wiz: pus in ear :(

[angiesmom]

My boy Wiz has an ear infection. 5 days of tresaderm didn't work, so he is on orbax now. I'm wondering if I can also wash his ear out with epsom salts and water or salt and water? I'm not sure what else is safe to give him. I'm so worried this could be a tumor also as the dvm mentioned this today.

Thanks for your input.

[opus88]

Thx for that update, I am so thrilled this second Vet finally got to the cause an has started poor Wiz on some effective treatment and hopefully a full cure, he must be feeling much better:)

[angiesmom]

I want to give an update on Wiz: his culture came back positive for pasteurella: he has been on orbax now for a week and he will continue on this for two more weeks.  The second dvm feels this is serious, it can recur and it needs a long treatment. He is much better, no more pus, no more awful smell and he is getting back to his old self, meowing all the time an feeling happy. I'm praying he is truly out of the woods now.

I also want to mention that the original treatment: tresaderm drops didn't work because pasteurella isn't sensitive to that particular antibiotic. I also agree with the second dvm that drops are not an effective treatment for an ear infection anyway since they aren't systemic and there is no way of knowing if they get to where the problem is etc.

So my advice is to first do a culture and figure out what bacteria or fungus in present and also start on a broad spectrum antibiotic pill or liquid which will cover most bacteria which may be causing the infection. This was imo obviously bacterial because  of the foul smell and pus however fungus can also smell bad.

And also if you feel your cat isn't responding to the treatment bring them back in immediately or call up to get something else to properly treat the infection.

[angiesmom]

oh and btw, she still said to carefully wash the outer to clean the pus off with water or a water and a mix of hp/alcohol. I ended up using water and apple cider vinegar which worked very well and actually deodorized the horrible smell. I feel so bad for him with smelly, pus allover his ear, there is no way I would not wash that off him!

[angiesmom]

I'm not sure why my replies to cvsm have been deleted here apparently but as I said I had already taken my wiz to the dvm twice before posting my question. The dvm gave me a wash and told me to wash the ear out before the tresaderm drops. Funny if it is so bad to wash your cats ear that I was told to do that by my dvm? I have decided after talking to another dvm at the office and due to opus' advice about fungus not to wash his ear any further and I'm happy to report that he seems to finally be responding to orbax.

[angiesmom]

Thanks Opus,

I'm so sorry that you had such a terrible infection. I will ask the dvm about zymox also. Yes they swabbed his ear this time and are doing a culture just for bacteria I think. That will be back tuesday. I used a solution of distilled water, alcohol and hydrogen peroxide this morning which they said is ok. I think if you use distilled water, which is sterilized it is ok. He was put on tresaderm drops at first which didn't work at all, they're a mix of steroid, anti fungal and antibiotic if you're not familiar with them. I wish he had just gone on Orbax to start. I'm almost positive due to the pus and smell that this is bacterial not fungal. I thought the salt would help as I have used that on small infections on myself and it worked better than an antibiotic, did. I may try the acv also diluted of course. Yes I'm very careful when cleaning the ear, cotton balls and wet tissues but you always worry you can do some damage since they have a shallow ear etc.

Thanks! I will keep you update on his progress. He seems a bit better now as he is meowing quite a bit.

[angiesmom]

He has been put on Orbax now as I said. They have also done a culture so hopefully we will know what we are dealing with here. She said there is so much pus she can't see what is going on really so if he doesn't respond to orbax the next step is to sedate him and look inside. I'm so worried, his ear smells really bad.

[evewisewoman]

I totally agree with CML2014. Do not wash this cat's ear out with anything.
As she mentioned nothing is safe when you are not a vet. Yes, if there
is pus there is an infection and your furbaby definitely needs to be seen
and treated by a qualified and professional veterinarian. As CML2014 mentions, the vet needs to find the cause of the ear infection.
Please take your kitty to the vet as soon as possible and let the vet look
at your kitty's ear. Yes, please let us know what your vet has to say.
The very best of luck to you and your kitty.  Eve ( mother of Sammy the cat )

[CML2014]

YIKES!!!! DO NOT wash the ear out with ANYTHING---nothing is safe when you are not a VET. Please take him to the vet and let him look at it. They will do what they need to do to resolve the problem. If there is pus there is infection. So let's just hope that is all it is. Don't worry about a tumor until the Vet SEE's it.

Again DO NOT wash out the ear. You need to find the CAUSE not just clean the pus out. We could damage a cats ear canal messing around with it, K?

Please let us know what the Vet has to sat.
Good Luck,

CML