Crusty Ears and Red near mouth.

[CaramelKitty]

Hi all!
We recently adopted an 11 week old kitten who has been nothing but a hilarious joy. When we got her, she had crusted discharge all over her nose, some weird crusty stuff on her ears, and to this day still has minimal discharge coming out of her eyes. She seems to be in good health otherwise.
Now, my 1 year old cat Krissy has weird crusty stuff on the inside of her ears. She used to have no problems whatsoever except an eye infection as a kitten which was cured about 9-10 months ago. She doesn't have eye or nose discharge now. She does however have some red-looking skin around her mouth and around one of her eyes. If anybody has any idea what it is, please let me know! I would prefer not to go to a vet as it is expensive and the kitten healed fine when she had this issue. Krissy is still active and happy however the poor girl was screaming her head off when I tried to take the pictures of her ears. I guess it hurt when I touched them. I feel very bad for the poor thing. If anybody has heard of anything like this before and could let me know that would be great! Thanks in advance!
Pictures below
Krissy


New Kitten who doesn't have a name

Thanks in advance!

 

[stephanietx]

I don't see anything unusual about the mouth. His chin and snout are white, so it's common for that area to be pink. Is it swollen?

I don't have experience with the ear issues, so I can't help you with that, but someone should come along who can help soon.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Are you saying the kitten HAD the crustiness in her ears also, but it went away (or jumped over to Krissy)? If I'm reading this correctly, did it look exactly the same on the kitten as it now looks on Krissy? If so, I'm thinking that's no coincidence, but I have no idea what it might be since you didn't have it treated in the kitten. As to the red looking skin around her mouth and one eye, I don't really see it in the pictures, but if it's there, along with the ear bit, I hate to say it, but I think she should be seen by a Vet. It might be nothing, but could be something tht could continue spreading, and spread to the kitten as well. Or BACK to the kitten.

Is Krissy scratching at these spots or do they appear to bother her, aside from when you took the picture. I don't count that because lots o cats simply don't like people messing with their ears

 

[CaramelKitty]

I don't see anything unusual about the mouth. His chin and snout are white, so it's common for that area to be pink. Is it swollen?

I don't have experience with the ear issues, so I can't help you with that, but someone should come along who can help soon.

Thankfully, the area isn't swollen. I did noticed a lot of weird little black specks in the area though. Her chin and the area above her mouth were not red before. It's a little hard to see but, she didn't have any red areas in the picture below.

 

[CaramelKitty]

Are you saying the kitten HAD the crustiness in her ears also, but it went away (or jumped over to Krissy)? If I'm reading this correctly, did it look exactly the same on the kitten as it now looks on Krissy? If so, I'm thinking that's no coincidence, but I have no idea what it might be since you didn't have it treated in the kitten. As to the red looking skin around her mouth and one eye, I don't really see it in the pictures, but if it's there, along with the ear bit, I hate to say it, but I think she should be seen by a Vet. It might be nothing, but could be something tht could continue spreading, and spread to the kitten as well. Or BACK to the kitten.

Is Krissy scratching at these spots or do they appear to bother her, aside from when you took the picture. I don't count that because lots o cats simply don't like people messing with their ears

Thanks so much for the help!
The kitten had the crustiness in her ears when we got her. Today was the first day I noticed that about 95% of it was gone on the kitten.
Today, I noticed Krissy had the same crustiness but she had it worse than the kitten ever did. The texture and color of the crustiness looked exactly the same on the kitten as it does on Krissy now. I am 99% sure Krissy caught whatever disease it was from the kitten.
I haven't noticed Krissy scratching at the spots at all. She has always been a good girl and lets me handle/touch any part of her. I can flip her upside-down on her stomach and she doesn't fight me--even when we are next to my dog.
Before the crustiness appeared, she LOVED having the inside of her ears scratched. And yes, I mean it.
The very insides of her ears--the pink part.

Now I just touch anywhere near her ears and she yelps. Do you think some sort of anti-biotic could help? We have goats and other livestock so we have a lot of different medication (That can also be used on cats/dogs) on hand already.

 

[CaramelKitty]

Even though this isn't a great picture, here's a picture of the kitten the first or second day we got her. Just to show how much of a state she was in when we got her, the top of her nose used to be black--it's pink now. All that black stuff appeared to be dried blood of some sort. And, her ears were super dirty. She is doing well now.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Well, to treat something with antibiotics, you need to know what it is, and honestly, I haven't a clue (on the EAR issue, and can't find anything like this. Hoping someone else will come along.

