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Ear Infection?

Ducky01

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Jul 19, 2009
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I've had my sphynx kitten now for about a month and recently just took her to the vet. While I was there the vet assistant asked if her head usually tilted off to the side a little, I looked and noticed it and said no. Long story short I asked them to look at her ears because when I clean them I notice that they are pretty nasty and one more so than the other, which the dirtier one is the side her head leans towards a little. So he looked in her ears and said there was a lot of wax build up...I had just cleaned her ears before I took her to the vet. So he gave me a piece of paper with directions on how to make a swimmers ear solution.

Yesterday I noticed her head was still tilted/leaning to the one side again and looked in her ear and it was like I never cleaned it, and today the same.

My question is has anyone ever dealt with this? Or know what could be causing this? Or knows the solution to my problem? My vet recently retired and this is a new one...and do not particularly seem to agree with on how he handles things. So maybe he missed something?

This is my first sphynx and every little thing worries me...I am super attached and would hate for anything to be wrong. Sorry for such the long rant....I am just concerned.

Thanks :) and this seems like a nice place
 

Moonstone

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The best you have to do if having a doubt is to do a "wax" analysis (in a laboratory) to see if there is something else.
This way you'll be sure if it's only wax or if something else.
Do you have pictures of your lovely girl ? We all like pictures !
:BigSmile:
 

PitRottMommy

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Buildup in the ears is considered normal with this breed, but I (like Moonstone) would recommend having the debris analyzed. Your vet should have done a swab/mite check and put your companion on aural medication for an ear infection (I'd recommend mometamax as it takes care of yeast and bacteria). This should have cleared itself by now and a head tilt can indicate inner ear problems--IMO, your vet should have pursued this more heavily. If ear infections (or other ear problems) go one long enough, you can have permanent damage such as hearing loss on one or both sides. That head tilt may never go away and other balance issues can ensue. If you prefer not seeing this new vet, find a new one and have your companion seen soon. It's obvious that the "conventional" method that your first vet recommended isn't working...so a different course of treatment needs to be done.
 

Ducky01

Lairian
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Jul 19, 2009
Messages
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Picture121.jpg


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Here are a few pics from a week or two back, I absolutely adore this cat and I am so happy I researched and found this breed.
 

Brooke

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Hi Ducky, welcome to the forum!! Yes, like Moonstone said, please post some pics!!

I know how you feel, I am overly protective of my sphynx babies, too. They are just too special and we love them too much for anything to go wrong with them, right?

I have to clean Walter's ears every 3 days. They fill up with wax that fast! But, be sure that you're using a good ear cleanser, and never put the cleanser directly into your cat's ears - you should put the cleanser on a swab or cotton ball and then wipe the wax out that way. He shouldn't be tilting or shaking his head, though. Walter's ears get yucky but I seem to be more bothered by it than he ever is. Just be careful, if you're using cotton swabs, that you don't go too deep into the ear canal. You could be pushing the wax down into his ear, and damaging his ears.

One important thing I want to suggest, if you aren't happy with the new vet - definitely switch! It's so important to have a good, trusting relationship with your veterinarian. And, if you can find one that has experience with the sphynx breed, even better! If you live in an area that has sphynx breeders nearby, you might try calling them for a vet recommendation. I went for many years to a vet I didn't trust, and learned a very hard lesson because of it...

good luck! Please keep us posted.
 

ilovemysphynx

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What A sweetie! I would say change your vet if you are not happy I have changed 3 times and now just love the vet we use, it's like your kids doctor if you are not happy or don't trust all they do find someone else for peace of mind! Sounds like she has something going on that is bothering her, so I would say off to A new vet good luck and let us know what it is!
 

Ducky01

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She will be going to see the vet first thing in the morning...I just am worried about her since I have never dealt with anything like this before. She has been shaking her head some today which makes me think it is an ear infection or something that is causing her head to tilt. Functionally she is no different than what she usually is and is running around like a little monkey trying to get all the love she can.

Fingers crossed I get some antibiotics or some type of medication and it all clears up!!

