Hi all,
So I have a 11-month-old, male, fixed, indoor-only, white and orange short-hair cutie pie named Graham, and ever since about a month ago, he’s been scratching at his ears and shaking his head a bit more than usual. It’s not constant, and it’s not bad enough to wake him up when he’s sleeping, but it’s enough for me to take note and a small amount of concern.
When I called the vet several weeks ago, they said to keep an eye on him and take him in if it doesn’t improve. I did, and it didn’t seem to get better so we took him in last Thursday and the vet checked both ears. Both are clean with no visible issues. (They did suggest putting him on a diet though, since he’s a little overweight.)
So he’s still scratching about as often as before, and just today I noticed a small scab on the edge of his right inner ear, near the opening on the scalp, that I assume came from scratching. Does anyone know what might be the issue? Is it possibly deeper than what we can see by looking inside? I’ve seen him scratch both ears, and sometimes he tilts his head and lifts his leg like he feels an itch coming on slowly, so it doesn’t seem to be a short, sudden itch type of issue.
Other health information- Many months ago, back in February, we took Graham to an ICU for a sudden eye pupil contraction in one eye. It slowly went away while he was waiting for his physical and the vets found nothing wrong with him physically or behaviorally, so we wrote it off as a weird random event and it hasn’t happened again. About a month and a half ago, we had a brief flea issue that was caught and taken care of before it got out of hand. (Both cats only had 3-4 fleas at a time, and the infestation lasted only a week.) 3 weeks ago, he had two upset stomach & vomit episodes from dry food that had been exposed to air for too long, then was fine after we got fresh food. Two weeks ago, our other cat had to stay overnight at a hospital for unrelated reasons (ate some floor mat foam) and Graham wasn’t eating much at all until he came back, likely due to anxiety and loneliness. Neither has had any visible health issues since then. He is a hyperactive goofball at times, very needy and physically affectionate, and regularly plays with our other cat, who’s a month older. Stool and urine are normal.
Again, the scratching isn’t constant, but it’s more frequent than it used to be, and it hasn’t seemed to improve or worsen over the past month.
In the pic attached, you can see where he kicked the scab out of his right ear. Left has no scabs.
So I have a 11-month-old, male, fixed, indoor-only, white and orange short-hair cutie pie named Graham, and ever since about a month ago, he’s been scratching at his ears and shaking his head a bit more than usual. It’s not constant, and it’s not bad enough to wake him up when he’s sleeping, but it’s enough for me to take note and a small amount of concern.
When I called the vet several weeks ago, they said to keep an eye on him and take him in if it doesn’t improve. I did, and it didn’t seem to get better so we took him in last Thursday and the vet checked both ears. Both are clean with no visible issues. (They did suggest putting him on a diet though, since he’s a little overweight.)
So he’s still scratching about as often as before, and just today I noticed a small scab on the edge of his right inner ear, near the opening on the scalp, that I assume came from scratching. Does anyone know what might be the issue? Is it possibly deeper than what we can see by looking inside? I’ve seen him scratch both ears, and sometimes he tilts his head and lifts his leg like he feels an itch coming on slowly, so it doesn’t seem to be a short, sudden itch type of issue.
Other health information- Many months ago, back in February, we took Graham to an ICU for a sudden eye pupil contraction in one eye. It slowly went away while he was waiting for his physical and the vets found nothing wrong with him physically or behaviorally, so we wrote it off as a weird random event and it hasn’t happened again. About a month and a half ago, we had a brief flea issue that was caught and taken care of before it got out of hand. (Both cats only had 3-4 fleas at a time, and the infestation lasted only a week.) 3 weeks ago, he had two upset stomach & vomit episodes from dry food that had been exposed to air for too long, then was fine after we got fresh food. Two weeks ago, our other cat had to stay overnight at a hospital for unrelated reasons (ate some floor mat foam) and Graham wasn’t eating much at all until he came back, likely due to anxiety and loneliness. Neither has had any visible health issues since then. He is a hyperactive goofball at times, very needy and physically affectionate, and regularly plays with our other cat, who’s a month older. Stool and urine are normal.
Again, the scratching isn’t constant, but it’s more frequent than it used to be, and it hasn’t seemed to improve or worsen over the past month.
In the pic attached, you can see where he kicked the scab out of his right ear. Left has no scabs.
