Cats’ ears are small and exquisite, and they are often played with by their owners. But sometimes, when we touch its ears, the cat will show a very disgusted look, and sometimes it will scream and struggle in pain. At this time, the owner should be careful Check to see if your cat’s ears are injured or inflamed.

If a cat suffers from acute otitis externa or otitis media, his ears will feel severe pain, so he will not let you touch them. In addition, if you have auricular hematoma, you can feel the elasticity when you touch the ear.

1. Otitis externa and otitis media

This disease is caused by bacteria, fungi, or parasites such as ear ticks. Injuries caused by water in the ears or careless picking of the ears may also cause this disease. In the early stage of the disease, the cat's ears will be extremely itchy, and the cat will keep shaking its head and scratching its ears. Soon there will be slightly black earwax with an odor. The tympanic membrane ruptures, blisters and pustules appear, and the disease develops into otitis media. At this time, the ears will no longer be itchy, but will cause severe pain, so the cat will hate having its ears touched.

If you suffer from acute otitis externa or otitis media, your ear will feel severe pain, so you will scream in pain when you touch it. In addition, there will be symptoms of fever, fatigue, listlessness, and sitting quietly. In this case, take the cat to the hospital quickly to find out the cause and start treatment.

For treatment, medication can be used in the ear canal. For parasitic otitis externa, after cleaning the ear canal, apply 1-2% trichlorfon aqueous solution to the affected area, and treat it again every 4 days. For bacterial otitis externa, rinse the ear canal and apply chloramphenicol ointment and hydrocortisone ointment 1-2 times a day for 1 week. For fungal otitis externa, after thoroughly cleaning the ear canal, Wuji ointment and chlortetracycline ointment can be used until the scales in the ear disappear.

2. Auricular hematoma

The so-called auricular hematoma is a disease in which the blood vessels between the ear skin and the cartilage below rupture and bleed, causing the auricle (the externally visible part) to swell. Because blood accumulates in the ear, you will know it when you touch it. It is said that if left alone, the ears will deform and become oval, so it is better to perform surgery as early as possible to keep the deformation to a minimum.

There are many causes of auricular hematoma. Most of them are caused by otitis, frequent shaking of the head, scratching of the ear or bites, which lead to subcutaneous bleeding of the ear shell in cats and dogs. Ear hematoma forms rapidly. In the early stage, there is a feeling of warmth and fluctuation in the swollen part of the ear. The pressure causes pain, which will harden after a few days, and there will be a fluctuating feeling in the center. The puncture will drain the blood. If the hematoma occurs at the base of the ear, the swelling will narrow the ear canal or even block it, causing hearing loss. Hematomas are prone to secondary infection and can turn into abscesses after infection. The only conventional treatment for ear hematoma is surgery.

In addition, squamous cell carcinoma of the cat’s ear can also cause cats to resist when their ears are stroked. If a cat suffers from auricular squamous cell carcinoma, the affected area will turn red and have symptoms of dandruff and bleeding. Put the cat's ears up, a swollen lesion appears at the front end of the ear. This disease requires surgical treatment, so once it is confirmed that there is an abnormality in the ear, take it to the hospital immediately.