What causes an ear infection in your cat?

Ear infection in cats, do they have it?

Cats have ear complaints more often than it seems. Cats, like all other animals and humans, can have ear problems. This is often caused by an inflammation of the external ear canal. The skin of the ear canal is irritated by a cause inside or outside the ear and can therefore become inflamed. You notice this in the cat because he shakes his head more often, scratches his ear or head more often, the head often hangs down with the infected ear and sometimes some dirt comes out, he keeps his ear low, shakes his head or he scratches his ear. As an owner yourself, you can sometimes see that the ear is redder or feel that it is warmer than normal, it may smell differently and some cats will no longer want to be sat on.

What causes an ear infection in cats?

Ear mite

. In cats and especially in younger cats, ear mite is number one causative agent. The ear mite is highly infectious and is thus easily passed from one cat to another. It is suspected that about half of all ear infections are caused by ear mites. Fortunately, there are good medications such as Otimectin to help cats get rid of ear mites. If after proper treatment of all cats living in the house (dog can have it too) the symptoms remain then it is advisable to have the cat checked again by the vet.

Foreign object in ear

Cats roam everywhere through the tall grass and bushes, which can sometimes leave something in the ear that should not be there. Often you can't actually see anything from the outside, but when the vet looks inside the ear with an otoscope, it is usually noticeable. Then a grass ear is sometimes observed. Unfortunately, sometimes they also see that it is not a grass ear but then there is a tumour or a more common middle ear polyp. These foreign objects can also all cause an ear infection because they irritate the skin of the external ear canal in situ. Depending on the type of foreign object, the vet will be able to remove it.

Middle ear infection

Middle ear infections are unfortunately more common in cats than in dogs and are often a source of annoyance to owners. Ear infections emanating from the middle ear are often chronic and often return after treatment. The inflammation does not originate from the ear canal but from the Eustachian tube. It is additionally suspected to be related to certain viral infections of the anterior respiratory tract. Often, the cat shows quite prominent symptoms before the owner notices that there is a middle ear infection. These cats may have an abnormal positioning of one eye, one pupil may be smaller than the other, the upper eyelid may droop, but also both eyelids may just be pinched shut, the lip and or the ear may droop.

Allergy

An ear infection is nothing but an inflammation of skin of the external ear canal. It is a well-known fact in dogs that many ear infections are caused by a food allergy or an allergy from the environment (atopy). This is no different in cats, as an allergy can also cause an ear infection in this species. However, allergy is much less often recognised as a cause of ear infections, because a food allergy or environmental allergy (atopy) is more difficult to determine in cats than in dogs. When a cat does not have ear mites, foreign body or middle ear infection, it is always advisable to think of an allergy. It can often help to put the cat on a other food that uses a different animal protein or uses hydrolysed proteins. Of course, you then only give this food for about 9 weeks.

-This is an automated translation-