My kitten's ears look healthy after 9 days. Can I stop treatment?

Although you aren’t seeing any improvement yet, continue giving the medication as previously prescribed. Sometimes it can take 2 weeks to get the infection under control. Keep in mind also that the infection may be getting better but there is still some exudate/debris in the ear. If, by the time you return from your trip, there is still no improvement, make an appointment for a recheck examination with your vet. Occasionally there are resistant infections that need special medication. Hopefully this will not be the case for Lulu. Also, if it makes you feel better, judging by the picture you provided Lulu’s ear looks pretty good! I hope the helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck.

You should continue for the full week. When you stop treatment early, you are leaving behind organisms who are more resistant to the treatment. They will be the organisms who breed the next generation and it may have the resistance as well. Always finish the full course of any treatment to try to eliminate this scenario. I'm glad Luna is feeling better and please feel free to post any additional questions.

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.

Poor guy. It sounds like his ear infection was bad enough to possibly cause a rupture of the ear drum if he is dizzy or ataxic. If this is the case, then it can take 2-3 weeks for resolution of clinical signs as the ear drum grows back. His symptoms should not get worse and he should be showing gradual improvement if you have been treating for over a week, so if this is not the case then a rechk appt should be scheduled with your vet. In additions, your vet can prescribe some motion sickness medication to help him with his dizziness as well, so ask about this if it wasn't already prescribed. I do hope that Apollo's ear infection resolves soon! Best wishes and take care.

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.

If you are noticing redness after the treatment, stop using it. Duchess could be having a reaction to the medication. Revolution applied to the back of the neck will kill ear mites but the treatment must continue for 2-3 months. Use a routine ear cleaner during this time to help clean out the ear wax. Other treatments are also available for ear mite treatment. I recommend to talk with your veterinarian about alternative treatments. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

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.