As to her mouth and chin being red with a lot of black specks, even though I can't see it, that sounds like Feline Acne. If you are feeding her in a plastic dish, that might account for it. Try switching to a ceramic or stainless steel dish, and be sure to wash their dishes after every meal with soap and water. That should help clear it up if it's Feline Acne. In severe cases antibiotics help, but I don't see anything severe about it here.

 

[CaramelKitty]

Well, to treat something with antibiotics, you need to know what it is, and honestly, I haven't a clue (on the EAR issue, and can't find anything like this. Hoping someone else will come along.

As to her mouth and chin being red with a lot of black specks, even though I can't see it, that sounds like Feline Acne. If you are feeding her in a plastic dish, that might account for it. Try switching to a ceramic or stainless steel dish, and be sure to wash their dishes after every meal with soap and water. That should help clear it up if it's Feline Acne. In severe cases antibiotics help, but I don't see anything severe about it here.

Thank you!
Her dish sits inside another tray, and the tray is made of plastic. The dish itself is stainless steel, but I will wash it thoroughly anyways.
Thanks so much! I'm assuming warm water, right?

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I just wash our guys' dishes in hot soapy water just like our own dishes,and on those nights that we run the dishwasher, I put their dishes in there as well, just to give them an extra sanitizing wash. I'm guessing warm soapy water should work though. Soap is probably the most important thing.

If her dish is sitting inside a plastic tray, could her chin be rubbing against that plastic? If so, that could be the culprit. I'm guessing it's to catch overspill? I feed my guys on placemats to catch any overspill, but I feed wet food, so it sticks to the placemats. If you feed kibble that might roll off. BTW, food can also cause Feline Acne. Still not sure that's what it is, but sounds like it.

 

[CaramelKitty]

I just wash our guys' dishes in hot soapy water just like our own dishes,and on those nights that we run the dishwasher, I put their dishes in there as well, just to give them an extra sanitizing wash. I'm guessing warm soapy water should work though. Soap is probably the most important thing.

If her dish is sitting inside a plastic tray, could her chin be rubbing against that plastic? If so, that could be the culprit. I'm guessing it's to catch overspill? I feed my guys on placemats to catch any overspill, but I feed wet food, so it sticks to the placemats. If you feed kibble that might roll off. BTW, food can also cause Feline Acne. Still not sure that's what it is, but sounds like it.

Thank you SO SO SO much for all your help and advice!
It is strange to me that she has had this food dish her entire life, and is getting issues now. I will definitely get into the routine of washing her bowls in the dishwasher. She is fed regular kibble. Not wet food. I love her but not THAT much.
She did have wet food once and wasn't really a fan anyway.
I did some research on ear mites, and they might just be our culprit. I read that it was possible to see them under a magnifying glass but, I didn't see anything at all. Might be time to bring out the ol' microscope.
I did rub Vaseline on the insides of her ears, and did her paws just in case there were mites resting on them. Do you them I should give her a bath or, would that make it worse? I don't want to stress her out but, she seems to be okay with letting me do anything to her. Until she gets revenge by wrecking havoc on all of my indoor plants and my computer.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Unless she is shaking her head a lot and scratching at her ears, I don't think it's ear mites. Besides, they don't go away on their own, and you said the kitten had this and not it's almost gone. Doesn't sound like mites to me. I still don't have a clue what it might be though. . This is one for the books (IMHO). But if it's not bothering her, and didn't bother the kitten, and is all be gone now in the kitten, maybe it's ok to just let it be and perhaps it will go away on it's own with her too .

I think giving her a bath would be fine. Let's see just how cooperative she really is

 

[Sarthur2]

I agree that the chin looks like “acne,” which happens when food particles get in the hair follicles of the chin and cause bacterial irritation or infection. When my cats get it I clean the chin area well with warm water and apply neosporin ointment. It usually goes away quickly. If it gets really infected it would require antibiotics.

Like everyone else, I’m not sure about the ears. You might try gently cleaning them with a warm damp cotton ball, then apply neosporin on them also. It may or may not help, but I think it won’t hurt, and is worth a try.

As mentioned, it could be a yeast infection. Another thought is a cold caused by the herpes virus which might result in waxy drainage from the ear. Colds usually clear on their own unless they turn into upper respiratory infections.

I wonder if her ear crustiness will go away on its own as well. If not, or it gets worse, a vet visit might be in order.

 

[Norachan]

One of my cats had a fungal infection in his ears that looked a bit like that. The vet prescribed some cream and it cleared up easily enough. Could you send the picture of her ears to your vet and explain what the problem is? I think most vets only want people to bring their pets in if it's an emergency these days, so your vet might prescribe some cream without you having to take her in.

