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My cat scratches ears & has dark wax. Is this normal or a problem?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Mixed Breed | Male | neutered | 5 months and 26 days old | 14 lbs

Is it okay if he occasionally scratches his ear like once or twice a day or is something wrong? Every time I look in his ear there is this dark brownish thing in there it's not a lot, is it normal?

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Answered By Kevin Sanada, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on October 27th, 2017

Once or twice a day is not too concerning. Normal ear wax is a dark brown type of color and is usually seen in small amounts inside the ear. However, if the ear seems to be filled with the discharge, then there may be something irritating or infecting it. A very infected ear will also look red.

It doesn't seem like Oliver has a big problem right now, so I wouldn't worry too much. You can attempt to flush his ear with some solution (can get this at pet stores, or vet offices) and see if that helps. I would recommend doing this no more than once a week. This can be very difficult to do with cats, but I've given a link below to a good instructional video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5Dh3mJBzts

I hope that helps and all is well with Oliver.

1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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