Cat with Itchy Ears

[CGOmom3]

Hello! This is my first post, hoping to get a little advice/encouragement for my cat Chloe regarding itchy ears

Info about Chloe:
She turns 4 on May 14
Female/spayed/domestic short hair
Rescued her from a shelter when she was very little 5-6 weeks. She had fleas from the shelter but never again.
Never had any health issues. Gets a year annual exam from vet.

Inside only.
TLDR: cat has periodic itchy ears, prescribed Benedryl. Has anyone had good experiences with this? Is there anything else to try?

-Middle of 2020- she started scratching right in front of her ears raw (nothing super serious just red spots I’ll attach photos) one of my friends was a vet tech so I asked her and she said it was probably a flea allergy and gave me revolution (even though she didn’t have fleas). I put the treatment on and kitty caps on her back nails and the spot cleared up and she was fine.
-Every so often though, every couple of months, she starts scratching again. Sometimes I definitely lapse in doing the revolution but I know she doesn’t have fleas and none of my other cats scratch like she does.

-February 2022- took her to vet when she had a flare up (they usually heal quickly so I asked my vet for their soonest work in) and they did a skin cytology and impression which they said revealed normal ear flora. She also prescribed prednisolone for the flare up and Benedryl every 8-12 hours.
-Chloe got very sick after this appointment with a URI. it lasted for about two weeks. During this time, she did not scratch, her ear healed and until like mid April she was not scratching at all. Didn’t do benedryl since she wasn’t scratching and took so many medications while sick.

-Mid April 2022 started up again. Put kitty caps on back nails, I have a cone on her as her raw spots heal, and tried (and failed) to give Benedryl as prescribed by dr. We did get liquid to try but I haven’t yet.

I guess I’m just wondering if anyone has dealt with this? It’s so frustrating because she’ll go months without having a flare up and then it’ll be bad. I’m wary about Benedryl because I don’t want her to be sleepy all the time, but has anyone had experience with Benedryl helping? Vet thinks it’s environmental since it’s not all the time, but just looking for other opinions or if there’s anything I should ask specifically of my vet. I’m nervous about bringing her back because she got sick so bad last time
I should also mention that I’m currently battling a very bad case of life-anxiety (working through with my doctor and therapist LOL) so I think every little thing that happens is the end of the world and like she’ll get a serious infection because of the scratching, so I’m panicking more than usual. So any encouragement or comforting stories would be lovely right now. Thank you!!
Madison and Chloe Decker

(first pic is current raw spot thats healing- second pic is a flare up from February

 

[donkeyslong]

Hello! This is my first post, hoping to get a little advice/encouragement for my cat Chloe regarding itchy ears

Info about Chloe:
She turns 4 on May 14
Female/spayed/domestic short hair
Rescued her from a shelter when she was very little 5-6 weeks. She had fleas from the shelter but never again.
Never had any health issues. Gets a year annual exam from vet.

Inside only.
TLDR: cat has periodic itchy ears, prescribed Benedryl. Has anyone had good experiences with this? Is there anything else to try?

-Middle of 2020- she started scratching right in front of her ears raw (nothing super serious just red spots I’ll attach photos) one of my friends was a vet tech so I asked her and she said it was probably a flea allergy and gave me revolution (even though she didn’t have fleas). I put the treatment on and kitty caps on her back nails and the spot cleared up and she was fine.
-Every so often though, every couple of months, she starts scratching again. Sometimes I definitely lapse in doing the revolution but I know she doesn’t have fleas and none of my other cats scratch like she does.

-February 2022- took her to vet when she had a flare up (they usually heal quickly so I asked my vet for their soonest work in) and they did a skin cytology and impression which they said revealed normal ear flora. She also prescribed prednisolone for the flare up and Benedryl every 8-12 hours.
-Chloe got very sick after this appointment with a URI. it lasted for about two weeks. During this time, she did not scratch, her ear healed and until like mid April she was not scratching at all. Didn’t do benedryl since she wasn’t scratching and took so many medications while sick.

-Mid April 2022 started up again. Put kitty caps on back nails, I have a cone on her as her raw spots heal, and tried (and failed) to give Benedryl as prescribed by dr. We did get liquid to try but I haven’t yet.

