Why does my cat have scabs or bumps on its ears? Is it serious?

It is difficult to diagnose without actually seeing the lesion but it could be an infection or possibly a squamous cell carcinoma which is more common in white cats. If your vet is not able to diagnose then you should find another vet in your area that can examine your cat.

Poor Kitty Bear! I would be concerned that she may have ear tip vasculitis that affects the blood flow to the tips of the ears and can result in crusts and ulcerative wounds. Squamous cell carcinoma is a cancer that can affect the tips of the ears as well but it would be unusual for both ears to be affected. I would definitely recommend having your vet examine her as soon as possible to determine what might be going on. A biopsy might be recommended.

We often see ears get scaly like this when they are infected, or sensitive to sunlight. The first thing I would want to rule-out is a fungal infection. Unfortunately, this is not something you can do at home and will require a veterinarian to do some testing. If signs of infection are not present, then further testing may be needed to make sure this is not due to a skin cancer, or autoimmune (self-attacking) disease. Considering this has potential to get worse, I recommend having Pickles evaluated by a vet within the next week or two. I hope that helps and Pickles gets better soon.

This may be a small reaction to getting bitten by something or an allergy to something in the environment. the skin around the scab does not appear to be inflamed or infected and that is a good sign. If it does not go away or begins to spread or bother him, I would see a vet for medication to clear it

Hello and thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. The scab could be a self-inflicted wound if Yamcha has been scratching the ear excessively. It often happens with ear canal infections. It could be reaction to sun - cats can get sun burns, which most often affects ears. You can try using sunscreen on the ears to see if it is going to help ( you can buy sunscreen for cats Online). Finally, there are some diseases affecting the tip of the ear (usually auto-immune diseases) but they are very uncommon in cats.

Hello! With out at least a picture of the bumps its hard to give you an idea of what may be going on. I can tell you that the most common reason cats scratch there ears is due to a mite infection. Another common problem are polyps in her ear, which are usually in the ear canal and can cause cats to scratch their ears. The bumps around the outside of her ears could be irritation from her scratching the area. Other considerations could be a primary dermatological problem and neoplasia. While age is certainly not a disease, neoplasia is more common in older pets and therefore has to be on the list. I do not think Spicy is any immediate danger. I would recommend having her seen by a veterinarian as for an examination of her ears and possibly some tests of the skin around the ears. Hopefully this helps a bit!

With a clean ear canal, the most common cause of tiny bumps on the ear itself is related to hypersensitivity reactions from insect bites. The inflamed and sore lesion in front of Teak's left ear is most likely due to self-trauma from him scratching. The concern is that this skin may be infected from the excessive scratching. Your best bet is to take Teak to his vet for an exam because he may need a course of antibiotics and antihistamines to manage this issue. Be sure that Teak is receiving a high quality flea preventative (such as Advantage or Revolution) monthly because flea bites can also cause bumps on the ears. I hope that all goes well!