Ear mites?

[olivekitty]

I've noticed that my cat, Stella, has been scratching her head a lot lately and that she is missing some fur on her ears. I thought that the loss of fur was maybe from playing too rough with our other kitten, but now the patches are crusty and tonight I noticed she has some red spots in her left ear. Our other cat does not have this problem. Could it possibly be ear mites?

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• olivekitty
• Sep 13, 2015

 

[olivekitty]

image.jpg

• olivekitty
• Sep 13, 2015

 

[newmamaof3]

Could be ear mites. Could also be fungal or bacterial or a contact allergy. We literally just went through this with one of ours. We had recently switched litter and had to switch back. She had groomed the fur righ off her ears in exactly the same spot on both sides. The spots were red inflamed and a little crusty. After switching back to our original litter the redness subsided and she was no longer over grooming. As a precaution I took her to the vet to rule out mites, fungus, or bacteria. Our vet did a full cytology on a swab from her ear. No fungus...no bacteria...no mites. So he gave her a steroid injection to take down the inflammation and she is perfect now. I can only assume it was an allergy. My advice is that a vet visit is probably in order but if you've changed food or litter lately you might try switching back. Ear mites typically cause earwax that looks like black or dark brown coffee grounds and it's pretty easy to spot. U gal ear infections can also cause black discharge. Our girl was also shaking her head and twitching her ears as if she had mites but she did not. Over grooming due to one of these factors can caus fur loss but so can an infection like ringworm

 

[olivekitty]

I have been giving her the same food since we first got her but I have switched litter brands a couple of times. Guess I'll be taking her to the vet tomorrow just in case! Thanks

 

[newmamaof3]

Good luck! Would love to know what your vet finds.

 

[kamikaze007]

My cat may have the same problem. She's been scratching her ears to the point that her outer ear now has a wound due to excessive scratching. she's also been shaking her head as if there's something in her ears. When i took her she was not having that problem, i am now changing her food and her cat litter. I hope i can see progress but i have already scheduled a visit with a vet clinic.

Please keep us posted though, i also want to know the findings

 

[newmamaof3]

O olivekitty did you find a solution to your girls ear problems?

 

[momofmaxwell]

Hi I agree with newmama.Ear mites are pretty straight forward to examine.Looks like a whole bunch of dark gunk in their ears.Does your kitty go outside?is he/she exposed to other cats or kittens from outside? if you seen nice light pink ears(some kitties) inside and no real dk gunk it won't be mites.Ringworm or another bacterial infection would be my guess.I have dealt with ringworm in the past and you don't wait to see if those spots heal.You take your kitty now as it is highly contagious to other kitts as well as children& adults.I had lesions on my arms from it.They will do scraping & have it tested.I'm hoping it's not that but?? Inner ear problems can occur too but I mostly have seen them affect one ear more than two.But anything they feel bothering them in the ear will make them dig at it.Do you have a cone you can put on until your kitty can be looked at?Yes kitties can get weird things.HTH C.