I guess I’m just wondering if anyone has dealt with this? It’s so frustrating because she’ll go months without having a flare up and then it’ll be bad. I’m wary about Benedryl because I don’t want her to be sleepy all the time, but has anyone had experience with Benedryl helping? Vet thinks it’s environmental since it’s not all the time, but just looking for other opinions or if there’s anything I should ask specifically of my vet. I’m nervous about bringing her back because she got sick so bad last time
I should also mention that I’m currently battling a very bad case of life-anxiety (working through with my doctor and therapist LOL) so I think every little thing that happens is the end of the world and like she’ll get a serious infection because of the scratching, so I’m panicking more than usual. So any encouragement or comforting stories would be lovely right now. Thank you!!
Madison and Chloe Decker

(first pic is current raw spot thats healing- second pic is a flare up from February

Honestly I am not sure, but my bengal had a problem with itching by the ears and he also bit his fur by his tail, the vet told us that it most likely 2 things, a flea allergy or a allergy to food. We changed the food to be on safe side by gradually changing it, and had the vet give him flea medication behind his neck. Took awhile but he stopped itching and biting his fur. I would ask your vet and see what their best options would be and honestly in my opinion only, I don't think Benedryl would be that good. Wish you the best and hope your kitty gets better.

 

[CGOmom3]

Honestly I am not sure, but my bengal had a problem with itching by the ears and he also bit his fur by his tail, the vet told us that it most likely 2 things, a flea allergy or a allergy to food. We changed the food to be on safe side by gradually changing it, and had the vet give him flea medication behind his neck. Took awhile but he stopped itching and biting his fur. I would ask your vet and see what their best options would be and honestly in my opinion only, I don't think Benedryl would be that good. Wish you the best and hope your kitty gets better.

I’m wondering if it’s the food, she eats a food with chicken as the number one protein so I’m thinking of switching to a different food and keeping up with the flea medication and everything. The only thing my vet said was to use the benedryl :/

 

[CGOmom3]

Honestly I am not sure, but my bengal had a problem with itching by the ears and he also bit his fur by his tail, the vet told us that it most likely 2 things, a flea allergy or a allergy to food. We changed the food to be on safe side by gradually changing it, and had the vet give him flea medication behind his neck. Took awhile but he stopped itching and biting his fur. I would ask your vet and see what their best options would be and honestly in my opinion only, I don't think Benedryl would be that good. Wish you the best and hope your kitty gets better.

Thank you so much for your response and I’m so glad your baby is doing better!! It gives me hope that we’ll get through this!

 

[donkeyslong]

I’m wondering if it’s the food, she eats a food with chicken as the number one protein so I’m thinking of switching to a different food and keeping up with the flea medication and everything. The only thing my vet said was to use the benedryl :/

If you do change the food, do it gradually, too quickly will give your kitty bad diarrhea and nobody wants that. If your vet said to use Benedryl, I would use what the vet recommended but if it was me in the same situation. I would look up any side-effects with Benedryl for cats and use my best judgment. For us, our cat is our family and take alot of caution on what we give him. Hope he gets better.

 

[CGOmom3]

If you do change the food, do it gradually, too quickly will give your kitty bad diarrhea and nobody wants that. If your vet said to use Benedryl, I would use what the vet recommended but if it was me in the same situation. I would look up any side-effects with Benedryl for cats and use my best judgment. For us, our cat is our family and take alot of caution on what we give him. Hope he gets better.

Oh definitely! I was planning to do the benedryl, but I did like you said and looked up side effects and am worried it won’t help/cause more problems than it solved. So really hoping if anyone else has had good experiences with benedryl they can weigh in. I did email my vet with my concerns- waiting to hear back! Thank you again!

 

[fionasmom]

Chicken can often be a source of a food allergy, so that is one thing to consider.

Benedryl ( generic name for diphenhydramine) is often used with dogs and cats. I used it for a dog who could not use any steroid medications and had a skin issue. However, I am not saying that you want your cat on this for the rest of her life; the dog used it only intermittently. It can be enough of a sedative that some vets also recommend it for light sedation, so the fact that your cat is groggy is common.
Diphenhydramine | VCA Animal Hospitals

One option would be to consult with another vet, not in the same practice, to see if you can get more direction about resolving this. It could certainly be environmental as well. There also could be some obscure connection with the medications used for the URI which somehow settled down the skin issue; my guess is that the pred definitely helped. However, that is a medication you don't want to use long term. You need someone to help you work through all of this. A veterinary dermatologist might be helpful. If they can get to the bottom of this, it is actually more cost effective than continually trying remedies which don't work from various vets.