# ear mites, yeast infection or normal wax?



## RRM91210 (Jul 26, 2006)

How do you know the wax in your kitty's ear is normal, when is it ear mites and when is it a yeast infection?. I cleaned my cat's ears (like I do everytime she has a bath) and I picked up some black/dark brown wax, the other wax was normal looking, kinda yellow-brown, looked like normal wax, but I did pick up a couple of black/brown spots just from one ear, I haven't noticed her doing anything out of ordinary though. What are the signs for a yeast infection or ear mites?. Thanks!.


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## Krystalily (Jul 13, 2006)

When Andi had ear mites, she would flop her head back and forth (my husband and I called it ear whipping) and she'd scratch constantly at her ear. Also, the earmites were kind of a darker brown color and it looked a lot like brown sand in her ear. If you google it with image search, you'll see very good pictures of what they look like. Horrible nasty lil things.

Anyways, if it seems like your kitty is uncomfortable, it might be a good idea to take her to a vet to get your cat's ear cleaned out and their opinion on whether it is just normal ear wax or ear mites.  Good luck!


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## coaster (Dec 1, 2004)

Never dealt with ear mites, but I've read one sign is that it smells bad.


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## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

Maggie had a really bad ear mite infestation when I got her. The gunk from them tends to be very brown, nearly black and crusty. Wasn't really waxy. There was also a ton of the crud and everyday there was more of it. (It was a couple days till I got her in to the vet). I could also see mites by shining a flashlight into the ear canal. Even after the mites were dead, the black stuff was still working it's way out of her ear canal. I was still seeing some 3 months later, so when she went in to get spayed I asked the vet to give her ears a good cleaning while she was under anesthesia...that got the last of it. 

Callie had a yeast infection in her ears when I took her in. It was waxy and also nearly black, as opposed to what I would consider normal ear wax being light brown, goldish colored.

If you're just seeing a couple little spots of darker waxy material, I would just keep an eye on it, especially since it doesn't seem to be bothering her.


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