Itchy Ear Question

[kathyfrank]

So my male cat suddenly has an itchy ear. I feel so bad for him because he is miserable. No discharge or gunk or mites. All I can see is that the skin is scaly at the base inside the ear, and the vet said this was from itching. She said she thought it was an allergic reaction, and this could be true. I recently adopted a cat that came with fleas, and we had to exterminate the place. They used Precor and there may be a chance my cat is allergic to this since it is in the carpet. I say this because they exterminated on Thursday, and I noticed he was itchy over the weekend.

My question is a simple opinion question. The vet looked (eyeballed) in Moe's ears, and took a swab. She didn't look in his ear with the ear scope thing that they normally use. Is this strange? It is bugging me, and I don't know if it should be. When I think about it, I feel she should have definitely done this since I am coming in with an ear issue. She visually looked and did the swab, but that was it. Am I off in thinking she should have used the ear scope thing (sorry, Idk what it is called)? I'm having a hard time finding a vet I feel 100% confident in, and so I think this is why I am wondering if she may have missed something by not looking through that instrument. If so, I want Moe to go to another vet because I would want to make sure that everything was done to try to diagnose what is going on.

Thanks

 

[abyeb]

Maybe she was able to figure out from the visual appearance of the swab itself that Moe didn’t have any mites or infection. So, allergies I think sounds like a good explaination, but of course, you could go to another vet to get a second opinion if that would make you more comfortable.

 

[epona]

The otoscope is for looking deep into the ear, if the irritation was apparent in the external part of the ear then the vet may have felt that it would be better to take the swab there rather than possibly spread any problem further into the ear canal with scope or when taking a swab, or further inflame irritated skin by using the otoscope.

 

[kathyfrank]

Yes. You both make sense. I was thinking if it were an inner ear infection then the scope would be needed...But maybe not if inner ear infections have discharge or other visible stuff.....

 

[catsknowme]

Did your vet suggest trying loratadine (Claritin)? My cats foam so much with liquid Benadryl that it terrifies them and will take it only once. So my vet had me try the loratadine and it worked for my cat at relieving the itching. I switched his food and that helped a lot although he gets seasonal allergies too.