Red ears?

[cataholic07]

Ceriah my 2 year old, is currently on a Z/D diet due to some hair loss on her face and ears from scratching (the vet thinks maybe food allergies). She's also on it due to a high urine PH (8) even though she is wet food fed 4 times a day sigh. Not a UTI either and no thyroid issues. But I notice from time to time her ears can get extremely red and feel very hot to the touch. I showed the pics to the vet and she thought maybe an acute allergic reaction to something. They get very veiny inside as well. It does go away after 20 - 30 mins and usually can be after grooming or playing with a wand toy. It doesn't happen all of the time but happens a few times a week at least. You can see how red her ears are on the inside and outside compared to the usual pink colouring of her skin. She grooms quite a bit during this time, especially her paws. Could it be allergies to the environment? Could she have both food and environmental allergies?

 

[LTS3]

Maybe your cat just gets too warm sometimes? Excess heat is dissapated through the ears so they may feel very warm and look red due to the blood flow.

 

[cataholic07]

Maybe your cat just gets too warm sometimes? Excess heat is dissapated through the ears so they may feel very warm and look red due to the blood flow.

It's still winter here so it's cold, especially in this house. It's not a constant thing and happens the most when grooming. It happened tonight while she was laying on a towel, she groomed herself for over 25 minutes. She didn't want to be touched, every time I did she started grooming again.

 

[FeebysOwner]

I believe I have read that red, hot ears can also happen with allergies - food and/or environment related. She might be over-grooming her ears as well - and that could be from itchiness. Although cats can develop an allergy to things they have always been around, you might still think long and hard about any more recent environmental changes in your household. Did she also have red hot ears before the Z/D? It might be that the Z/D either needs more time to work completely (some food changes to alleviate an allergy can take weeks and weeks), or that it isn't going to be the sole answer to her issues.

Is it just her ears that she doesn't want touched, or anywhere on her body? Is it only happening when her ears are red and hot? If not, she could be one of those cats like Feeby - while she will let us pet her, she always wants to groom right afterward. We say she is getting our 'cooties' off of her.

 

[cataholic07]

She did have ears that seemed quite red, but I think it's been more noticeable now that she has a lot of hair loss. Before I was feeding her different proteins and food all of the time. It only got worse when I was feeding her only chicken and fish (tiki cat major sale lol) then she started to scratch a ton. That's when the fur loss was more noticeable. My boys can play rough with her so I originally thought it was just rough play until I saw her scratching a lot. A few days ago she came into my mom's room and laid on a towel, started to groom herself and her ears were super red. She started to really groom herself quite hard and bite more at her paws/claws. When I touched her ears she groomed even harder. Her ears stayed red for 30 mins and hot to the touch. You can actually feel the heat coming off of it so it's not just the normal body temp, usually, her ears can be a bit cool normally. It's cold in the house lol. She's not the biggest fan of having her ears touched but normally I can touch them without fuss from her. She's been on the z/d for a week or so, she loves it thankfully.

 

[FeebysOwner]

I guess at this point, give the Z/D longer to help. Good that she likes it! Some say it can take up to 12 weeks, or more, for a noticeable change if it is an allergy issue.

 

[cataholic07]

Yep will do. I can't believe it takes so long for a food allergen to get out of the system. That's crazy.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Yep will do. I can't believe it takes so long for a food allergen to get out of the system. That's crazy.

It could take less time in terms of noticing subtle changes. So, be vigilant in tracking ever-so-slight changes over time!