Thanks again guys :) I appreciate all the help..I myself have never gone out and bought a cat for a companion and bought her to help the healing process of losing my dog from lyphoma a few months back. She has been the best thing ever and want nothing but the best for her.

Hope to stick around to these forums and good to know they are out there to help :BigSmile:

Oh and her name is Ducky :p
 

Moonstone

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OMG ! I'm definitively in love with this beauty....
She is wonderfull !

I wish you good luck for her ear, I think it's better to consult if she tilts the head, or shakes it.

Big kiss on her nose !
 

admin

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Well were all here when you need to talk Sphynx, so let us know what the scenario was with Ducky's ear and we hope to see and talk to you and Ducky again! Don't be a stranger! Thanks again for joining and sharing pics with us!:Laugh:
 

2sphynxgirl

Senior Lairian
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Ducky is adorable! :BigSmile:

I just got my two newest sphynx kittens on 7/11. I took them to the vet for a look over on Monday 7/13.

One kitten had both a yeast and bacterial infection in both ears. The other just had waxy build up.

My vet gave Bluto (ear infection boy) a treatment that lasts 2 weeks directly in his ears so I don't have to give him antibiotics by mouth at home. He seems great now & he goes back for a check up next week.

Good luck - maybe the vet can do something like that for you if it is an infection...have you ever tried to give a cat a pill? :Sweat:
 

Moonstone

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I use to give pills to my sphynx, and it is easy...

Some are eating pills like treats, other I'm obliged to put in the mouth but I always give a treat after a pills so they are more and more happy to have pills.

it works pretty well at home !
 

PitRottMommy

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We, too, don't have too much problem since our cats are food driven and love Pill Pockets. However, it does truly depend on the size of the pill and on how badly it tastes. Giving Baytril (a taste tab) is much easier than giving Metronidazole, which is extremely bitter and most cats reject it no matter what form its given in. Many feline medications are available in liquid form, which seems to be one of the easier ways to give it--albeit more messy. So, it truly depends on what medication you're giving as to whether or not they'll take it well.

Do know, however, that most ear infections are more effectively treated through EAR medication and not ORAL medication. It's only in the worst of cases would an antifungal medication be given orally to treat a fungal ear infection. Cases of bacteria are easy to cure in the ear once the right medication has been started. It would be more effective to do an ear swab and then a culture and sensitivity to know what bacteria is there (most likely Staphlococcus aureus). At any rate, Baytril Otic and Mometamax are both very useful in those cases as most of the bacteria that avidly grow in the ear are covered under those medications.

Sidenote: Head tilts can also be caused by ear mites. Make sure a check is done for this.
 

Ducky01

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So she went back to the vet today and they found bacteria in her ear....they washed her ear out pretty good and she wasn't too happy about it. Then prescribed Animax ointment to use in her ear and an antibiotic orally. He said the head tilt will go away with treatment for the ear infection but I am still so worried about it because its still very apparent that it is there.

Fingers crossed this works....I want her to be a happy long lived kitty!
 

ilovemysphynx

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Keep up on the meds and she should do fine, ear infections can be painful and take A bit of time to clear up, that liite sweetie will be ok in no time!
 

Ducky01

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Sooooo.....it has been a few and wanted to post an update on the trouble I have been having, lol.

So after the initial ear infection and head tilt which led to this post she was put on antibiotics which seemed to drastically help with the infection but she still had a slight tilt (which I have read would happen and over time may correct) then as soon as she went off the antibiotics and got a check up the vet noticed she still had some infection still in the ear and was now getting it in the other so he gave us ear drops and took her off of oral antibiotics. The next day I noticed that the newer infected ear was super dirty and new the worst was coming with like the previous ear but hoped since she was antibiotic ear drops that it would take care of it.....

