Hi, everyone! My gorgeous Snow Bengal Loki has for some time now seemed to have a problem with one of his ears. He shakes his head often, flapping his ears, and he scratches at it much more frequently than I would like. Not constantly, but frequently enough to be noticable. I have had his ears checked - no mites, no infections, no anything, they are lovely and clean. I just can;t figure out what might be causing his discomfort - has anyone seen this before and know any remedies? I would hate to think he is in pain or uncomfortable. Thanks!

I had a similar thing with our previous cat. He would start wobbling his head from side to side, then flap his ears, then scratch furiously. The vet checked him and could find nothing wrong. She didn't think it was painful, just irritating to him. We found that good hard ear stokes, including round his neck and on the fur at the back of the ears, seemed to relieve whatever was irritating him. He had it for several years and it never went away, but never got any worse. Sometimes he would walk up to me with his head wobbling and sit down beside me, maybe he even was asking for the treatment? Who knows.....

As you've had your cat checked, I wouldn't worry too much. Try scratch/hard stroking the whole area for him.

I once had a cat that literally scratched his ear until it was bleeding. I checked it out and could not see anything in there. A few days later, I checked again and noticed a tick, which once removed, solved the problem. If you kitty doesn't go outside, then it shouldn't be a tick, but if I couldn't figure out the problem, I'd take him to the vet who may have better equipment to look further into the ear to see if there is something deep down there.

One of my bengals scratches her ear and when checked by the vet he says that bengals are prone to having waxy buildup which bothers them. Was not mites as another vet had suspected. Cleaning out their ear fixes it for a little while. I'm not comfortable digging in Sasha's ear so the vet cleans them.

_________________

Thanks everyone for your tips! Loki's ears are very very clean and clear (he's a snow so its very easy to see down there!!) I have never seen any kind of waxy gunk or pretty much anything in his ears! I checked him for mites and got him a treatment anyway, but it had no affect. He doesn't appear to be in pain, just shakes his head and flaps his ears alot. I might try the ear cleaner - but he doesn't always like me to scratch for him! Sometimes he lets me but usually he moves away and scratches himself! Perhaps I am just not doing the job to his standards:) I will keep you posted if i figure out the solution! Thanks again everyone!!

Hey Pussicat

Just wondering if you have found a solution (or cause) of/for the problem. I have had a similar problem with my 3yo boy and have tried changing his diet, various drops and pills, I've pulled certain plants out of the garden, changed his type of litter and pretty much rid out house of dust weekly but the problem still occurs.

The next step for us is to take him to a specialist but a hear they are very expensive and are often only as good as a common vet anyway.

Kind regards

Mick