Show Reviewed by Amy Flowers, DVM on July 19, 2020 You’ve noticed your feline friend acting odd lately. Maybe they have been shaking their head a lot or scratching at their ears. Perhaps you’ve even spotted some yellow or black ear discharge or noticed a bit of a smell. Could your cat have an ear problem? Ear problems in cats are quite common. It’s also common for people to misdiagnose their cat’s ear issues, sometimes leading to weeks of inappropriate treatment. Save them the pain and discomfort -- learn what ear problems might be troubling your cat and find out what you can do to help. When your cat’s ears are healthy, they’re pink and clean inside, have no smell, have very little or no wax, and seem able to detect the sound of a can opener from a mile away. When your feline friend has ear problems, you may notice a much different kitty. Symptoms of ear problems in cats include pawing at the ears, sensitivity to touch, a large amount of cream colored, orange, dark brown, or black wax; hearing loss; head tilting or shaking; and loss of balance. The most common causes of ear discharge in cats include: The only way to truly know what’s troubling your cat is to take them to the vet for an examination. Depending on what your veterinarian finds, treatment for your cat’s ear discharge might include: Ear mites can be very contagious among pets, so if you discover your cat has them, you may want to get the rest of your household’s four-legged friends checked by a vet, too. Chances are good your entire pet household will need ear mite treatment or an infestation may easily recur.
After examining your cat and possibly sending a swab out to a lab for analysis, your veterinarian may prescribe a range of treatments for your cat’s ear infection, including antibiotics, antifungal medication, anti-inflammatories, or immunotherapy.
To help your cat’s ears stay perky and pest-free, check inside their ears regularly for signs of wax buildup, inflammation, or odor. If you notice a problem, it’s time to talk to your veterinarian. Cat’s ears are expressive, beautiful -- and very fragile. To avoid damaging the eardrum or packing wax deep into the ear, never insert anything into your cat’s ears or use over-the-counter medication unless your vet has shown you the proper way to do so. It’s easy to interpret a cat’s ear discharge as mites when it’s something else, or to leave a mild infection untreated until it becomes serious or chronic. Don’t leave your cat’s comfort to guesswork -- always talk to your vet when you suspect ear problems.
 However, it isn’t always easy to tell what is ear mites and what isn’t if you aren’t a vet. Ear wax can look like ear mites. In this article, we’ll take a look at both ear wax and ear mites and help you figure out which is which. While you should always rely on your vet for a final diagnosis, it is always best to have some sort of idea of what you’re looking at. Overview of Cat Ear Mites:Ear mites are tiny arthropods that can live in your cat’s ear. After they make it to your cat’s ear, they will feed on your feline. Usually, this doesn’t cause any serious problems. However, it can lead to problems down the line. If the infection is not treated, it typically won’t go away by itself. Cats with compromised immune symptoms are more prone to ear mites, including older and younger felines. Image Credit: Todorean-Gabriel, ShutterstockSymptomsEar mites can only be seen under a microscope. Therefore, you won’t actually see them in your cat’s eats. Instead, you’ll have to rely on looking for symptoms and then take your cat to the vet to get looked at. Symptoms typically include obvious signs that your cat’s ears are irritated. They may shake their head back and forth or mess with their ears. The inside of their ears will likely be red and irritated, though the level of irritation can vary. It doesn’t necessarily line up with how bad the infection is. Image credit: wimala namket, ShutterstockOther symptoms include:
Overview of Ear Wax:Ear wax naturally occurs in all cats’ ears on some occasions. However, it can change shades and smell when the cat has an underlying problem. Therefore, you shouldn’t necessarily just be looking to see if you see ear wax in your cat’s ear (odds are, you probably will). However, you should be looking to see if you notice healthy or unhealthy ear wax. If you do not see wax in your cat’s ears, then it is usually not a sign of a problem. In fact, most healthy cats do not have visible ear wax in their ears. While the presence of ear wax isn’t always the sign of a problem, it absolutely can be.
Symptoms of Unhealthy Ear WaxIf your cat’s ears are unhealthy, then you likely need to pay a visit to the vet. One way to determine your cat’s ear health is to look at the ear wax. If there is no ear wax present, then your cat is likely doing just fine. Having no ear wax is pretty common for cats, especially if they are healthy. However, there are many conditions that can make the ear wax look unhealthy. Healthy ear wax should be light brown and surrounded by pale skin. On the other hand, unhealthy ear wax is:
If your cat’s ear wax fits this description, then you should likely visit your vet to determine if your cat’s ear wax problem is a symptom of something else. Image Credit: Uschi Dugulin, PixabayHow to Tell the DifferenceGenerally, to determine if your cat has ear mites, you do not need to distinguish them from ear wax. In fact, since ear wax often becomes more plentiful when mites are present, trying to determine if it is ear wax or mites misses the point. In other words, you cannot see ear mites. Anything you see in your cat’s ear is ear wax. However, ear wax changes if your cat becomes sick or has ear mites. Therefore, your main purpose should be to tell if the ear wax is healthy or not. If it isn’t, it could be a sign that your cat has ear mites. Normal Ear WaxNormal ear wax will have the following characteristics:
The best way to determine if the ear wax is healthy or not is to know your cat’s “normal”. If you know what your cat’s ears usually look like, then you’ll know if the ear wax has changed or not. However, if you are only just now paying attention, it can be difficult to determine if your cat’s ear wax is normal or not. You just have to make your best guess. Infected Ear WaxEar wax that is infected is a bit different from healthy ear wax. Here are the things to look out for:
The reason the darker colored ear wax is associated with mites is that the mites leave behind waste and blood, which turns the wax into a darker color. Therefore, the darker it is, the worse the infection likely is. However, there isn’t always a correlation. What To Do If You Notice Unhealthy Ear WaxIf you notice that the ear wax is a darker color, it isn’t necessarily a sign that your cat has ear mites. However, if your cat has unhealthy wax, it is a sign that something is wrong. Therefore, you should take your cat to the vet either way. Even if your feline doesn’t have ear mites, they likely have something else going on that requires veterinary attention. ConclusionWe highly recommend that you take any darker-colored ear wax seriously, as it can be a sign that your cat has an infection, ear mites, or a similar problem. These things need veterinary treatment, as they do not go away on their own. In fact, leaving them to fix themselves can lead to serious problems down the line, such as hearing loss. You cannot see ear mites, so you don’t need to tell them apart from ear wax. Instead, you’ll need to speak with a vet about whether it is ear mites or not. Featured Image Credit: Left: Ear Mites: NONGASIMO, Shutterstock | Right: Ear Wax: NONGASIMO, Shutterstock |
What does cat ear wax look like
zusammenhängende Posts
Urheberrechte © © 2024 frojeostern Inc.
