Ear Mucus?!

Hi

New hear but I've looked around before, enough to know that there are some super knowledgable people here

I have a cat named Toby who is about 14yrs old. about 10 days ago I noticed he was having a problem with his ear. He had it turned off to the side and was scratching at it. I looked but didn't see anything out of the ordinary, however when I gently rubbed the base on the ear I hear fluid moving. So off to the vet we went. 

She cleaned out his ear (left ear only is the issue - right ear is fine) and found lots of what I'd call 'snot' a green fluid and after further digging, some brown/black gunk. She looked at it under scope and found very little yeast or bacteria. I also asked her to sedate him to do a thorough check of his year to ensure there was no foreign object. That revealed nothing in the ear. 

We went home with drops to do every day (Posatex - says for dogs but guess okay for cats too) It is an Antibacterial, Anti-inflammatory and Antifungal. We did our 10 days and went back today for a recheck. It did take about 304 days for him to stop showing me his ear was bothering him, but it that got better after that. I also made an observation that his eyes were dilated different, something I had not noticed before. One (the left) was always smaller than the right) I called to relay this info but it didn't seem like a big deal. Today at the 10 day appt his dilation in the eyes was normal and equal in both. 

Anyways, after a cleaning today by vet - his ear was full of that green snot again, along with some brown/black gunk just like before, but seemed like even more snot then before. Again she looked at it under the microscope and saw zero yeast and no bacteria at all just green 'snot'

Came back home with instructions to clean ear every 3 days with a clean that may dry it out and then use some QTips (carefully, I know how) 

She has no idea what is causing this in one ear.

Any one ever have something similar??? 

Thanks!

Trish and Toby

I'm not sure about snot but I have 3 cats from the same family that have had the black brown gunk in their ears. It's been tested and we figured out it was just their normal wax production. Like humans some cats just produce a lot of wax and it's a brown black color. I'm not sure where the snot is coming in unless that's the wax mixed with the cleaning solution that comes out of the war. That sounds a little disturbing.

I know! Its very weird - it is truly a drippy green mucus! Granted some brown/black gunk as well but this green stuff has got us scratching our heads! (no pun intended)

That's bizarre. I'd call the vet and ask what that is. I wonder if there's an cyst or abcess filling up in there.

Is there any smell to the snot? If it smells bad it could be an infection of sorts.

Yes if you notice, we've been to the vet 2xs now and have sedated Toby to view deep into the ear.

Nope - no smell!

That's strange. I thought my cats brown/black waxing ears were strange but you got us beat!!

TrishW said:

Nope - no smell!

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This is good. Smell would indicate infection. Maybe a blocked eustachain (connects ear to the nose) tube? People sometimes get this but never heard of a cat getting it.

That sounds like an infection to me. You can send the mucus off to a lab to have its composition analysed and also run some blood work to see if there's an elevated white blood cell count. If those don't bring back anything then going to a specialist to have them look into the ear for a rupture, tumor, or foreign object is the next step.

It could also be an abscess. The most likely thing though is an infection of the skin of the inner ear. If she just looked at the fluid and didn't do a skin scrape then the bacteria might not of shown up or it might need a gram stain to be seen.

MingsMongols said:

It could also be an abscess. The most likely thing though is an infection of the skin of the inner ear. If she just looked at the fluid and didn't do a skin scrape then the bacteria might not of shown up or it might need a gram stain to be seen.

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Seems unlikely to be an abscess to me since there is no smell. Pus from an abscess usually has a strong stinky smell. (Infection)

I agree. It's unlikely, in rare cases fluid can build up around a closed absess but it's not the fluid from the absess itself. In that case it's normally clear though.

We are going to see a Specialist this week. Have appt for Thursday but also on a list in case someone cancels sooner. I cleaned his ear out yesterday and the green snot is now a brown fluid and got a good sized lump of hard crusty gunk.  

Will update after specialist appt.

I think there is something deep in the ear that's leaking something.

Went to see the Dermatologist this week. She was very nice and our initial conversation revolved around the fact she was leaning toward a tumor and that a cat scan may be needed. This was based on her conversation with my vet. Then she took a sample of his 'ear stuff' and looked under microscope. She found a "TON" of Neutrophils or he has a VERY BAD ear infection. Sooooooooooooo we need to do all these meds for 2 weeks just to help clear it up so that we can begin to figure out what the cause is. NO idea why my vet did not see bacteria, but I believe her when she said she didn't see any. Just don't know why. 

So we are now on Prednisone pill one time a day, Baytril ear drops 2xs a day and 3ML of Clyndamyacin 2xs a day. (that ALOT of antibiotics btw). Also an ear wash and clean every 3 days.

Toby is being a great sport about it all although he's not amused and is mad at me, he still tolerates it all. 

Soooooo we'll get this cleared up then see what happens in 2 weeks.

Stay tuned!

Trish and Toby (using a Pom pillow in picture)

That's great news. Your getting somewhere now. The bacteria probably wasn't present in the fluid when your vet checked it but clinging to the lining of his ear just under the skin. Knowing its bacterial though is a wonderful step forward. Here's hoping to a speedy recovery .

Poor thing that can't be fun!!

We have our 2 week followup exam tomorrow - fingers crossed!

He has been a good boy taking his meds (except the Baytril IN the ear - not happy about that one) so I'm hoping that we can slowly come off the meds and maintain a clear ear! (of course we don't know what caused the infection in first place   stay tuned.....

It could be he got something lodged in his ear while exploring. I've seen lots of things get stuck in my guys ears. Grass, insects, even a glass beads.