Weylin's on going ear problem! How can I help him?

Hi friends!

I'm new to this site, and totally amazed by knowledge that is being shared. 

I was really hoping someone could give me some advice about my cat's ear. 

I got him from the shelter when he was about a year old. They were feeding him special gastrointestinal food, but I'm not sure why (just included that incase its maybe related some how?)

For the past several years, he's had a build up of wax in his ear, specifically his left ear. It often gets irritated and inflamed. I can tell he is in pain sometimes

I've been to three different vets, and none have been able to find a permanent solution. 
 

The usual prescription is to wash his ears with special ear wash to remove the wax, and then to use an antibiotic cream for periods of two weeks.

The antibiotic works like a charm, but the infection always returns. I've noticed that it gets especially bad when he is stressed (I moved houses last summer and it was just awful, so I had to do more antibiotics). 

My roommate suggested that maybe he actually has an allergy to his food! I was feeding him food from the vet, which I realized is actually not great at all! The second ingredient was a starchy filler (

So I switched him to Acana, at the same time that I was giving him a round of antibiotics. I noticed a huge improvement in energy and he even lost a little weight! 

Unfortunately, about two months after I stopped the antibiotics his ear got REALLY bad again. Its all pussy and itchy ( 

Last week, before his ear got really bad (tho I had noticed him scratching a little) I switched his food from Acana Poultry (Grasslands) to the duck and egg one (Prairie).

Do you think it could be a food allergy, and that it has to do with the change in blend of Acana food?

Has anyone encountered such a stubborn ear problem????

Does anyone know of any home remedies to reduce the irritation around his ear??

Thanks so much

So has this been diagnosed as a YEAST infection?  If so, that could definitely be caused by food, but not sure that just changing his food a week ago could cause it to get really bad that soon, particularly since you only changed flavors of the same brand.  Typically the things that cause yeast infections in ears are wheat and sugar, and I don't think Acana has either of these in their food, although I suppose some of the fruits and/or vegies might have natural sugars in them.  . 

I read on a couple of threads that some people with similar problems add L-Lysine to their food (like for Herpes), and others use a rinse of equal parts white vinegar and water to keep the ear "in balance".  One person said they put the vinegar/water mixture on a little cotton ball and put in the ear, then gently rub the ear for about 30 seconds and remove the cotton ball.  they do this every few weeks.

Have you thought about wet food? Those tend to have way fewer ingredients, typically. 

Hmm, yeah I'm thinking it must be something other than his food, but it worth a shot.  I think I'm going to take him to the vet and have them do a proper ear cleaning under sedation, and get a further assessment to see if he needs some sort of surgery. He has scratched his ear so much that I'm worried the vinegar rinse would be quite painful. 

In the meantime can anyone recommend any home remedies to reduce the swelling and calm the irritation?

I'll investigate the L-Lysine further, and consult my vet about that. Thanks so much!

Your poor cat, it sounds like his ear gets really painful and that is nasty.   Is his ear currently showing signs of puss and itching/bothering him?   If there is puss showing I would recommend you get him to the vet ASAP and not delay even if it isn't very long since he last had antibiotic treatment.

Generally, your plan to have a vet take a more thorough look at Weylin's ear and see if they can determine more precisely what is going on sounds really sensible.  I don't know if ears are ever affected by the feline Herpes virus and potentially respond to things like L Lysine to reduce the number of times he might have problems, but it does have the sound of something recurring and leaving an opening for bacterial infection.    I tend to veer away from L Lysine if it isn't pretty certain herpes is an issues because of how it affects protein digestion and adds strain on a cat's liver.  With food allergies, I haven't had any experience of this with my cats but if he seems to be in better health with some foods than others - if you can afford it it definitely sounds sensible to stick to those.  

Do talk to your vet about all of these things, the more background information they have, the more likely they will figure out what is happening and manage to work things out to help Weylin.

 

I'm thinking it's a combination of things.  The food allergy could be causing the ear inflammation.  I'd switch to a grain free food for one thing. Then as @mrsgreenjeens mentioned, I'd ask for a culture to see if it's a yeast infection (or something else that would show on a culture).  If it's a yeast infection, ask the vet to use BNT ear gel.  That stuff is quite goopy, but works like a charm.  It's slowly absorbed into the ear and treats the infection. Also, you might want to give your kitty a daily antihistamine to see if that helps keep things under control.  Also, I once had my ear problem prone kitty's ears flushed and deep cleaned under sedation yearly.