Conference misery::feline

    Chubs may have another type of infection also - my buddy, Spike has
    chronic yeast infections in his ears, and it looks a lot like mites
    (brown guk).
    
    For mites, my vets prescribe Tresaderm, for Spike's yeast infection, we
    tried Lotrimin drops 1st, and now he's on Miconazole.  Yeast infections
    are stubborn, and Spike has to get the drops BID for 3-4 weeks.
    
    Sue B. + Smokey, Spike, Trouble & Peanut

Skinnytail has ear mites from time to time, we have found them very difficult to 
get rid of. (and thats in Old England in the middle of winter!). The treatment 
out vet prescribed consisted of ear drops which had to be squeezed into the cats 
ear as far down as possible (which Skinny didn't appreciate at all, & he's 
usually so placid!). Then the ear had to be massaged until it sort of squelched 
for about a minute (we only ever managed a few seconds). I don't know about 
Q-tips, if the cat struggles & it goes deeper than you meant it to ...

Good luck,

Andy

I got a cat once that had ear mites.  Tresaderm was was applied.  The key 
thing here is that you need to treat every day for 21 days!!!!  The life 
cycle of the ear mite (larva etc.)is such that if you don't do it this 
long, the little buggers will just come back.  Your vet can flush the ear 
out intitially and then if you want to clean the ear, probably for the 
first week to get rid of the mess, put in the drops and wipe with a Q-tip. 
 Then reapply the drops to be sure they get in and massage well.  Be sure 
to keep an eye on kitty, sometimes one of the ingredients can irritate 
when used for this prolonged period(steroids or cortisone).  Your vet can 
recommend a different prescription if this happens.  Good luck and stick 
with it, it isn't as bad as it sounds.  If you want to really get grossed 
out, ask the vet if you can look in the ear with his scope to see them!!!
Makes my skin crawl 8*}.
Karen

    RE: cleaning a cat's ears.
    
    Cornish rexes are prone to "dirty ears".  The stuff in their ears looks
    like mites, but in fact it's just black wax.  Basically because they
    don't have any furr in their ears.
    
    What I do to clean sweetie's and PIMA's ears is first I take a wet cotton 
    swab (one of those make up swabs works great) and remove the stuff I can
    reach with that.  Then I SOAK a q-tip to get the rest of the stuff out. 
    ONLY go for the stuff you can see.  NEVER dig in the cat's ear as you
    can hurt them.  It may take two or three swabs to get everything out. 
    Be sure to get into the nooks in the ear as well, but still only get
    the stuff you can SEE.  Then take a dry swab and dry out the ear.
    
    Holly
    
    
    

    Cheryl,
    
     I agree you should make sure it is mites before you treat it. My cat
    Fluffy used to have gross ears. I always thought it was ear mites that
    I couldn't get rid of, but my vet told me that brown slimy gunk was
    just ear wax build up. After that, I just did what Holly does for her
    cats.
    
     When my cats get mites, the stuff is usually black and crusty looking
    like dried blood, not slimy and brown. I'd have the little (?) guy
    checked to make sure you administer the correct treatment. Especially
    where he doesn't go out, and Lea doesn't seem to have them to spread
    them. It could be something else, like he forgot to clean his ears! ;-)
    
    Yonee
    
    BTW, my vet once put a live mite under the microscope for me to see. It
    looked like a transparent prehistoric monster! YUCKY! ;-) 

    There are all kinds of different mite medications, but your vet will
    select the one that is best for your cat.  I have used Tresaderm,
    Mitox, and Nolvamite before, but there is also a type called Cerumite
    that my current vet uses alot.
    
    Jo

    
    Van Gogh who is an indoor only cat and secluded from the rest of
    the furry kids...always has the dirtiest/waxest ears. (even the ear
    that is squished...gets dirty)   We have had him checked for mites 
    multiple times but find it is only dirt!!
    
    We now try to clean his ears atleast once a week with Q-tips and
    a small tab of peroxide.  You do have to be very careful when
    cleaning...but Van Gogh normally purrs while we do it.. so he must
    enjoy it somewhat!!
    
    When my other strays have had earmites...we normally use Mitox.
                                               
    Sandy

    Talked with my vet's assistant last night and she said Chubs has dirty
    ears, not mites.  (guess mites leave black marks, dirty ears leave
    brown marks?)  She told me to clean the outer part of his ear with a
    q-tip and some rubbing alcohol (which was exactly what I had already
    done on Sunday after finding the mess).

