I Need Some Good Suggestions To Clean Dirty Ears

[krazyaboutkatz]

Hi, my Starr is still having dirty waxy ears and he's a little over 7 months old. I clean them about every other day. He doesn't have ear mites but just seems to be producing too much ear wax. I've tried using baby oil, dry q-tips, wet q-tips, and some ear cleaner that I bought at Petco. He's also been scratching his ears and will sometimes have scabs in them. Is there anything else that I can try?

My RB Pepper used to produce too much ear wax and this went on for his entire life. I only had to clean his ears once a week though. Starr's are much worse and I was hoping that he'd out grow this. When he was at the vet I asked the vet about this and he just said that he has kitten ears. This is why I was hoping that he's out grow this. Pearl is 2 months younger than Starr and her ears aren't dirty at all. Any suggestions?

[moosmom]

What color is this "earwax"?? If it's dark, chances are he's got a yeast infection in his ears that needs to be treated by a vet. MooShoo gets that kind of infection in his ears periodically. The vet prescribed drops for him that need to be put in his ears once a day for 2 weeks. You put the stuff in his ears, gently massaging the base of his ears. Massaging breaks up any gunk that's way down. Let him shake his head. I use Q-Tips to clean his ears. Very gently use a "scooping" action with the Q-Tip to get the stuff out. When his ears are okay, I use a commercial type ear cleaner that also helps with itching called Four Paws Ear Wash Anti-Itch Ear Cleaner for dogs and cats. It works great I got it at the local feed store in Michigan.

None of my other cats needs their ears cleaned. Just Moo.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Yes, it is dark in color. How will the vet know if it's a yeast infection? Is there a test for this? Is this contagious to my other cats?

[Craftlady]

Yes, it is dark in color. How will the vet know if it's a yeast infection? Is there a test for this? Is this contagious to my other cats?

Here's link to ear mites. http://www.cah.com/library/earmite.html
They talk about untreated turns into yeast infection.
Yes, contagious (ear mites). They take a sample from ear put it under microscope to see if they see anything moving.

[moosmom]

What Craftlady said is correct. They look at it under a microscope to see if anything is moving. A yest infection isn't contagious, but earmites are.

[krazyaboutkatz]

I still don't think that it's ear mites because when he was at the vets the vet swabbed his ears and looked at the ear wax and didn't seem too concerned. I'm now going to be cleaning his ears out 2 times a day with some Ear Clear that I bought at Petco. If this doesn't work, I'll have to take him to the vets but I want to try this first to see if it'll clear him up. I've also read that a vinegar solution may also help. When my RB Pepper had this problem the vet recommended that I use a mixture of white vinegar and isopropyl alcohol 50/50 mixture. Hopefully something will work because Starr's been to the vets way too much lately for such a young kitten.

[TopCat3]

Oh poor Starr, he's one of my favourites on here (as you know).

Yeast is easily seen under a microscope, its growth pattern is quite distinctive to someone who knows what to look for. Like little buds all joined together end to end, and branching in growth habit. They can probably make up a slide and check it on the spot at the vets. If its symptoms are anything like women go through with Candida he will be uncomfortable and itchy. Poor little Starr. Hug from me, please.

I'd be verycareful with Q tips, I won't even use them in my own ears, anyway I find them too big. I fold a Kleenex and wind a corner of it and make a nice cone shape, not too pointy. Nothing can come off and get left in the ear.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Thanks for all of the replies everyone. So far the Ear Clear seems to be keeping his ears clean. He does want to scratch his ears right after I clean them though. I'll continue to do this for another week or so and then I'll see how his ears do when I don't clean them every day.