Ear Troubles

Hello!!!  and Meow!!!

This is my very first post on this site. 

My kitty (9 years old) that we rescued from a local shelter late last October has had two bouts of ear trouble.  She'll hold her ear at an odd angle, shake her head, scratch at her ear.  The ear is bright pink and obviously irritated.  The first incident was 5 months after we adopted her and took her to our vet right away.  To our dismay, he gave no definite diagnosis.  He looked for ear mites but didn't see any. She apparently had them at the shelter and was treated for them according to her paperwork.  So he did the "gunshot approach" so he called it - meaning he gave Prednisolone for inflammation, antibiotics for possible infection and a dose of Revolution on the back of her neck just in case it was ear mites that he wasn't seeing. 

We followed all of his instructions and have her all her meds.  The ear problem did clear up at that time but has returned.  He said that if she did have trouble again (which she is currently) to try another round of meds.  He also mentioned getting a second opinion which we are on Monday.  We are taking her back to the shelter's veterinary clinic.  In the mean time, does anyone have any experience with ear problems that sounds very similar and have any suggestions as to what it may be??  I did read another post from a while back to seemed somewhat similar and mentioned a yeast infection of the ears.  It is only her right ear and there is a lot of debris in it that we are going to have cleaned out while at her appointment.  

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks cat brothers and sisters!!   

Welcome to TCS!  Sorry you and your kitty are going through these health issues.  A couple of things come to my mind right off the bat.  First thing, it could be seasonal allergies causing some of the problems.  Just like humans, kitties get seasonal allergies.  The ear canal becomes inflamed and that prevents the ear wax from draining properly.  It balls up in the ear and becomes stuck and needs to be cleaned out.   Secondly, it could be some kind of ear infection.  This happened to one of my kitties and my vet treated it with BNT ear ointment.  http://www.bcpvetpharm.com/news_bcpbnt.html   It's a goopy gel that the vet puts into the ear and canal and then it is slowly absorbed into the body within 2 weeks and is gone.  Lastly, if the vet is going to do a thorough cleaning, I suggest you have your cat sedated and not be in the room while they do it.  It's hard to watch as it's somewhat uncomfortable for your kitty.  I used to have my cat's ears cleaned out while under anesthesia for dental cleaning.  It was much more peaceful for all of us.

You said the main problem is only ONE ear, but is the other ear warm and pink at all?  Because oddly enough, FOOD ALLERGY often manifests in the ears.  Prednisone would counteract an allergy, but when it wears off, the allergy would return.  We just got two cats into the shelter recently who were given up by their owners who were divorcing and nobody wanted the cats so they just left them at the vet. They both had ear trouble, no visible ear mites but a lot of black pigment, and one had a cauliflower ear because he had scratched it so badly in the past he got a hematoma, which obviously was not treated and just turned into scar tissue.  I handle the Petco adoption center, and when these cats came in, the shelter asked me to take them to Petco since there was room that day.  At Petco, I feed grain-free dry food and wet food (at the shelter they don't, they just feed Purina).  At about that same time, I was reading something here on TCS about food allergies affecting the ears, something I had never known before, so I paid attention to these boys very carefully.  Lo and behold, their ears cleared up, probably for the first time in their lives.  When they first came in, the couldn't stand to have their ears touched or rubbed.  After about a month, they were much better.  We found a foster home to take them for the summer (and hopefully adopt them in the fall!!) and they feed grain-free to all their animals so it wasn't a problem.  The cats' ears are totally normal now.  In both cats, it was both ears, but in each of them one ear seemed to bother them more than the other.

It sounds like another shot of prednisone (or a long acting steroid like dexamethasone) might be a good move at the point, combined with a switch to a grain-free food, something with no wheat, soy or corn (true, there are many other food allergies possible, but that's a good start.)  If it's a food allergy, to one of the grains, then when the steroid wears off, the ear problem will not return.  The food I used on our boys was Spot's Stew, grain free, chicken, so obviously they weren't allergic to chicken.  The foster home said they were getting too fat on that so switched them to Merrick grain free, so I can at least vouch for both of those foods not triggering their allergies.  Let us know how your boy does.

Thanks for the replies!!

My vet back in March did mention possibly allergies being that he really wasn't sure what was up.  We'll see what the 2nd opinion is from the Rescue League's vet tomorrow. 

It is just the right ear.  The other ear seems fine.  The affected ear doesn't have any foul odors to indicate infection.  I just had my face up to hers a few minutes ago.  I'm starting to lean maybe toward the allergy possibility because I also have noticed when she puts her head down to eat her wet food, she'll look up and her eyes are watery on occasion and when she'd done eating, she'll flick her head and flick tears or maybe watery discharge from her nose?? Not sure where it is coming from.  She isn't sick with a kitty cold...she's totally an indoor cat and is an only kitty child with all her current vaccinations.  If anything, maybe seasonal allergies because it's been 5 months since she's had any problems.  Maybe something blooming?? We do have the windows open every day at some point.

One more note, she also seems to have what my vet calls "hyperesthesia" where she gets twitchy skin and will dart through the house and lick real hard at the base of her tail whenever she is experiencing it.  Maybe a sign of allergies??  Who knows?

Thanks

--- Janie's cat mom.   

ok - so we just got back from her vet appointment a few hours ago and the diagnosis is yeast infection in her ear.  The doctor gave us Entederm gel to put in both her ears twice a day for 10 days.  The doc said that yeast infections of the ears can be brought on by allergies.  She didn't suggest any food change at this time.





If only I could give the ear medication as well as the vet!!

  She made it look easy!  I'm going to try the "wrap the kitty in the towel" approach for the ear medication this time.  I think this would be less stressful than scruffing her like we did last time for the ear drops.





We didn't go for the full ear cleaning but the vet did swab and scoop quite a bit of gunk out.  They look a lot better.

Yep, my girl used to get yeast infections.  For some reason, that wasn't coming to me last night (brain cramp, I'm sure).  One of the reasons I like the BNT ear goop is because you don't have to torture your cat to give it.  One application lasts about 2 weeks.