Eternally Itchy

eyeofsassafras

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Hi! I’m pretty new to any type of thread/forum so this may be a bit bumpy. Almost a year ago now my boyfriend and I decided to adopt an older cat at our local shelter. We got on with the first old girl we met, a 6 y/o domestic longhair called Sassafras (pictured above haha!) We noticed right away she had A LOT of health issues. A cleft palate, a rodent ulcer, a chronic dryness in one of her eyes and most importantly issues with her ears is what lead me to seek out this community. Presently we’ve got a mostly rehabilitated fluffy lint ball but the only thing that won’t heal is her ears. We have been through trial after trial with our vet and nothing has given her lasting relief. She was treated for mites and checked multiple times to ensure they were gone.She is on prescription wet food for skin sensitivities and allergies. We have tried ear washes, topicals, ear drops, steroid shots, steroid pills, zyrtec...She digs at her ears so intensely that she bleeds. It breaks my heart. Has ANYBODY gone through this? Is there some solution that I’m missing or do I just accept that my buddy just has the chronic itchies?
 

denice

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It looks like she has black gunk in her ears which could be a yeast infection. One of my cats developed this issue and it turned out she had developed an allergy to chicken. I know it sounds weird and I don't remember exactly how it works but yeast infections in the ears is often a food allergy, usually to the protein. Do you know which protein is in the food that she is getting?

She is a pretty cat and thank you for adopting an older cat. So often they are overlooked in favor of the kittens.
 

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PushPurrCatPaws

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I agree with denice denice , it looks like the black stuff in her ear(s) could possibly be fungal infection. My cat had a yeast infection in one of her ears when young and it took a while (months) to find just the right treatment to help it to go away.

When you say, "... We have tried ear washes, topicals, ear drops, ...", did the vet specifically test for fungal issues and were any of the drops, washes, etc., an antibiotic specifically meant to treat the particular bacteria or fungus??
 
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eyeofsassafras

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It looks like she has black gunk in her ears which could be a yeast infection. One of my cats developed this issue and it turned out she had developed an allergy to chicken. I know it sounds weird and I don't remember exactly how it works but yeast infections in the ears is often a food allergy, usually to the protein. Do you know which protein is in the food that she is getting?

She is a pretty cat and thank you for adopting an older cat. So often they are overlooked in favor of the kittens.
I am pretty sure our vet tried treating her for a yeast infection at one point. I actually have an appointment with Sass tomorrow and I'm hoping that maybe the office will be able to give me a history of everything we've had her on. It may be that we just have not tried one single treatment for long enough? Argh! I believe the protein in her wet food currently is hydrolized chicken...and you're right it hasn't seemed to make her ears better or worse! We also had her on a prescription duck formula but it was impossible to find stores that sold it!
 
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eyeofsassafras

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Hi! Welcome!!

Denice posted just as I was about to :)

I can't tell from your post, but have you tried any other canned foods? Have you tried an elimination diet to see if, for example, chicken or starches, or glutens, might be sensitivity triggers?

Have you considered feeding raw?
Raw Feeding Cats: Types Of Raw Diets & Feeding Options

These two databases of commercial foods might help;

Pet Food Guide

Check This Out.... Chart For Cat Food Ingredients

Thank you so much for the resources! My boyfriend and I HAVE considered a raw diet. Sass behaves a lot like a dog in the sense that she begs for table food ALL the time & I think she'd really enjoy a raw diet. When we first adopted her and didn't suspect she had food allergies we would give her fancy feast & a variety of proteins/flavors. The only thing she wouldn't touch was shrimp. We were also starting to think that we may need to try a more rigorous elimination trial!
 
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eyeofsassafras

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I agree with denice denice , it looks like the black stuff in her ear(s) could possibly be fungal infection. My cat had a yeast infection in one of her ears when young and it took a while (months) to find just the right treatment to help it to go away.

When you say, "... We have tried ear washes, topicals, ear drops, ...", did the vet specifically test for fungal issues and were any of the drops, washes, etc., an antibiotic specifically meant to treat the particular bacteria or fungus??
I believe that a lot of the treatments we've had her on were multi purpose treatments. For example, the ear drops that we've had her on multiple times, Tresaderm, is supposed to be an antifungal, corticosteroid and a broad-spectrum antibiotic. Again, maybe we just haven't stuck to one treatment long enough to see results? I appreciate everyone's help!
 

