Cat appears to have ear problem?

IrishHomer

Our cat in recent days is constantly twitching his ears.

He apppears to have some sort of discomfort on or in his ears.

Has anyone any experience of this problem or should i just go to the vet?

Magenta

Hello OP,
A couple of mine have had ear problems, both needed the vet.
Symptoms were, scratching ear constantly, shaking head, etc.
First kitty had Ear mites, very common, they will itch your cat's ear and bite it and poor kitty cannot scratch the inside of her ear. You need ear mite drops to treat them which are only available on prescription.
Second kitty had an ear infection, again painful and needed antibiotics which needed a prescription.
These are both very common ailments and your vet can diagnose them in a few minutes- they usually just take a look into the inside of the ear.

IrishHomer

Thanks Magenta for reply much appreciated.

Magenta

No problem. Let us know how you get on.
Ear mites/infections generally are not serious but they are very uncomfortable for the cat (you can imagine!) and if left untreated can get worse and damage the ear.

Dee_animallover

Ya its most likely ear mites but get your vet to check just to be sure!

IrishHomer

We actually have twoother cats and they are fine, you would imagine if its a mite that all three cats would have the problem?

Magenta

IrishHomer wrote: »

We actually have twoother cats and they are fine, you would imagine if its a mite that all three cats would have the problem?

No, they're not as contagious as say, fleas, would be because they live right down inside the ear and usually stay there. Whereas your regular flea will jump from cat to cat, ear mites tend to stay put. We have a few cats and none of the others had any problems when one of them had ear mites

Dee_animallover

IrishHomer wrote: »

We actually have twoother cats and they are fine, you would imagine if its a mite that all three cats would have the problem?

I have 3 cats as well and only one seems to suffer with them!

McKuntmissioner

I would recommend a look by the vet. It doesn't sound too serious as of yet, which is a good thing, yet letting it go could allow it to progress. Mites are likely, considering the "twitching" reaction, and easily cured.

Good luck, and let the board know your result.

IrishHomer

Well i took the cat to the vet today.

He said it was fleas and he applied the oil to the rear of the neck.

Hope he gets better now this is a bit odd i would have thought if it was fleas that the other two cats would be intching too but they aren't.

Dee_animallover

Thats odd I would have put money on it that it was ear mites! My own cat has them at the moment had to bring him to the vet yesterday and he had to be kept in and sedated to have his ears cleaned out as it had gone so deep, second time in 4 months this had to be done. My vet said if you put a drop of the profender for fleas in each ear and the rest on the back of his neck it should keep them at bay so maybe it would be no harm to do this the next time you are fleaing him? Its only the profender brand that kills ear mites too apparantly.