Accute inner ear infection(cat) - vets can't help!

Hello,

We are turning to you good people in search of help with our cat's ear infection. We have turned for help to a vet, but it doesn't help and you are our only hope.

The cat is in a very bad condition. He hardly walks and when he tries he falls down after taking 1 step and then takes a minute or 2 to get up again. It means that he doesn't eat much (only when we carry him to his bowl) and doesn't visit the cat box (he tries, but he usually doesn't make it and he does his thing wherever he happens to be).

His ear is badly infected by 2 kinds of becteria - SERRATIA and PSEUDONONUS and the ear has been infected for about 4 months now during which we tried and are trying to cure it with antibiotics.

After the first visit to a vet, he was prescribed BAYTRIL pills for what was believed by the vet to be a minor ear infection. After 2 weeks there were no results and the vet prescribed the same antibiotic for the next 2 weeks - also no results.

Blood test and X-ray didn't show anything and only after a lab test of the culture taken form his ear we discovered the 2 bacteria - SERRATIA and PSEUDONONUS. Once again, the vet prescribed antibiotic, but this time it's a combination of BAYTRIL (ear drops) and CLAVAMOX (pills) and after the first week it seems like the cat's condition even deteriorated. He sleeps all day and when he tries to get up, he can't keep his balance at all. There is a high possibility of raptured ear drum.

Our questions are -
1. Are there any alternatives to the antibiotics?
2. Is there a homeopathic way or any other way of helping him?
3. Can anything be done about the raptured eardrum?

If you need more details, please, let us know and we'll try to give as many as we can.

Thank you,

Ewa and Bart

Are you sure it's not pseudomonas? If it is, then those aren't really a bacteria. They're a flagellate protozoa, which cannot be killed with antibiotics. Search this site for pseudomonas. Somebody else had them here and they are really hard to get rid of.

also try this site

http://www.kingswayanimalhospital.com/

go to pet library link on the left and do a search fron there.

Thanks very much for you reply.

Yes, it's pseudomonas. I'm sorry about that.

Since antibiotics don't work and I'm very surprised that the vet insists on prescribing them, I searched for an alternative medicine and found this:

It's a Chinese medicine for ear infections in humans and it's called: ERYAN LING OIL.

Has anyone heard of this medicine and could help me with an advice?

Thank you,

Bart Z.

I don't know about herbal remedies, but if you doubt your vet, I think it's time to find a new one.

Yes, it's always better to ask more than 1 person for an opinion.

I think we made a mistake at the very beginning when we told the vet the symptoms and without any check ups the cat was prescribed antibiotic.

After the the first dose (14 days) without any results, the doctor prescribed more of it for another 14 days and perhaps I might be mistaken, but isn't it too long for any antibiotic to be taken?

Now he's taking more of that antibiotic (Baytril) and even though it is applied directly into his ear it doesn't help because it is very likely that the bacteria is immune to it already.

We want to help him as much as we can, but there's only a little we can do. It is very painful to see the cat struggling to stand up on his four legs for a few minutes and then fall down again after taking 1 or 2 steps or being unable to stand in the litter box.

At least we know what it is that sits in his ear and with that important information we can try calling other vets and hope that someone will have an answer.

Thanks very much for you help,

Ewa and Bart

Hey, I screwed up- they're not flagellate protozoa..:o I was thinking of chlamydomonas. :o :o Sorry... (Too much biology in the brain). They're probably just resistant to the antibiotics, or I'm not sure if it's the same in cats as dogs, but with dogs, sometimes when you get the head tilt with labyrinthitis, it can be permanent, even after the infection is cured.

This is not a good news at all. The case of labyrinthitis is severe.

We were told by the vet that the head tilt may stay after the infection is cured, but I had no idea that it also applies to the case of labyrinthits. I understand that your opinion is based on the experience with dogs, but do you mean that there is a possibility of it to stay with an animal without any improvements?

Well, as far as I know, the "drunk" aspect goes away 100%, but some dogs have a disorder/disease that causes the dog to keep the head tilt. It's pretty rare though. Most of the time, inner ear infections start with an outer ear infection and the bacteria/fungi work their way inward. (Keep in mind, I know doggies, not kitties, so it might be completely different for cats).

Here are two ear infection links I found:
Diseases of the ear (http://compepid.tuskegee.edu/syllabi/clinical/small/disease/chapter5.html) (5.4 is Otitis interna)
Outer ear infection treatment (http://www.vetmed.iastate.edu/faculty_staff/Users/noxon/Ears/ears.html)