Lisa,

PB & Lucky sound like they have the same thing LilEli has. It's crusty stuff just inside the ear (no outside for Eli). He scratches it and shakes his head. Unfortunately, because he's semi-feral, I have to wait and corner him to put medication for a yeast infection in his ear and clean it out.

I also had a cat, Marina Mar who had crusty stuff outside her ears. Turned out it was Pemphagus Aereolus. It's caused from a suppressed immune system that causes painful ear scabs. Nothing helped it (we tried every antibiotic there was). She had been poked, stuck, prodded to death! Finally the vet said that she had one more thing we could try which would require blood work every 2 weeks and weekly injections, similar to kitty chemotherapy. That's when I said enough was enough. RIP Marina Mar.

As far as the Gooster's itching, it's probably a food allergy. Especially since you said you just added other food to his already existing food.

My Mollie Rose has kitty asthma. I don't give her prednisone because she's an older kitty (almost 11) and the vet said regular use of the stuff can suppress her immune system. Instead, for sneezing, watery eyes and runny nose, I give her a half a tab of Chlortrymeton, an over the counter human antihystimine. It works.