How do i tell if my cat has ear mites or a yeast infection in his ear? (without going to a vet)?
He has black goo coming out of both ears. It is slimey and kind of looks like coffe grinds. It is dark brown in color. I have two types of treatment at home. One for ear mites and one for a yeast infection. I don’t want to give both. Bringing him to the vet will cost me .00 for him to look at him and .00 for a lab fee- money which I don’t have at the moment. Thank you for any help! Greatly appreciated! In the mean time, I have just been cleaning his ears with warm soapy water and cotton balls- not going inside the ear. His ears are just terribly dirty in there. HELP!
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Filed under: Yeast Symptoms
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Hi,
I agree with loopyhoop and greatszandor.
Please go and get help from your vet. I’m sure you have the money. It’s just a case of prioritising. The cat is sick and it needs to be your priority now.
You don’t say where the treatment is from, that you have at home. Be very careful with any treatments bought off-the-shelf from petshops. I made a really bad experience with that and since then I get my cats examined and will only use treatments from the vet.
Ear mites are irritating so that the cat will scratch its ears and cause inflammation. Early veterinary attention is vital to make sure that any ear infection does not spread to the inner ear and affect the cat’s centres of hearing and balance. Ear mite secondary infection can lead to deafness. It is very serious. Cats rely on their hearing very much. Also if she becomes deaf she will no longer be able to respond to you when you are calling her…
So please think very carefully now about what you’re going to do about this.
chirpy
the black goo is probably a yeast infection. you will need an antibiotic for that. find a way to take your cat to the vet.
You shouldn’t own a pet if you don’t have money.
Putting water anywhere near a cat’s ear will CAUSE an infection, not to mention make it a thousand times worse. You need actual ear cleaner, scrape up the money and go buy some.
There is no way to tell what is in your cat’s ear without a vet checking it under a microscope. It could be mites, yeast, or bacteria, and you have to use the right stuff or it won’t do any good. Your cat can become seriously ill and lose it’s hearing if you don’t fix this. Either find the money, or consider finding the cat a home that can afford it. The SPCA will treat his illnesses and find him a new home for you.
Well you get a q-tip, put some mineral oil on it, swab the ear(not deep) then you smear it on a slide & look @ it under a microscope…..Oh you don’t have a microscope, better go to the vet.Even if you think they have ear mites & treat it with an over the counter med, those usually don’t work well. P.S. Putting water in the ears is a bad idea, if theres not already an infection you will cause one putting water in the ears.
If you want to know if s/he has earmites, look in the ear and see if there are black sports.. but if im no help with that, I know untill you know what to do ,you take a q-tip and get the black stuff out [it might come out in chunks], but make sure [or else you could hurt your cat] that you dont go too drrp. Just where you can see is where you want to clan. I woulnd’t use soap OR water if I were you – A person wo works a feral cat foundation.
it could be both….ear mites do look like dirt….do the ears smell at all…..and i need to say that if you dont have the money to take care of an animal then you shouldnt have one!…you really need to take him to the vet becuase if they are ear mites you have to be care that the ear drum is not damaged becuase if it is ..putting the solution in his ear is gonna be killer pain!!!
btw…to check if it has ear mites…put the dirt on the table to see if it "jumps"
Unless you know what you are doing-take the cat to the vet-$60.00 is dirt cheap! If the stuff is that bad you waited far too long. Isn’t your cat worth $60.00?
With a yeast infection, the ears will produce a very strong ‘yeasty’ smell. if there is an oder in your cats ears, then its probably a yeast infection.
go ahead with the yeast infection medicine, and be sure to clean the ears very well. dogs and cats ears are very VERY deep so do not be afraid.
if it doesnt seem to make a difference after about a week, then try the mite treatment.
The coffee ground looking stuff IS ear mites but the gooey stuff doesnt sound right. Try for now to treat him for the ear mites! Good Luck!
Its ear mites (coffee grinds) BUT the goo could be underlying infection. Pop down your vt and ask them what they recommend as i needed 2 things when my KIT-KAT got ear mites, 1 was for the mites, the other an antibiotic and all of it was under £20….
Good luck