Strange brown crusty stuff on outside of ear

[luciafernanda]

I just noticed this morning my cat had some strange brown crusty stuff on the outside of her left ear, on the edge, and also that the edge of her ear looked like it had been clipped as if in a fight, but she doesn't go outside and she doesn't know other cats.

I wiped off the gunk and it looked like this, very brown and not red like blood would be:

2a8i3uw.jpg

• luciafernanda
• Feb 15, 2014

I didn't get a picture of it on her ear, but it blended in with the colour of her fur anyway.

I remember a few months ago I noticed a similar crust on her ear, but I think she cleaned it off, I didn't notice it again.

The insides of her ears look fine and she hasn't been scratching her ear more than normal.

Here's a terrible picture of the edge of her ear:

zlact0.jpg

• luciafernanda
• Feb 15, 2014

And here is another picture where you can kind of see how her ear looks clipped/flattened, and also inside her ear, but I don't see any of the signs I've read about ear mites:

351s2eg.jpg

• luciafernanda
• Feb 15, 2014

Any ideas what it is? Maybe she's been sticking her head somewhere she shouldn't...but I can't think what the brown crusty stuff would be from in the house. It's weird it's the same place as before. Also, I never noticed how the edge of her ear wasn't smooth before. The only time she fought with another cat was when she stayed with a friend last November, she had one fight with his cat, but I feel like I would have noticed it between then and now.

So I cleaned it off, I guess I should just see if it comes back? Could this be a sign of infection or ear mites? Even though she doesn't know other cats, she did stay in a shelter when I went to the beach two weeks ago so maybe she caught something there.

 

[cprcheetah]

It kind of looks like ear wax, but I don't understand why it would be on the outside of the ear.  It may be an infection of some sort.  If it comes back I would check with the vet.

 

[ziggy'smom]

It could just be ear wax. Ear wax can be runny and end up on the outside of the ear when the cat is laying down and the ear wax runs down the ear. When it dries it would be crusty. It's nothing to worry about. I'd just clean out her ears and keep an eye on it. You may also want to smell her ear to see if it's smells. If it does it could be an ear infection.

I'm not sure what you mean by the ear being clipped. Do you mean the little jagged edge of her ear? If so it looks to me to just be the way her ear looks. Maybe you just never paid much attention to it before. She could of course have injured her ear but it doesn't look injured.

 

[mamaj13]

    My cat had crusty stuff on her ears. We used Revolution as her heart worm med because it controls ear mites also. No help, but I still use the Revolution anyway. We tried various wipes for her ears. No help. While having her teeth cleaned, the vet examined her ears and said definitely not ear mites.

    He suggested that it could be an allergy. The most common protein allergy for cats is to chicken. If you decide to go this route, be prepared to read lots of labels and look really hard to find food either dry or canned. I used Taste of the Wild - Canyon. There are a few treats, just read.

I found the food at Tractor Supply and at a local pet food supplier. It is also available on-line. The also make a canned food which my kitty did not like at all. Other lines in that brand had chicken. I also tried to stay away from turkey.

    The net result of a lot of hard work was NO MORE CRUSTY BROWN STUFF!

My vet said that protein allergies in cats are a lot more common than most people could imagine.

 

[luciafernanda]

Yeah I meant the jagged edge of her ear. I guess I just never noticed it before, I thought maybe, *maybe* it could be a symptom of some awful infection or savage ear mites though, haha. Though if that were the case I'm sure there would be a LOT more issues

Well the stuff hasn't come back since I cleaned her ear on the weekend, so hopefully it was just some run away ear wax she didn't clean off herself. Thanks

 

[stewball]

If she had ear mites her ear would look dirty on the inside. If her ears are clean then I very much doubt it's ear mites.
Go with the allergy.