My cat still itching/shaking head after ear drops. Is this normal?

Ear infections are relatively common in both cats and dogs. Some are more persistent than others. As you said, your vet took a look at the contents of the ear to determine what course of treatment might be required. Without a true bacterial / fungal culture, I could only speculate as to what the exact organism might be. The majority of ear medications, tresaderm included, are traditionally quite broad spectrum in an attempt to cover as many bugs as possible. The reason Fatboy is shaking his head is likely a combination of both the drops and the discomfort associated with the infection. If after six days of effective treatment, you are not seeing any improvement at all, you might want to call you vet and let him know. He may want to obtain a new sample to see if any progress is being made. If not, a true culture could be sent out to better target his therapy and change medications if needed be.

Because all of them are affected, ear mites would still be my first suspicion, even though your vet did not find any under the microscope (the fact that you just cleaned the ear before that might have something to do with that indeed). it can take 4-7 days for the cats to stop scratching their ears after the treatment has been started. other reasons for these symptoms include fungal or bacterial ear infections.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is normal and expected behavior after ear cleaning. You can massage the ear base to try to get the fluid absorbed quicker. This is likely going to go away on its own. If this does not resolve in the next few hours, have Toby evaluated by a veterinarian. Good luck!

Olive oil isn’t recommended to put in your pets ears unfortunately. It shouldn’t cause any major issues unless Callie has a ruptured ear drum, which your vet can check for with a proper ear exam. If it looks dirty and she is shaking, then she could still have mites (true are quite small and often cause black crusty debris in the ears) or even a yeast or bacterial infection. It’s best to take her in to your vet soon for a proper ear exam, testing to determine what kind of infection is there and pet friendly ear medication and cleaner. If you can’t get her in today, then it’s best to purchase a dewaxing pet ear cleaner from your local pet store right now to help remove some of the residue olive oil from her ear. She likely doesn’t like the feel of having this in her ear so it’s also a good idea to place an e-collar on her to prevent her from scratching at her ears and causing further irritation. I hope Callie’s ear infection clears up soon. Best wishes and take care.

Hello. Use a cotton ball to gently remove any excess oil. I would guess that she is shaking her head because she has all these desperate dying ear mites in her ears. Once the ear mites have all died in a few days, she will be fine. But right now her ears are itching & this will get better pretty soon. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hi there. Poor Chloe! Even adult cats with a high ear mite load often respond similarly-there is intense itch with the mite die off as well as the ear itself often have some open wounds from them-the medication will burn. If Chloe is having any true neurological signs like seizures, intense shaking, strange looking pupils, etc-best to get her to an emergency room right away for treatment. If you see nothing of this matter the side effects should subside soon. Hope this helps, my best to you and Chloe.

Most likely this won't hurt her because there is very limited absorption to the system from medications applied into the ear. Just wipe out the excess with a cotton ball or paper towel and flush the eyes with sterile eye wash if you suspect any could have gotten in there. She should be fine.