The cream cost around $7 and it lasts for a long time if you keep it in the fridge. It's worth asking your vet if they'd be willing to let you pick some up without seeing the cat.

 

[CaramelKitty]

Thanks all! Her ears are doing better today. She hasn't been scratching them that I've seen but, her ears have been a little droopy lately. I'm guessing it is due to the Vaseline.

 

[CaramelKitty]

I agree that the chin looks like “acne,” which happens when food particles get in the hair follicles of the chin and cause bacterial irritation or infection. When my cats get it I clean the chin area with well warm water and apply neosporin ointment. It usually goes away quickly. If it gets really infected it would require antibiotics.

Like everyone else, I’m not sure about the ears. You might try gently cleaning them with a warm damp cotton ball, then apply neosporin on them also. It may or may not help, but I think it won’t hurt, and is worth a try.

As mentioned, it could be a yeast infection. Another thought is a cold caused by the herpes virus which might result in waxy drainage from the ear. Colds usually clear on their own unless they turn into upper respiratory infections.

I wonder if her ear crustiness will go away on its own as well. If not, or it gets worse, a vet visit might be in order.

I find it very interesting that you thought she could have a cold from the Herpes virus. Because, my younger sister and I were recently diagnosed with Pityriasis Rosea, a strange skin rash very closely related to the Herpes Virus! Could it be that whatever my sister and I had could have passed to her, or vice versa?
I will definitely look into getting some Neosporin ointment for her ears and chin. Thank you so much!

 

[CaramelKitty]

One of my cats had a fungal infection in his ears that looked a bit like that. The vet prescribed some cream and it cleared up easily enough. Could you send the picture of her ears to your vet and explain what the problem is? I think most vets only want people to bring their pets in if it's an emergency these days, so your vet might prescribe some cream without you having to take her in.

The cream cost around $7 and it lasts for a long time if you keep it in the fridge. It's worth asking your vet if they'd be willing to let you pick some up without seeing the cat.

I would love to try cream for her however, our vets in NJ aren't very willing to give advice without pay unfortunately. Thanks for the suggestion though.

 

[CaramelKitty]

Just wanted to give a quick update on her. I tried to clean out her ears best I could. I'm gonna sound like a horrible cat owner in doing this but, I did the big no-no. I used a Q-Tip to clean her ears.
She didn't move, and could still easily respond to me snapping or calling so I supposed everything turned out alright. I didn't have a cotton ball or cotton swab for her....just cotton pads where were too big to fit in her little ears.
Her ears are still crusty, and more reddish colored. They don't seem to be bothering her as much now thankfully. She is also losing hair on half her nose. I can get pictures if needed.
I also did a little cleaning in the kitten's ears. Her ears had a somewhat normal amount of wax, and 99% of the crustiness was gone. She is doing much better.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I don't really think what is happening with her ears is related to what you and your sister were diagnosed with. Normally, unless it is a certain type of parasite, things to not transfer from humans to cats or vice versa. Of course, there ARE exceptions, like ringworm (which is NOT a worm AKA parasite) But you said the kitten came to you with this and that's really why I am making that assumption, since we really have no idea what this is.

And now that you say Krissy is losing fur on her nose, I think you should bite the bullet and just take her in to be seen by a Vet. Too many odd things are happening here. Bringing a new kitten into a home always has "risks" and you said it yourself that she was "in a state" when you got her. Was she ever checked out by a Vet. She could be harboring anything unknownst to you if she hasn't had a thorough checkup. How long have you had her now? I'm guessing not too long since she doesn't have a name yet. Anyhoo, maybe you could make it a 2 for 1 visit if she hasn't been seen yet. Or since you are in NJ can you even GO to a Vet? If not, as stated above, perhaps a virtual visit even if it costs something, it might not cost as much as a normal visit?

 

[stephanietx]

The new hair loss on her nose is concerning to me. Sounds like something is definitely going on here. I agree that she needs to be seen by the vet.

 

[CaramelKitty]

Thanks for the suggestions! She is still losing more fur around her nose and it seems to be getting worse. I agree she should be seen by a vet. We should be able to send a few pictures to our vet to see what she thinks. The kitten was checked by several vets. We got her from a rescue and she had been there for a week or two before we could pick her up. She was given all her shots, and was viewed by many vets. She even was tested for Feline Lukemia and tested negative. We have had her for about 3 weeks. She doesn't have a name because we haven't all agreed on anything yet.
The picture below was taken on Thursday, 5/14

This picture below was taken this morning, 5/16


She how much worse she is?
By the way, her eyes are only closed because she was taking a nap. She can still open them.