    There's another type of thing that you can get at most shows and also
    at some pet stores called "Ear Clean".  It works great!
    
    Holly
    

    Oh yeah, and Yonne,
    
    From what I've heard and the pictures I've seen, Chubs is anything BUT
    a "little" guy! (-:
    
    Holly
    

    Holly, 
    
     That was my point! He may seem little compared to a human, but he
    ain't no little guy for sure! ;-)
    
     Cheryl, I'm glad it wasn't anything yucky, besides ear mung! Give him
    a hug for me!
    
    Yonee
    

    The only thing little on Chubs is his brain!  :^)

    In addition to cleaning the ears, if your cat has mites it might be
    worthwhile to wash your cat's beddingreal well (i.e., hot soapy water 
    and bleach). My Harry kept re-infesting himself until my vet suggested
    doing this.
    
    Deb

    
    Has anyone heard of a one-time shot that can be given to cats
    to resolve ear mites problems?   I can't remember the name of
    the product...but I believe it starts with an "I".
    
    Our shelter has been talking to other shelters in the Boston Area
    to find out how they battle the ear mite issue in their shelters!!
    As you can imagine when you have a zillion cats in a shelter..it is
    very difficult to treat earmites in alot of cats for a two/three 
    week period!!  
    
    In many cases we are hearing that vets out west have been prescribing
    this new product to fight the ear mite battle...and many shelters
    from the East Coast are buying it directly from them.  The East Coast
    vets have not started prescribing this new product.
    
    Has anyone heard of such a shot???   
    
    Sandy

    Hi Feliners!
    
    Remember me?  I know,........... long time.  Your cats grow up and
    you don't need the counseling you once did.  Still however, I find
    myself with problems and sometimes, no answers. :)
    
    Vernon has something wrong with his ears.  I never catch him scratching
    but he has little scabs on the bottom on them.  The poor little pink ears 
    look frightful and painful.  I see no fleas and the other three cats (also
    indoors) don't have a problem at all.  These scabs are on the outside, not 
    inside and do not look like bites of any kind.
    
    What could this be?  Any ideas?  
    
    
    cj (who has been silent for too long)

    Jeesh Sandy,
    
    If they had a shot like that I would line up all 11 of my guys
    and have them done pronto...
    
    I am so tired of getting shredded from trying to mite the ferals,
    only to fail, and have them infect my others...  it's awful and
    I admit I am a wimp.  
    
    N

    Two of my cats suffer from a condition like what you describe with
    Vernon.  One of the cats is hypothyroid, and is also allergic to mold,
    so her problem has been diagnosed as being an allergy.  She gets tiny
    little scabby things all over her ears, face, top of her head, and
    under her chin.  Her paw pads are also somewhat affected.  Recently,
    one of her sons has come down with a similar condition.  A veterinary
    dermatologist once thought that it could be an autoimmune disorder
    called Pemphigous, but that is usually chronic and eventually fatal, so
    we have ruled it out for now.  My cats tend to clear up when the
    weather is warm and dry, and get the rash back when it is wet, damp,
    and cold.
    
    Sounds like it may be time to take Vernon into a vet or maybe even a
    dermatologist if the vet can't figure out what is wrong.  My cats
    problem had my vet stumped, since it wasn't flea allergy, it wasn't
    ringworm, and it wasn't any type of mites.
    
    Jo
    

    I've gone through a similar experience as Jo has with Silver.  Once
    they thought it was bodymites, and I had to dip all of my cats in this
    lyme junk (pew!!).  The rash/scabs came back shortly after, but again
    only on Silver.  The figured it was feline dermatitis, and gave her a
    shot of cortizone and put her on clavamox and it cleared up again. 
    Shortly afterward, the scabs came again.  All this time it was on her
    ears, head, neck and the base of her tail.
    
    all of this and it turned out to be something very simple.  She is
    allergic to any fish product.  I cut out ANY fish, and now she's fine.
    
