy feast classics may work as they do not have a lot of junk in them and are pretty cheap, but you really need to find out what she is allergic to in order to figure out what is best to feed her.

avemaria02 · Jun 15, 2013

vball91 said:
You probably already know that smoking is not good for you, but did you know it's as bad or even worse for Precious? Secondhand smoke can cause respiratory problems, allergies and has been linked to various cancers in cats.

What is causing the constant ear allergies is not going to be fixed by occasional medicine. The itching is an inflammatory response to the allergen. Unless you remove the allergen, the allergies will remain constant and she will continue to scratch her ears bloody. The shot your vet gave her when the symptoms were at their worst was probably a steroid shot which is an anti-inflammatory. It helped alleviate her symptoms temporarily, but since the allergen was not removed, the symptoms came back as soon as soon as the steroid wore off.

I think you know that the best thing you could do for yourself and Precious is to stop smoking and use the extra money to buy better food for your cat. I know that's easy to say and hard to do, but isn't it worth the effort, to have a healthy and happy cat companion?

Franksmom said:
Agree with the above post, never expose your cat to second hand smoke.

As for the food a homemade raw diet costs less than the cheapest wet food and most dry foods. Commercial raw like bravo is actually less than a lot of wet and dry foods. For wet food fancy feast classics may work as they do not have a lot of junk in them and are pretty cheap, but you really need to find out what she is allergic to in order to figure out what is best to feed her.

Thanks to both of you. I do appreciate your posts. That said, I am going to quit smoking again. I think that will help out with her allergies a lot. Also, she does not normally scratch her ears till they bleed. In fact, I think that may have been because of the cotton swab. I tried to be gentle with her.

But anyway, I am going to quit smoking starting tomorrow because that would help me to more easily afford her food and it would be better for her health. That said, I only bought like one pack a week but still, that's $5 that could go to food for her.

vball91 · Jun 15, 2013

That is great news! I am glad for both you and your kitty. Good luck!

Precious ear was bleeding inside

avemaria02

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