Monday morning I noticed that Ducky was sleeping in and shes normally biting my fingers trying to wake me up. I went downstairs to grab some breakfast and 20 mins later I went back to check on her when I walked in the room she was laying on the floor not moving and very confused looking. She couldn't stand, her head was going in circles like she absolutely no control of it and I could see where she vomitted. Also the head tilt was pretty extreme now....we started calling to find a speacilist for inner ear problems and found a critical care center in Northern Va. We got her in as soon as we could and as I had read on the internet (and previous vet told me not to believe the horror stories) she had Vestibular Syndrome from an Inner ear infection. Our options were to treat her with Oral antibiotics (stronger) because the ear drops were aggravating the ear tissue and making it worse or CT scan to see if the infection was in an area that antibiotics are unable to penetrate there for she would need surgery to scrape the infection out. She recommended that we go the first route.

We took her home Monday afternoon after a dose of anti nausea meds (which I didnt think they would even let us do) and we made her up a nice comfy bed inside her box where she would rather sleep than her five different fluffy beds. At this point she wouldnt wake up she couldnt stand eat or drink, I slept on the floor by her all night and progressively noticed little signs that she was feeling better and to make a long story short, Tuesday morning I woke up to the familiar biting of the fingers. So far she is out of the water and seems ok...I am just so worried the antibiotic is not going to work and she will be back in the same boat then need surgery.

Keeping fingers crossed she will be fine......eventually lol
 

PitRottMommy

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Buildup in the ears is considered normal with this breed, but I (like Moonstone) would recommend having the debris analyzed. Your vet should have done a swab/mite check and put your companion on aural medication for an ear infection (I'd recommend mometamax as it takes care of yeast and bacteria). This should have cleared itself by now and a head tilt can indicate inner ear problems--IMO, your vet should have pursued this more heavily. If ear infections (or other ear problems) go one long enough, you can have permanent damage such as hearing loss on one or both sides. That head tilt may never go away and other balance issues can ensue. If you prefer not seeing this new vet, find a new one and have your companion seen soon. It's obvious that the "conventional" method that your first vet recommended isn't working...so a different course of treatment needs to be done.


I'm glad you chose to go another route versus just sticking it out. As I mentioned, other inner ear problems can occur and you've reached an equilibrium issue. I don't remember getting a positive or negative answers, so has anyone done an ear debris analysis? I note that it was mentioned that "scraping out the infection" was an option. Please know that this only gets rid of what is there at the time of surgery--it does nothing for what comes back within 24+ hours and it can damage the inner ear. If the antibiotics aren't helping within 3 days of starting them, I think someone should really have discussed doing a culture and sensitivity on the ears at that time as well as a debris analysis, especially since this is the 2nd route of abx that wouldn't be working and time is of the essence in cases like Ducky's.

Here's to hoping she feels much better and the medications work well for her. I'm not sure what oral antibiotics she's on (or nausea medication) but both Baytril and Cerenia work wonders together for inner ear infections with accompanying nausea. Good luck!
 

Ducky01

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Yes there have been many tests done on her ears, the critical care center even had to check to see if her ear drums had been damaged or were even intact. It has been a learning experience for sure and a lot of research of what can be done.

She is on oral Baytril now....as the ear drops that were Baytril are what irritated her ear so much. She is on it for two weeks and then gets a checkup and will most likely take her back to the critical care center for that since they have speacialist.
 

PitRottMommy

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As far as tests go, there are lots of them available and not all of them do the same thing. The main thing I'm wondering is if fungus was ruled out because it's usually more resistant to treatment and won't respond to oral antibiotics. Which may lend a good hint to why the oral antibiotics didn't work originally.

The culture and sensitivity is a lab test and it yields a print out of everything that will work to treat what bacteria is in the ear. If the Baytril doesn't work, I'd recommend this because baytril is about the strongest stuff out there and works broad spectrum (however it is risky for very young animals because it can suppress bone marrow growth and can predispose very young animals to a myriad of problems such as immune disorders esp with longer treatment).

Update us, I hope this works for Ducky. Poor baby...
 

Maximus

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What great looking pictures of your baby. My heart goes out to you and my fingers are crossed. I went through a sneezing episode in the begining with my little one and it terrifed me, so I feel your worries.
 
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