    Holly
    

    When Oppie showed up with this rash, I took him to the vet and she said
    that horrible R word, ringworm!  I freaked!  A houseful of cats and one
    with ringworm, yikes!  Anyway, she did a culture and sent us home with
    a tube of Conofite, Nolvasan shampoo and Lyme dip.  Well, poor Oppie
    had a horrible reaction to the conofite and his ears swelled up like
    balloons.  All the hair fell off, so here is this seal point Birman
    with huge red Dumbo ears.  Poor guy.  I called the vet back but she was
    out of town and the relief vet just said to keep up the medicine
    because the ringworm was obviously out of control.  Then I called a
    breeder friend (funny how breeder friends always have all the right
    answers ;'}) and described the problem to her, and she said that one of
    her cats had the same thing, and she told me to use Panalog on it. 
    Well, two applications of Panalog were all that were needed to reverse
    the symptoms in no time.  Of course, the ringworm culture never grew.
    Poor Oppie, he is still trying to grow back the fur on his ears.
    
    Wish I could just eliminate all the molds from my house so that Joui
    and Oppie wouldn't suffer anymore.  Right now I treat them with Panalog
    and 1/2 tablet of chloropheniramine twice a day when they are itchy.
    
    Jo

    
    Ivermectin has been used successfully to treat scaly face mites in
    birds.  Haven't heard about using it for cats though.
    
    MaryAnne

    thanks for all the replies so quickly!  i was really afraid that it was
    fleas but with the others having no problems and "not a flea in sight"
    i figured it was probably something else.  
    
    i assume that the correct thing to do would be to bring him to the vet,
    although a few replies back, the breeder mentioned something that might
    help and it seemed that i could get this over the counter.  still,
    better safe than sorry....right?
    
    
    thanks again,
    
    cj
    
    

    
    Maryanne...that's the "I" word I was thinking about!! Supposingly
    some vets in the west are using this to treat ear mites in cats...
    but our two vet that support are shelter don't use it!!
    
    If I hear anymore...I'll keep you posted.  
    
    Sandy

    Re: .21
    
    The stuff that I mentioned that helped my cats, Panalog, isn't an over
    the counter medication.  It is a veterinary prescription medication. 
    You could get it from your vet when you take the cat in, provided the
    vet feels that is the best medication to handle your cats problem.
    
    Good Luck
    
    Jo

    Ivermectin is one of the main ingredients in paste wormer
    that you give horses. (and other livestock)
    
    Sometimes the scabs at the base of the ear can be caused
    from scratching if the ears are itchy inside, or if ear mites
    are present.

    Well, Verne has an appointment this afternoon with his vet.  The others
    will be so worried when he leaves the house without them.  (I usually
    try to take them all in so they don't think something is up) and my vet
    is concerned about ear mites.  I am confused; isn't ear mites on the
    inside of the ears?  These scabs are definately on the outside of ear,
    on the furry part.  The inside of the ears looks pretty and pink.
    
    cj

    Well Feliners, I have a worse problem than anticipated.  Seems that the
    scabs on Verne's ears are from the other cats in the house playing too
    rough with him.  All are declawed but the baby (Gypsy 9 months and
    getting declawed this week) but our precious one, weighing in at 23
    pounds and double pawed all over is the "cat from hell" and I am pretty
    sure its him. ( You know how they play with their back paws doing the
    "bunny hop" on the heads. )  How can I calm these guys down while I'm not
    home?  Its so ironic; Verne is the biggest of all (not fat, but
    biggest) and is just laid back.  He is the only cat that gets along
    well with all others.  I am concerned that he might get really hurt one
    day when we are not around.  Any ideas?  His sister Shirley has been
    coming to his rescue for a few months now when Chad (precious) goes at
    him.  She reels in and pops him good and she is the only cat that he
    will not fight back with (can it be that he "likes" her?) and at the
    time, I didn't think she was really helping him and more so playing
    with them.  Anyways... I am worried about him!
    
    cj
    
    cj

    My vet recommended Ivermectin shot for Ear mites.  It is especially
    useful for barn cats - if you can catch them!.  Like Ovaban it is not
    approved for cats but is used with very good results.  He hasn't had
    any patients react negatively.  Yes it is the same stuff used for
    horses, cattle etc.
    
