Cat Ears -- Black Specks?

O

octoberstormxx

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
May 1, 2015
Messages
9
Purraise
4
Hi, everyone!

So my cat is having some issues with her ears. I'm stumped. Even the veterinarian seems to be drawing a bit of a blank. This all started with her eyes, she was having an issue where they were getting dry and flaky, and she scratched so much they would turn pink, like they were getting infected. We've been treating this issue as if it is an allergy and she's been on a hypoallergenic food and cat litter ever since. The problem has started to move around though, its affected her tail, and she now is missing a lot of fur around the base of the tail, as well as the ears.

However, her ears seem to be having an even stranger issue, there's these weird, black specks inside of them now. And no, they aren't a part of her skin, they do come off. We took her to the veterinarian, and she put Advantage on her and gave us Mal-Ket wipes to help both clean and sterilize the ears. She's been on this for a few days, but the dots seem to come back almost instantly overnight. Has anyone seen anything like this before? We'll have to take her to a veterinarian that specializes in this if we can't figure it out.

Thanks for your time. I appreciate any help!

 
FeebysOwner

FeebysOwner

TCS Member
Staff Member
Forum Helper
Joined
Jun 13, 2018
Messages
22,874
Purraise
34,285
Location
Central FL (Born in OH)
Hi. I remember running across an article in the past (with pics similar to yours) whereby the specks were thought to be related to an ear infection. Did the vet rule that out. Just a thought...
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #3
O

octoberstormxx

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
May 1, 2015
Messages
9
Purraise
4
She had an ear infection a few months ago. It was treated by a different veterinarian because mine had not available appointments, and not long after, all this stuff happened. Thus far, no, her regular veterinarian hasn't treated it as if it might be an ear infection. We did continue to use an ear wash on her weekly, it's just a run-of-the-mill ear cleaner the other veterinarian recommended that we use. Would you happen to have a link to to that article? If not, do you remember which website it was on? I'd be happy to give it to my veterinarian, because even she says whatever it is, it's weird.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #5
O

octoberstormxx

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
May 1, 2015
Messages
9
Purraise
4
Thank you. I've been on Google to try to find similar images to her ears, but so far, nothing.
 
V

verna davies

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Feb 23, 2016
Messages
23,636
Purraise
17,489
Location
Wales uk
Sorry but don't know how to add link but have a look at a post by loveyinnm titled "My kitty has tiny black dots on her ear? Might be stick toght fleas".
Looks like your picture.
 
FeebysOwner

FeebysOwner

TCS Member
Staff Member
Forum Helper
Joined
Jun 13, 2018
Messages
22,874
Purraise
34,285
Location
Central FL (Born in OH)
Last edited:
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #10
O

octoberstormxx

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
May 1, 2015
Messages
9
Purraise
4
She is not an outdoor cat. She's deaf, so I think it would be too dangerous for her. Her siblings are also indoor cats as well, so they don't have much exposure to the outdoors. She is, on rare occasion, around my parent's dog, who we sometimes babysit, but she's primarily indoor as well other than walks and taking her outside for the bathroom.

She is being treated with Advantage, which is supposed to fight against fleas, ticks, mites, and ringworm. According the the veterinarian who tested the gunk in her ears, she has been exposed to a fungal spore that is somehow related to ringworm. She's had the Advantage on for a total of six days now, I'm not sure how long it normally takes to have any effect though.
 
Jem

Jem

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Aug 6, 2018
Messages
5,610
Purraise
11,305
Did your vet test for yeast infection? Yeast infections in cats can affect the eyes, ears and skin. It can cause upper respiratory symptoms, digestive symptoms, urinary problems...really, depending on the strain of the fungus (yeast) it can affect basically every part your kitties body, inside or out.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #12
O

octoberstormxx

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
May 1, 2015
Messages
9
Purraise
4
I'm not sure if she was or not. The gunk in her ears were tested for a lot of things, mostly mites. They didn't test positive other than for some fungal spore possibly related to ringworm. I'm supposed to get a call back from my veterinarian's office sometimes today probably about the Mal-Ket wipes, because they seem to just be spreading around whatever the problem is. Since using them, the specks are seeming to move outward from the inner-ear. When they call, I'll ask if they've tested her.
 
  • Purraise
Reactions: Jem
Jem

Jem

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Aug 6, 2018
Messages
5,610
Purraise
11,305
There are several types of fungi that can cause yeast infections, not just your typical "candida" that we most hear of (in humans).
Of course there is candidasis, as well as Malassezia dermatitis and blastomycosis. They are the most common. And if your vet says there are fungal spores, both ringworm and yeast are from the fungus family.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #16
O

octoberstormxx

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
May 1, 2015
Messages
9
Purraise
4
Hm, it sounds like these fungal spores can lead to an infection then? And they would effect multiple parts of her body (like her eyes and tail which have also been effected)? How are these infections normally treated?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top