Kitten's ear smells awful and is draining. What can I do at home?

Hello, thank you for using PetCoach. The ear, honestly, to me does not look that bad from the photo. Of course I cannot see down into the ear canal or the ear drum without examining her in person with an otoscope so there may be something down there causing the issue. There is no way for me to tell from a photo. If she is really scratching at the ear or starts to scratch it when you touch the ear then chances are she has ear mites. People often mistake an ear mite issue with a bacterial/fungal infection but the treatments are very different. Ear mites are very common in kittens. ( https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/ear-mites-otodectes-in-cats-and-dogs ) The best treatment for ear mites is Revolution topical solution that you would put on like a flea/tick drops on the back of the neck. DO NOT put it in the ear. Typically two doses 3-4 weeks apart is enough to kill all the mites and correct the issues. I would try that before attempting to put medication inside the ear canal at this point. You will need to purchase it from a local vet. Over the counter "ear mite treatments" do not work. ( https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/revloution-topical-solution-for-cats-51-15-lbs-blue ) Hope this helps. Best wishes.

Poor Spookette! It sounds like she may have a pretty bad ear infection. Ear infections can be due to mites, bacteria, or yeast in cats. I'd recommend scheduling an examination with a veterinarian so Spookette can have her ears checked out. A swab can be taken from the ears and evaluated under the microscope to determine if the cause is mites, bacteria, or yeast. She will likely need prescription ear medication to treat. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach and I hope Spookette's ear issue resolves quickly!

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. The odor you are smelling could be due to an ear infection or ear mites. I would recommend having a veterinarian examine the ears so that the most appropriate diagnostic and treatment recommendations can be made. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I am sorry to hear Piper isn’t feeling well. If you have a pet ear cleaner you can use it once until you can get her to a vet. Ear infections are not an emergency per se, but do need to be addressed when your vet is open. If you don’t have a pet ear cleaner, I would leave it alone until you see your vet. Good luck and kisses to Piper!

It is difficult to diagnose an ear infection without examining the discharge under a microscope to see if there are any bacteria, yeast, or mites. Based on the pictures, it does not appear to be a large amount of discharge. There aren't any OTC ear medications for infections but you could clean the ear with just an ear cleaner labeled for cats and see if that helps. Clean three times a week for now and then once weekly and see if that gets rid of all the discharge. If not, he really needs to go to a vet for treatment.

Owie, it looks like your kitty has a cat bite abscess in her ear. Almost all cat bites are infected, so this is not unusual. The location is rather unusual. Maggots are gross, however in this case I think they helped clean the wound. Maggots are often used in human medicine to clean out infected wounds, so this is a tried and tested method, albeit, in your kitty's case not originally intended. This is all you can do for tonight. You did na nice job cleaning the wound and I see it is quite swollen, so now the swelling needs to go down. That might take a few days. Your vet will likely prescribe an antibiotic to keep the wound from festering again. If you have an e-collar at home, you could put that on your kitty to keep her from scratching the wound, however I suspect she will leave the wound alone anyway.

Hello and thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. This is most likely ear canal infection. Please, try to clean the ears with ear cleaner (Epiotic or Zymox can be recommended) for a few days. If it doesn't make any difference, you should take him to your local vets to examine the ear canals and possibly start a course of antibiotics ear drops.