This is an infographic on cat ear canal health issues. You might think that this is a very specialist, unusual topic around which to create an infographic, but it isn’t. On my reading of cat health issues, ear mites residing in the ear canal of domestic, stray and feral cats are a major issue.
The presence of ear mites can lead to secondary issues in the canal such as a bacterial or fungal infection. The inherent problem is that the cat scratches their ear which is self-harming although they don’t realise it. This results in these extra problems. And as you can see in the infographic antibiotics can lead to fungal infections.
As important, is the need to mention that ear mites in the ear canal cause great distress to cats. The problem here is a usual one: cats hide this distress. The signal will be headshaking and pawing and scratching of the year, but this might go unnoticed by their owner.
There is a need to be observant in this regard and to take prompt steps when there is a suspicion that a cat is suffering from an infestation of ear mites. They are prolific. Cat owners should not try and clean their ears with ear buds to get rid of ear mites.
You will see a dark brown waxy mess and an odour, but I think the last thing that a cat owner should do is to stuff and ear bad into the ear canal in the hope that it will remove the ear mites. It’ll make things worse. Treatment with proper medication as advised by a veterinarian is, I believe, the only way to deal with this and treatment should be administered promptly in order to avoid distress in the long-suffering domestic cat.
I have added these notes to the infographic because there isn’t enough space on it to discuss them.
In short, it is the prevalence of this health issue and the acute distress that it causes which makes it important to a cat owner and worthy of an infographic!
Below are some more articles on ear mites.