    Linda

    Hi,
    
    My new cat Spunky and I have been doing battle with ear mites/dirty
    ears since we got him in February.  We've been treating him with
    Tresaderm every other day.  Well last week I brought him in for another
    checkup and the vet said that there's a large cap of wax way down in
    one ear.  Its not getting any smaller and she wants me to have his ears
    flushed.  Has anyone ever had this done?  My vet said she uses a vacuum
    like machine, and that the cat has to be under general.  I'm just a
    worried mama.  He's really turning out to be a nice cat, and this is
    his only problem.  
    
    Dana & SPunkster

    I know Dr. Nord of Framingham Animal Hospital usually checks ears when
    she has any cat under general, and if they need it, she flushes them
    out. I've never heard of it doing anything but good when they did this.
    
    Of course one always worries when their little one has to go under
    general anesthesia. I'm sure the Sunkster will be fine! ;-) And feel
    better too in the long run.
    
    Love,
    
    Yonee
         

    If Spunky hasn't been altered yet, have your vet neuter him while he is 
    under for the ear flushing and then you can kill two birds with one stone.  
    
    Jo (who likes to get everything done when there is any reason for a cat
    to go under--BTW, how are Spunky's teeth looking? ;'))
    

    
    My Emmi had her ears flushed when she was under anethesia for her spay
    and it worked out quite well.  No more mites....
    
    Of course, she passed them along to everyone else in the house before
    she got her flushing.....but that's another story.. :-)
    
    Nancy

    Thanks - that makes me feel better.  Dr. Armstrong will be doing the
    flushing (at Framingham Animal - I live 45 minutes away but we
    developed such a relationship with FAH when we had Sherrie that we
    decided to just keep doing the drive...).  SPunky's neutered already -
    in fact that was one of the concerns they had about doing the flushing
    last month was that he was under general anaesthesia in mid Februaru -
    they wanted to wait a while longer before putting him under again.
    
    And his teeth are extremely good.  Ask me how I know.......... ;^)
    
    Dana

    I recommend the flushing too.  I've been fighting ear problems
    that are a result of a terrible case of kitten ear mites for 7 
    years now.  I wish we'd focused more on flushing the ears, etc.
    earlier so I might not have a cat with chronic ear problems.
    
    Jan

    My Poppy had this done, too, with good results. Her doctor said he
    found a plug of wax the size of a pencil eraser in one ear. Before
    we had it done, she was constantly scratching that ear, to the point 
    that she had no fur at the base of the ear. 
    
    She came through it fine, with no visible after effects (except I 
    think she's selectively deaf in that ear to things like, 
    "Get off the counter!").
    
    Good luck
    
    Kate
    

    Just an update - Spunky had his ears done yesterday and he came through
    fine.  He actually seems to be happier, altho' he wasn't happy *at all*
    about not getting his breakfast *or* lunch *or* even a full dinner last
    night!  Peace was restored when we put down his biscuits this
    morning....
    
    And his ears are so clean and pink!
    
    Dana

    I have a question about ear problems??? My latest new stray Moses
    came to us with very dirty/smelly ears!  (they smelled like garbage)
    He has been to the vets...and the vets said it was only dirt and
    they cleaned them real good and it appears the smell had disappeared.
    
    Well it has been one week since he has been back from the vets...
    and even though his ears do not appear dirty...they are starting
    to smell again.
    
    What causes ears to smell???  Could he really have mites or some
    type of infection??  His ears do not seem to bother him...but the
    smell is killing me!!   It truly smells like he stuck his ear in
    a garbage pail!  Any thoughts????
    
    Sandy

    Contact your vet.  Kitty  may have a chronic problem.  Amelia had
    a chronic waxy ear.  The dirt/wax was reddish like there was blood
    in it.  At some point it stopped being visibly waxy and I sort 
    of got complacent about dealing with it.  When I took her in to
    get her teeth cleaned I asked them to check the ears.  Turns
    out she had a raging infection in the ear and the eardrum had
    burst.
    
    I went through months of having her on antibiotics and putting
    Gentocin drops in her ears.  We also went every couple of weeks
    for an ear recheck for months.   Last visit was two weekends
    ago and I'm happy to say it seems that we have finally beat this
    after a year of struggle.
    
    Anyway, ask your vet if there could possibly be a bacterial 
    infection or something like that causing the dirty/smelly ears.
    Seems if it's only been a week and they're back to smelling bad
    that there must be something else going on in there.
    
