Ear Problems

[bernii123]

Okay where to begin.
My foster kitten is not 5 months old.
He has been having ear problems since he was 3 months.

At first I was told it was nothing, gave me something to clean ear's with.
It got worse.

Took him back then I got told it was an ear infection.
He was on antibiotics for a week.
It didn't help one bit. Took him to a different vet. She said it might be ear mites. (He got treated for eat mites) and she also said it's most likely an food allergy.

He is on a special diet. She also gave me really expensive drops to clean the ears with.

Everything went okay for a while.
I still can the ears once a week.

Yesterday I've notices brown discharge from the ears . Not a hard wax . It looked like jelly. It wasn't runny but when I got a piece of cottons to clean it. It literally pulled out of his ear like goo.

Our vet bills are maxed out. We have no where to take him.
We just got in a family of kittens that's in a really bad shape, and already asking for donations to help them out.

I told the lady who works with the kittens but she said I sold just monitor him for he can't go to the vet .

Im heart broken. I'm just not having a good feeling about this.

Is there something else I could do?
What can it be?

What should I ask the vet to do when I get to take him?

They just say the same things over and over and nothing is working.

Is there a specific exam they should take of him?

 

[foxxycat]

Maybe you can try olive oil on a cotton ball? some cats just have ear junk-one of my cats I have to clean her ears weekly. Can you take a picture of the ear and post it here? There's a button that says "upload A File" and you can post it here- Sounds like maybe needs a different antibiotic IF it's infected. Unfortunately there isn't anything that can replace antibiotics if it's infected-can you call the vet and ask for a different medication? Tell them that the condition has not improved despite meds. They may send home a different antibiotic. wondering if they should take a swab of these cells and send out for testing to make sure the right antibiotic is used.

I wonder if it's more food allergies as well.
Some cats have allergies to corn. Is corn or corn meal listed in the ingredients of his food?

 

[bernii123]

I have tried the olive oil .

It goes away for a day and then just comes back.
Its just a little weird that the discharge is kind of like a jelly I also get big chunks out.

I will post a few photos when I clean his ears again in a little while.

He has no corn in his diet and I mostly feed him raw food and the special food the Vet gave me.

I understand that some cats are like this , but the diffetence is , i can clean his ears now and by tonight its filled up again.

I also noticed that he has hearing loss and also a littlr clumsy. When I play with him for some time he would start falling over his own feet .

He seems healthy.
Eats alot
Plays alot
Stool is normal
Very vocal when he is bored.
He isnt losing any weight

Im just scared that the ear problem can cause something worse or that it is worse than just an infection. Like I said ive been struggling with his ears for 3 months now.

 

[foxxycat]

maybe they need to do ear culture of the junk in ears. they scrape the debris-put on a petri dish and wait for it to grow-then look under microscope to see what it is I am guessing-maybe it's a fungal infection?! Antibiotics won't fix it. Hmmm I am not sure what they use for fungal infections in ears.

 

[bernii123]

 

[bernii123]

They gave me those drops but it isnt helping at all

 

[bernii123]

 

[Linda Dwyer]

I wonder if he has a psudamonis (spelling?) infection? That is a nasty infection to get rid of. An ear culture would show if that is what it is

 

[foxxycat]

looks like those drops are combo of steroid and antifungal solution. Steroid to help inflammation and antifungal incase of fungus. Not all fungus responds to that particular medication. I would get a skin swab and petri dish it to see exactly what it is.

 

[foxxycat]

clotrimazole is what I always used instead of your meds for fungal issues I had with myself. They make a pet safe one. Call the vet. Let them know that the infection is not responding-you want a swab to be tested sent out to be cooked on a petri dish to see what it is-otherwise you are just shooting in the dark. The steroids in it will also inhibit clearing up as it contradicts-steroids tend to slow down fighting against infection-often you need to do the meds for infection for a period before you add steroids-that's why it's not responding=your vet needs to treat for infection without steroids in the beginning. At least That's what MY vet told me when my cat had an eye ulcer and I wanted steroid drops but she explained that it won't help clear it up=makes it last longer=it's not cut and dry-but I would say keep doing the oil and drops and call another vet if yours isn't cooperating.

 

[bernii123]

They had him under anesthesia and cleaned out his ear completely. Then they gave me antibiotics and told me it was just a normal ear infection. Nothing changed and I went to a different Vet that told me antibiotics won't do anything and she gave me the drops and said I should change his food and gave him drops for mites.. When I phoned she just said I should continue with the drops.. Unfortunately it's a little difficult to see a different vet for we only work with some of them.

Only some Vets will allow our organisation to have an account that we can pay off.

But I will let her know and see if there is perhaps a different vet further away that will be willing to help.

I'm tired of the Vet just saying the same thing or just giving me the same stuff over and over.

I've been struggling with him for so long and my heart is breaking for him.

I can only imagine what it must feel like for him .

His ears are dirty all the time and he looks so lost.

 

[bernii123]

When I go to the vet (not sure when that will happen since all our accounts are maxed out) I will definitely ask to do an ear culture.

I just really want this to be over with.
I'm just really scared something is horribly wrong.

 

[bernii123]

and his ears doesn't have any weird odors It doesn't really have any odor except for the smell of the drops I put In

 

[bernii123]

He is so sweet.. Purring and sleeping on top of me.. Drooling a little as well.

 

[foxxycat]

interesting...wonder if reaction to something else? Any changes in your laundry soap, shampoo or body soap? Is it high pollen season where you are? Just trying to think about what it could be.

 

[foxxycat]

that's good that there's no odor in his ears- those spots come back daily you said? Someone mentioned baby oil in another post=wonder if that would work better? Basically the oil smothers whatever is living in there BUT if it's anaerobic organism-that won't help kill it. Sorry that these folks are driving you insane.

 

[bernii123]

that's good that there's no odor in his ears- those spots come back daily you said? Someone mentioned baby oil in another post=wonder if that would work better? Basically the oil smothers whatever is living in there BUT if it's anaerobic organism-that won't help kill it. Sorry that these folks are driving you insane.

.

Unfortunately yes , it is back every day . They also gave me an oil for just cleaning. It's named ear clean. It's there to soften the junk that comes out.

I will cleanot his ears tomorrow again and take a photo of the stuff that comes out.

It is winter here by me. I did not change anything. I got him with ear and eye problems.
He still has both. His eyes sometimes gets dirty .. Brown jelly.
I just clean it and it will go away.
At least the eyes isn't as bad as the ears.

At one point I thought it might be a herpes virus. I know that never really goes away.

 

[bernii123]

His breath has an odor though.
I'm not sure if all of these are connected somehow.

But I've checked I side his mouth.
No sores, no rotten teeth and also no yellow or red spots.

 

[bernii123]

This is what comes out of his ears ..
That big chunk is hard. There havent been any jelly like junk again

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

Are you only doing the Surolan drops once a week?! Did the vet tell you to do the drops daily? (what were the vet's instructions?)