repeat ear infection

[vikinggirl34]

Help!

This is Janie's 3rd ear infection this year.  We had her to the vet in March...vet gave "shotgun approach" <antibiotic, steroids, ear drops> the infection cleared up....ok now onto round  2nd that was the end of Aug - took her for second opinion to the animal shelter where we adopted her...we were given a definite diagnosis of a yeast infection of the ear. 

We were given ear ointment to give her for 7 days which we failed at miserably -- so we took her to the vet 5 days in a row for them to dispense the medication in her ears <we wanted to make sure she was going to get the treatment properly and enough medication to clear it up>-- can't remember the name of it at the minute - it was a foam they shot into her ears.  Her ears were totally cleared up and looked like they had been "power washed" they were so clean!!  No debris at all!! 

Ok, so now one month later and the yeast looks like it's returning and the ear scratching and head shaking are starting back up...not to mention she doesn't look happy. 

Obviously, we are going to take her back to the vet but what should he/we be looking for as the cause?  We need to get to the root of the problem. 

Anyone have experience with repeated ear infections in your cat??  btw, she also had an infected anal gland this year too.  With all these infections, I wondering about diabetes?  although she is not showing signs....one of my other cats had diabetes so I'm familiar with it.

Any insight would be appreciated.  I want my baby Jane to be well! 

 

[quiet]

See if you can find an animal dermatologist in the area and go there. The ear should be cultured at this point before any other medications are tried.

 

[goholistic]

My Boo had a recurring ear infection and it was from food allergies. Does she have any other symptoms (related or unrelated)? When you had her at the vet these few times, were any diagnostics done (i.e., blood work)?

 

[vikinggirl34]

No blood work was done on her.  I got a response by phone from the vet a few hours ago.  He said directed us to a specialist (dermatologist) to have her looked at.  He is figuring it's allergies.  That's is what the vet at the rescue league mentioned too.  Seems to be the general consensus. 

I talked to the specialist and they won't be able to see her for 3-4 weeks.  I'm going to try to figure out what she's allergic to before then if at all possible.

GoHolistic - you mentioned food allergies.  How did you go about figuring which food brand or flavor your cat was allergic to?  And yes, she has some other allergic type symptoms.  I do see her eyes can get watery while she is eating the wet food.  But it's just during.  Then she shakes her head.  I figured that if she's allergic to the wet food she would react to it later.  But maybe that is a sign?   

 

[denice]

My kitty who also developed an ear infection due to allergies turned out to be allergic to chicken.  I know people always tend to think in terms of grains causing issues but my vet tended to think in terms of a protein allergy.  He was eating chicken almost exclusively for some time and I started with that.  I removed chicken from his diet and no more ear issues.  It's really a trial and error thing.

 

[goholistic]

I believe chicken was the problem for Boo, too! Boo is a fussy eater and extremely stubborn and would not go for a strict exclusion diet of, say, rabbit. A single, novel protein is the better way to go if your cat will tolerate the food and eat only that for 6-8 weeks. If symptoms improve, then you slowly introduce other proteins/foods one at a time.

I did the best I could and eliminated the top allergens from his diet - grains, fish, beef, and chicken. We ended up with a small rotation of ones he would eat. I tried to reintroduce chicken recently, and he started scratching the hair off his ears again, so chicken is definitely out. Also, during the process, I found out he reacts to brewer's / nutritional yeast, which may be something to avoid for kitties with yeasty ear infections. Cats be allergic to almost anything, even flaxseed, kelp, etc. My Sebastian is allergic to guar gum. Like Denice said, it's trial and error and your best bet is to start with a grain-free, limited ingredient, single protein (ideally novel) food.

 

[vikinggirl34]

Thanks for all the input!  Janie and I will get to the bottom of this!  

She seems a bit perkier this morning and was looking to play. I didn't feed her any wet food last night or this morning....all she's had is the dry food. 

I'm going to go to PetSmart today and look into what else is out there.  I've tried the Blue Buffalo wet food and she turned her nose up at it.  I've also tried a few others including their brand of dry food called Simply Nourish - my husband was concerned about feeding her something like that with all the "fruits and vegetables" in it.  He said "cats don't eat that stuff" - I figure it's cat food so why not but it makes me wonder.

