Crusty cat ears?

4 years ago my kitten went to the vet with a sunburn-cum-ear infection. He was deemed to have no mange, no ringworm, no mites. We treated him, and for the next two years he was fine, although he got crusty every spring/summer.

There's never anything wrong with him. He's going for his yearly scraping soon and we're expecting bupkiss. Does anyone else have a crusty cat? His ears are beginning to callous under all this scabbing and skin flaking. His fur comes off too. His ears are clean on the inside and they don't eeem to be itchy, but are painful when scratched.

He's 4, neutered, dilute orange and white (orange on the ears) indoor only, loves sunbathing, eats raw for the past 6 months (major protein change then from primarily chicken to primarily beef) has chin acne and is FIV+.

I kinda attribute this to sun and FIV, but I want to check this out again.

We had a white cat who loved sunbathing. Her ears got crusty on the outside, and it turned out to be skin cancer. I really hope that's not what's going on with your boy.

Another thought - some horses react with a similar skin condition, and it's an allergic reaction to something in strong sunlight...kind of like an extreme photosensitivity (I can't remember exactly what - its 8 years since I saw it, and it wasn't my horse). Given that your boy is FIV, it's possible there's something like that going on.

Ive looked that up, and he does seem to fit for it. We'll try some UV film on the windows and see.

Like Columbine, I had a white cat that had crusty ears, and it was also skin cancer.  I certainly hope yours doesn't end up with cancer.

A little research says that if he has this thing (UVB sensitivity) then it can lead to carcinomas or cancers on his ears. Could mean amputation. But there's basically no treatment besides "keep them away from sunlight".

It seems to be the best suggestion though... Everything else is situational, diagnoseable, and transferable. No one else in the house has any hair loss or scabs, at all, for the past 4 years.