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My cat has a bacterial ear infection. Are cortisone drops enough?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Domestic Longhair | Male | neutered

My cat has an ear infection, diagnosed by a vet as bacterial. She provided cortisone drops. Will cortisone drops help a bacterial infection?

3 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

Answered By Jennifer Summerfield, DVM CPDT-KA

Veterinarian, Certified Dog Trainer

Published on July 31st, 2017

No, cortisone drops alone will not treat a bacterial infection. Many ear drops have a combination of cortisone along with an antibiotic and/or an antifungal medication, so it's possible that this is the type of ear drop that was prescribed. If you have the specific name of the drop, we can tell you for sure what's in it :)

1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

Related Answers from Veterinarians

Answered By Lauren Kennedy, DVM
Veterinarian
Cortisone drops will help with the swelling, inflammation, and itchiness of the ears but it will not treat the infection itself. Oftentimes ear drops have both a steroid and antibiotic in it, so the drops you have may be enough. If you would like to post another question with the listed ingredients we can better help you determine if there are antibiotics in the drops.
0Pet Parents found this answer helpful
Answered By Jenna Beyer, DVM, MBA, cVMA
Veterinarian, Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist
Cortisone will not kill bacteria, it will only help with inflammation and pain. Many of the ear medications we use in pets have mutiple ingredients, commonly a steroid (cortisone), and antibiotic, and an antifungal. You may double check the label to see if there are additional ingredients in the medication. I would double check with your vet that Clyde was given the correct medication. It is possible he was given an injection of antibiotic, or that his primary infection was caused by a mite, in which case he would need a mite treatment instead of an antibiotic.
0Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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My cat has severe, painful ear infections. Why aren't drops working?

Ear mites and underlying allergic disease (that can predispose to recurrent ear infections) are possible and should be ruled out. A physical and otoscopic examination of the ear canal are enough to rule them out. Bacterial swabs and culture can be used as well to rule out resistant infections. I would recommend to discuss all these options with your veterinarian. Please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation (where you can post pictures ) if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

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My cat has ear fungus. What's the proper treatment for her ears?

A cortisone cream does not treat a fungal infection, that requires anti-fungal medication. Ear infections in cats can also be caused by bacteria or ear mites, so the cause of her ear problem needs to be diagnosed in order to treat it properly. Gilligan needs to see a vet to have her ear problem properly diagnosed and treated. Please do not continue to put any more cortisone cream on her ear, and make an appointment with a vet asap.

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