0917Singapore Cat kitten ear wax excessive, otitis externa, pet health and welfare educational for animal lovers, excerpts from The Glamorous Vets, Singapore, sponsored by  AsiaHomes Internet.

Splitting ear ache in a kitten

"My cute kitten claws the back of the ears and now there is little or no hair left.  Brown stains appear on the front wrists and below the eyes." said Mrs Dyson. "I used ear drops bought from the pet shop but it does not work."

"It has otitis externa, an infection of the outer ear canal which is separated from the middle ear by an ear drum." I said.   "If this ear drum is punctured, all infections get into the middle ear where the organs of hearing and balance are present.  The kitten then becomes deaf or the head hangs sideways.  Nothing much can be done."

An otoscope was inserted into the ear canal. It had a light source and a magnifying glass.   Small translucent white mites, about 2 mm in diameter were seen.  

"The colour of the chocolate-stained wax would be due to the bleeding from the skin of the ear canal as the mites live and feed there, causing much damage, inflammation and irritation.  The kitten had to scratch its ear to stop the pain."   

The kitten may need more than one treatment.  Flushing of the ear canal was done after the anti-mite ear drops were given.
The kitten above was bought from a pet shop.  It took about 6 weeks for full recovery.  Hair would grow back again,  behind the ear pinnae, indicating that the kitten no longer has splitting ear aches. 

However, brown stains at its wrists gave away its earlier attempts to remove what is irritating its ears, without much success. 

Singapore does have several stray kittens at hawker centres and they would have perished as fly maggots infests their mite-damaged ear canals, being attracted by blood and smell.  The ear pain would be so terrible that the kittens would stop eating.   Bacterial infections and fever set in.  Maybe septicaemia as the bacteria reaches all parts of the body, killing the kitten.

Nowadays, an anti-mite injection might be easier, to clear the ear canal of ear mites. Sometimes, the only clue to ear mite infection is the brown stain seen on the kitten's front paws as most Owners don't notice the hair loss behind the ear flap.