BG Vets: Cat picking at his ear quite a lot, what do?

[Nitsuki]

Ok so, our first cat who's now like... 4 years old, recently has been picking at his ear with his hind legs quite often, it's usually one ear more than the other. When he was only 1y/o we took him to a vet for a stomach infection and the vet gave me medication for ear mites which he had. Followed the medication instructions and cleaned out all his ear mites at the time. Gf and i are worried that his ear mites may have come back and that's why he's picking at them, or we're not sure if it could be extensive wax build up. Before we take him to a vet, we wanted to know if ear mites are definitely possible for them to come back even thought he's been indoors since we got him, or he could be just in need of cleaning? Any recommendations for ear cleaning as well? We're planning on going to the local pet store to pick up a cleaner and try it out to see any results. We can't really afford a vet visit at this moment due to all the christmas shopping so we wanted to try that out first.

[Icari]

http://www.1800petmeds.com/product.j...ype=&network=g is good stuff to clean out their ears. recommended by my vet for my cat who has ear problems. most likely will help with the issue, may not solve it 100% though. may need to used multiple times and over and over again.

[Nitsuki]

Thanks! I think that was the exact medication we had for his mites but in a tinier bottle, we'll look for this one to clean him up.

[Leashedragon]

If he's been indoors for 3 years since his ear mites were treated, the possibility of it being ear mites are slim to none. He'd of had to come in contact with them somehow. It is possible for them to come back if you missed any when cleaning. But if a vet specifically treated them, more than likely with ivermectin or a similar ear med, they should have been taken care of. Actually check his ears for build up. If you can get a bit of the gunk on a q-tip, look for any tiny white specs in it. Those will be ear mites. Obviously if they're moving, too.

I have a young guy who is constantly at his ears. He has scabs on the backs of them. I've treated him for mites right off the bat because he was a stray/foster kitten I brought home, and I've done just general cleaning and he is a hellion about it. He HATES it. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong that I can see. His ears are clean. I'm starting to wonder if he just has dry skin and the backs of his ears are his "hot spot".

The stuff Icari linked is good. We used that at the shelter to clean out ears when cats came in. Just load up on q-tips, squeeze a decent amount into the ear canal, then squish the shit out of it. Kinda massage and rub the base of the ear to get it worked around and loosen up any gunk that may be deep down. Let him shake his head, while it may be a bit messy, it will also help to loosen up any crap in there. Then just go to work with the q-tips. It's quite hard to go in too deep with their ear canals the way they're shaped, but do be careful not to go in to far. You can move the ear around to see in, or even fold it back, and don't forget to get behind the folds. You'd be amazed at some of the giant balls of gunk we've unlodged that were pretty deep in there despite the rest of the ear being rather clean.

After that, give him some time to see if it improves. He might still scratch at them because of what you just did for a bit. Keep an eye on his ears. If you see build up, just repeat. He could just be one of those cats that produces a lot of wax and need to be cleaned a lot.

Disclaimer: I'm no vet. Just have 2 years experience working at a shelter doing incoming exams on cats. I've cleaned many an ear.

[Nitsuki]

We got the cleaner and so far he hasn't been at it all day today. So it just seems to have been a wax build up, thanks everyone!