From Ear Mites To Middle Ear Infection

[Caesarthecat]

Hello everyone,
My cat has been suffering from ear-mites ever since he was 3 months old. He is now 2. I have been visiting vets ever since and applying Oridermyl (on and off) based on their prescription. My cat would stop scratching sometimes, but his ear never stopped producing raisin shaped and sized black chunks. Plus, his other ear never got infected.
A week ago he started bleeding and the vet said he had a middle ear infection. The treatment plan is to continue using Oridermyl for another week!!! If that fails (as it surely will), he will have to get the lateral ear resection surgery.
I am worried because there is one good clinic where I live. I visited three different vets in the same clinic and they had divided opinion (one said he didn't have any infection)

1) Can someone give me information about the lateral ear resection surgery? What should I expect after the surgery? Can it be avoided? Do you have a cat who underwent similar treatment?
2) Am I right in thinking that Oridermyl might no longer be effective because it has been used for so long (c. 2 years) ?

Any advice and thoughts are welcome.

 

[maggiedemi]

Have you ever tried Frontline or Revolution on the back of his neck? Those treat ear mites as well as fleas.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

I can't help you with #1, but I do know that living organisms tend to mutate and adapt and become resistant to particular medications. You might ask about alternatives, as the mites well may be immune to the Oridermyl now.

 

[Caesarthecat]

Have you ever tried Frontline or Revolution on the back of his neck? Those treat ear mites as well as fleas.

I haven’t tried Revolution yet but I heard good things about it. I’ll ask the vet about it. Thank you

 

[Caesarthecat]

I can't help you with #1, but I do know that living organisms tend to mutate and adapt and become resistant to particular medications. You might ask about alternatives, as the mites well may be immune to the Oridermyl now.

Thank you, I’ll do that.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

Sometimes chronic ear mite infestations can also lead to bacterial or fungal infections in the ear. Has your vet ever cultured for specific bacteria or fungal infections? If that could be done, you could rule these in or out... and these things can be tackled with anti-fungals or antibiotics that specifically target the problems. When my cat was a kitten she had bad ear mites... her right ear got better with the initial meds prescribed, but the left ear continued to have issues for months. Turned out she had gotten a yeast infection in the left ear, so we had to use different (and stronger) meds. It sounds like the vet has only tried one medication?

 

[Caesarthecat]

Sometimes chronic ear mite infestations can also lead to bacterial or fungal infections in the ear. Has your vet ever cultured for specific bacteria or fungal infections? If that could be done, you could rule these in or out... and these things can be tackled with anti-fungals or antibiotics that specifically target the problems. When my cat was a kitten she had bad ear mites... her right ear got better with the initial meds prescribed, but the left ear continued to have issues for months. Turned out she had gotten a yeast infection in the left ear, so we had to use different (and stronger) meds. It sounds like the vet has only tried one medication?

My cat experienced something similar. He initially had mites in both ears, the right ear was successfully treated but the left wasn't. Yes, one medication and no he never got tested for bacterial or fungal infections. I'll bring this up in my next visit in a few days. Thank you this is very helpful.

 

[Caesarthecat]

Turned out to be ear polyps

 

[Mamanyt1953]

OH DEAR! However, in most cases, they can be successfully removed. Are you going to opt for surgery?

 

[Caesarthecat]

OH DEAR! However, in most cases, they can be successfully removed. Are you going to opt for surgery?

Yes successfully removed after a year of misdiagnosis lol

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Excellent. It's a pretty common misdiagnosis, actually. I mean, you'd THINK that "HEY...there's a MUSHROOM IN THAT EAR" would be pretty obvious, but apparently not.