PushPurrCatPaws

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I believe that a lot of the treatments we've had her on were multi purpose treatments. For example, the ear drops that we've had her on multiple times, Tresaderm, is supposed to be an antifungal, corticosteroid and a broad-spectrum antibiotic. Again, maybe we just haven't stuck to one treatment long enough to see results? I appreciate everyone's help!
eyeofsassafras eyeofsassafras

Well, I will just tell you that Tresaderm did nothing for the yeast infection in my kitty's ear. We gave that a good go for a while but the infection didn't go away. (And I'm pretty diligent about giving ear meds, even though they sure are difficult to give to a kitten! *head shaking*)

Her ear nearly got better with the second med we tried, e.g. we nearly got rid of the yeast and the itching. A month or so after finishing that, though, it started to come back and I wanted the vet to give me the same med again -- but the vet decided to try a third med (a very messy clear liquid). That seemed to do it. But it stank and was REALLY messy. She hasn't had problems since (this was 3+ years ago).
**I'm not sure I'm allowed to post what meds those last two meds were? (2nd med: Nystatin + thiostrepton + neomycin + triamcinolone ointment, 7.5 ml; 3rd med: Miconosol 1% lotion for fungal infections).
**The caveats are that I am not a vet; you shouldn't give your cat anything that your vet hasn't discussed with you and approved of already; and these were things that worked for my cat when she was a kitten, when bad ear mites (even despite doses of Revolution) eventually led to a yeast infection that had been diagnosed with particular testing. These products may not be right for your cat's situation.

I'd really recommend specific testing of your kitty's ears to try to find out the bacterial or fungal issues -- if they do exist. The vet should know where to go from there.
 
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eyeofsassafras

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eyeofsassafras eyeofsassafras

Well, I will just tell you that Tresaderm did nothing for the yeast infection in my kitty's ear. We gave that a good go for a while but the infection didn't go away. (And I'm pretty diligent about giving ear meds, even though they sure are difficult to give to a kitten! *head shaking*)

Her ear nearly got better with the second med we tried, e.g. we nearly got rid of the yeast and the itching. A month or so after finishing that, though, it started to come back and I wanted the vet to give me the same med again -- but the vet decided to try a third med (a very messy clear liquid). That seemed to do it. But it stank and was REALLY messy. She hasn't had problems since (this was 3+ years ago).
**I'm not sure I'm allowed to post what meds those last two meds were? (2nd med: Nystatin + thiostrepton + neomycin + triamcinolone ointment, 7.5 ml; 3rd med: Miconosol 1% lotion for fungal infections).
**The caveats are that I am not a vet; you shouldn't give your cat anything that your vet hasn't discussed with you and approved of already; and these were things that worked for my cat when she was a kitten, when bad ear mites (even despite doses of Revolution) eventually led to a yeast infection that had been diagnosed with particular testing. These products may not be right for your cat's situation.

I'd really recommend specific testing of your kitty's ears to try to find out the bacterial or fungal issues -- if they do exist. The vet should know where to go from there.

Thank you so much for this reply! Definitely going to reach out and discuss if the meds you mentioned are an option for my gal.
 

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I will add, allergies can go beyond food. Cats can be allergic to pretty much everything humans can be allergic to (pollen, dust mite, some material...) Also they don't need a parasite infestation to give an allergic reaction to parasite -- one bite is enough and even the best parasite treatment kills them when they land on the cat, not prevent every one of them landing on the cat.

I agree food ingredients are the first to check. But not only the allergy could be about something else but there could also be more than one.

If the situation gets worse in the hot weather, I would suspect of parasites/insects. If it gets worse in humid weather, dust mite is another suspect as their numbers increase in humidity.
 

PushPurrCatPaws

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Agree. Airborne allergens can cause skin reactions in cats! This happens to my cat currently to some extent. It's frustrating because the airborne things are outside of our house and blow in, like pollens and dust and dirt from building construction sites around us.
 

PushPurrCatPaws

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... I actually have an appointment with Sass tomorrow and I'm hoping that maybe the office will be able to give me a history of everything we've had her on. It may be that we just have not tried one single treatment for long enough? ...
Did you go to the vet on that day? :vibes: :vibes:
 
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eyeofsassafras

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Did you go to the vet on that day? :vibes: :vibes:
I did! Sass was due for rabies & distemper. The vet looked in her ears with the otoscope and agreed that they looked bad from all her scratching but otherwise did not mention that anything in the ear canal was abnormal. We decided that keeping an eye on the condition and doing our best with preventative measures at home was the best route for now, since we’ve literally had her on meds since adopting her. She did mention a medicine called atopica, which is currently only for dogs but with testing can be used on cats. I’m pretty undecided about it but I suppose at least it’s an option? PushPurrCatPaws PushPurrCatPaws & MissClouseau MissClouseau we’ve considered many times that Sass’s allergies are purely environmental/airborne! Due to the stubborn nature of her itching and how weather hasn’t seemed to effect the frequency of her scratching I think it could be probable? Just wish I had any definite answers at this point
 

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For what it's worth, Tresaderm didn't do a darn bit of good for our cat's ears either. We had much better luck with Zymox.

In Buddy's case, the black gunk in his ears was determined to be due to a food allergy (to chicken). So we eliminated it from his diet, and his symptoms began to improve significantly, IIRC, maybe within a week or two. The vet also recommended an OTC antihistamine.

Hope you and your vet get this all figured out soon, and your kitty gets some much needed relief! :vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes:
 
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