 Trial and error -- one day at a time  

 

[momto3cats]

I agree with your husband. People put all kinds of things in cat food that a cat would not normally eat, and I believe fruits and vegetables are not good for cats. They are only in there to appeal to the human customers, because they are good for us. They're counting on people assuming the same things are good for cats.

 

[denice]

I think that it would be best to stick with foods that have as few extra ingredients as possible when trying to weed out what is causing an allergic reaction.  They are actually better for all kitties but they make it easier for this, fewer possible causes in the food.  Of course there will always be additives for preserving and with wet foods thickening agents but look for foods that have few ingredients beyond the meat, liver and necessary supplements.

 

[mnm]

Question: we eliminated fish and chicken at one time but never beef. Is liver considered beef? I kinda want to try beef elimination for 6 weeks . Also..we use fancy feast classic pate' which does say meat by products...does that mean it's only by products of the main proteins that are listed in the food...or can it mean any meat by products so you don't have a clue what proteins may be in there?

 

[denice]

Liver can be from any animal.  I know many foods don't identify which animal the liver comes from, some do.  I know Nature's Variety LTD has liver that matches the protein, Hounds and Gatos uses duck liver in all their foods.  Meat by-products can also come from any animal.  Some foods will identify which animal the by-products come from but many don't.   Liver of some type is an essential part of a cats diet, a small part but an essential part of their diet.

 

[mnm]

Thanks

 

[vikinggirl34]

Well, here it is a month later and seem to be making progress.  It took some trial and error of different brands/flavors.  But she seems to be doing pretty well by eating the Purina One Smart Blend for Sensitive Systems dry food (Turkey as the main ingredient) and Nutro Natural Choice Soft loaf Turkey recipe (turkey, turkey broth, turkey liver as main ingredients - this brand specifies the type of liver)

Seems to me that she was having a problem with chicken and any kind of fish.

She is doing quite better and will keep her on this diet for a couple of months and then introduce other foods not tried yet.  Btw, I did offer her a limited ingredient diet by Natural Balance (Venison and green pea) but she didn't even try it.  I offered it to her twice and she turned up her nose.  I left it out for a couple of hours but no luck.  I still have yet to offer her the duck and green pea flavor.

janie.JPG

• vikinggirl34
• Nov 1, 2014

 

[goholistic]

Great to hear!  

  And have the ear infections cleared up?

 

[mnm]

ours always turned their noses to the limited ingredient ones as well. Does it work to mix them into the foods they love and gradually wean their favorite OUT?

 

[vikinggirl34]

Go Holistic --

Yes - her ears are not irritated and itchy.   I noticed when I gave her foods that seem to disagree with her, her ears would get red, sometimes beet red (especially the right one) and then they would get itchy.

Now staying strictly on the foods I just mentioned, she only occasionally scratches just for a second or two and not furiously like she had been.  Also the head shaking has stopped.  We've really only just found the latest combo of foods that agree with her about a week ago.  The rest of the month like I said was trial and error.  I've heard that it takes weeks for any allergens to clear from their system??  So I guess she should continue feeling well and getting even better. 

 

[vikinggirl34]

MnM-

I never tried mixing the new food with others that she prefers.  I like to just offer the food as it is.  I think sometimes they (like people) can detect if there is something in it that they don't like or may disagree with them.  I have foods like that that I'm allergic to.  The mere scent of them makes my stomach turn.  So I'm letting her decide. 

 

[goholistic]

 
Go Holistic --

Yes - her ears are not irritated and itchy.   I noticed when I gave her foods that seem to disagree with her, her ears would get red, sometimes beet red (especially the right one) and then they would get itchy.

Now staying strictly on the foods I just mentioned, she only occasionally scratches just for a second or two and not furiously like she had been.  Also the head shaking has stopped.  We've really only just found the latest combo of foods that agree with her about a week ago.  The rest of the month like I said was trial and error.  I've heard that it takes weeks for any allergens to clear from their system??  So I guess she should continue feeling well and getting even better. 

Excellent! I hope you continue to see improvement. 

 

[mnm]

makes sense!