    Jan

    Well Chief has an ear infection. I noticed yesterday that his ear
    was a bit funny and then when I went to rub his face on that side
    he meowed.. I then noticed the smell... So I called the vet this
    morning and he came by at 3:00 (my vet is called A Mobile Vet,
    he comes to you for most basic things--he used to be in a building,
    but I much prefer this since Chief and cars dont mix).  Anyway
    it is definately an infection.  I got both pills and drops.  I watched
    the vet put the drops in and I dont know how I am going to do it!!!
    I cant stand to listen to that cry...  Also the vet suggested trying
    to clean the ear some with cotton. This should be fun. Worse of all
    I have to keep him indoors until it clears up.  When the vet examined
    him his bladder was full. He was waiting for me to let him out. Finally
    he ran to the litter box.  I hope this is not the start of more
    things to come, i.e. these will become regular.

    Normally I have no trouble pilling chief.. Put some tuna in a bowl,
    add a pill and he eats it. Well these pills are a bit larger so he
    found the untastiness in his tuna and forget it.  So, I tried to
    force the pill down, but opening up his mouth and trying to get the
    pill down.  Well what I suceeded in doing is causing him to foam at
    the mouth and then barf up all his food!  It was real scary.  He
    then ran away.  I finally found him and put the drops in.  On top
    of that he has been crying since 5am to go, even though it is raining.
    And its only 8am!!!
    
    	Should I chop the pill up and mix it in with the tuna?
    
    Thanks for all your help here..

    Poor Chief...poor you!!!  You could try chopping the pill up..
    but yet some pills are very bitter and they won't touch the
    tuna with the pill in it.   OR...call your vet and see if they
    have the medicine in liquid form.   I personally have a much
    easier time using the liquid.
    
    Would the medicine just happen to be pennicilian (SP?).  that
    is one of the most bitter tasting pills and I have a VERY hard
    time giving it to my cats!!   
    
    Sandy

    Well it is 3 days later and I have been letting Chief out in
    the morning for just a few hours.. Yesterday I came home at lunch
    to get him in and today he was out from 6 to 8.  After the first
    morning's fiasco I just have been forcing his mouth open putting
    the pill in when I can and keep his mouth shut and waiting for
    him to swallow. I also rub his throat to help out. The ear drops
    are not that bad to him and I think he enjoys them in a kitty
    sorta way.  He has improved greatly since Monday. By tuesday no more
    smelly ear.  I can rub that side of his face and his ear now. Last
    night he sleep with me and was purring up a storm. That is good
    since the only times he has seen me in the last couple days 
    has been in the am, lunch, and maybe 1 hour for dinner, as I am
    working 2 jobs.  My husband has also been real busy.
    	Anyway I am glad this will be over soon. I had forgotten what it
    is like to constantly scoop out the litter box.  Natures toilet is
    the best.

    Amelia's ear problem has flared up again (left ear).  I've just 
    spent the last two weeks shoving Baytril pills down her throat 
    and putting Panalog in her ear twice a day.  A recheck trip to 
    the vet shows that it had absolutely no effect on her ear.  Now 
    I'm putting 4-5 drops of Gentocin in her ear twice a day.
    
    The recheck was done by one of the newer vets to the clinic.
    She was brainstorming on what could cause such a chronic problem.
    She drew blood for a blood panel.  I get the results today.  I'm
    not sure what she's looking for exactly.  I believe she was thinking
    perhaps there's an elevated enzyme or other problem that may be 
    causing the ear to not respond to treatment.  Other things she has
    suggested are an allergy of some sort (her skin is dry and flakey
    too and she's wondering if they're related somehow).
    
    I may end up having to take her in to have an x-ray (done under
    anesthesia) to see if there is a problem with the inner ear that
    causes the infection to remain.  And, at that point I'm probably
    looking at having a culture done to see what kind of bacteria grows
    from the discharge.  
    
    The vet has noted on the chart that the infection no longer responds
    to Panalog.  When Amelia was a kitten I had to put that in her ear 
    constantly and whatever bacteria is in there has probably become
    resistant.  The Gentocin has worked in the past when combined with
    Baytril.  I'm interested to see if it will work on its own without
    the antibiotic.
    
    Geez, no wonder she's been chasing Dolly through the house.  I'd be
    cranky too with a raging ear infection.  BTW, she's down to 14.25
    pounds.  Must be the running. :^)
    
    Jan