Why is my indoor cat's ear red, warm, and rashy? Should I worry?

Is your pet itching or scratching at its head/ears? Outdoor kitty with the potential for being in a fight or being wounded? These could be excoriations/superficial wounds. If your pet is scratching/itching a lot than these could be caused by an ear infection (bacteria/yeast/ear mites) or allergy (food, flea, etc.), etc. Some medications older cats take can also cause an itchy face, so if your pet is taking a new medication this could be the cause and you should alert your veterinarian. As the lesions appear raw and ulcerated the best plan would be to have your pet seen by your family veterinarian for an exam and ear assessment. That way if medications are needed to improve comfort they can be prescribed. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

I am sorry to hear about your kitty! The two most common causes for lesions/irritation in this region would be an ear issue (the cat is traumatizing the skin while trying to get to the ear) such as infection, mites, or foreign body within the ear; or allergies (we can have allergies to foods or environmental allergies like pollen, dust). I would recommend bringing your kitty into the vet so they can look down into the ears with an otoscope to check for abnormalities. Dependingon their findings they can prescribe medication to help treat this issue.

I would recommend having your vet check to make sure she doesn't have an ear infection first. Otherwise, this could be a bacterial infection, ringworm, or even something cancerous. Your vet can take a sample from the surface to look for sources of infection and then do a biopsy (under sedation at a later date) if it's not clear what is going on. Good luck!

Leo's skin could look like that for any of the reasons you listed and add skin mites to the list as well. The problem with skin conditions is that they all clinically look the same. Diagnostics or sometimes a response to treatment is the only way to know what is the underlying condition. For a young cat like Leo, fleas, skin mites or ringworm is more common but allergic reactions are not impossible. That lesion on his head looks pretty inflamed. if you don't see any obvious cause like fleas, I recommend to have him examined by his veterinarian. The veterinarian who will look for other clues on the physical exam to get a better idea what the underlying cause is. Ringworm and mites can be ruled out with some simple diagnostics and he can receive medication to heal the lesions. You may start an omega 3 fatty acid for cats as this can help with inflammation and skin health but it may not fix the problem. Best of luck and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Poor Inky could have allergic skin disease and a bacterial or fungal infection going on. He really needs to get some antibiotics on board, and likely your vet will want to do a skin scraping to look for mites and make sure he doesn't have fleas or other parasites. He may also need anti-itching medications to feel better.

Hi, and thanks for your question. This could be due to an allergy, although it could also be infection or mites. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat with a high quality flea treatment, then ask the vet to perform a skin scrape - this might reveal an infection or a mite infestation. If all of those came back negative, the next step is to treat the allergy symptomatically and try to discover the cause of the allergy. Three main type of allergies are usually affecting pets: food allergies, flea and parasite related ones and environmental type (allergens coming from trees, pollens, dust etc etc). Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair any possible skin lesions (like steroids and antibiotics). Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further. If this answer was helpful please let us know, this will be used to improve our service!

Since the lesions are getting worse, I recommend o have Theo examined. It's likely these lesions are infected although something like an allergic reaction, ringworm (which humans can get) or skin mites are also possible. He should also be kept indoors and wear an elizabethan collar until these are healed. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.