When Newton started to walk with his head tilted to the right and pawed at his ear, it was clear there was trouble. We could see black gunk down in his ear. Yuck!
That meant an unexpected trip to the vet. As usual, Newton would rather have been napping at home.
He was the only cat in the office at that time, which is unusual, but it meant that everyone could give him lots of extra attention.
Dr. Avok took a sample of the gunk in his ear and looked at it under a microscope. She found both yeast and cocci bacteria.
Cats, like humans, have a certain amount of naturally-occurring yeast and bacteria in their ears. Excessive ear wax buildup can make a cat’s ear a more hospitable environment for yeast and bacteria. This, in turn, allows extra yeast and bacteria and results in an ear infection.
Sara, one of the awesome techs at our veterinarian’s office, wrapped Newton in a towel and cleaned all of the gunk out of Newton’s ear.
He was really well-behaved through the whole process, but he wanted to hide inside the towel by the time it was over.
Newton: I’ll be right in here until I can go home.
Not so fast, Newton! As long as he was at the vet, we went ahead and did the followup check with his urine.
Newton went to the litterbox sometime before he left, so he wasn’t full of urine. That meant an ultrasound was necessary to draw his sample. The ultrasound couldn’t come to the exam room that day, so we went into the back to get his sample.
Newton: I’ll let you be my girlfriend if you can get me out of here, Darby.
Sara pointed out Newton’s bladder for us on the ultrasound before taking the sample.
Newton: You’re not putting pictures of this on the internet again, are you?
The results of his urinalysis weren’t as good as we had hoped. Despite a switch to distilled water, Newton’s urinary pH crept up from 7.5 to 8. That isn’t as high as it was before he was on distilled water, but there were a few crystals in his latest urine sample. Newton may to be a cat cats whose body naturally has a higher pH and predisposition to sterile urinary crystals.
At this point, we just want him feeling better and also willing to eat the food we put in front of him. So we are going to try to modify his raw diet a bit while keeping it balanced so that he can be happy with what he is eating and hopefully get his urinary issues in order once and for all.
In the meantime, he’s sleeping off this last vet trip and getting ear drops twice daily. It’s a good thing he’s such a patient kitty!
Research and further reading
Biochim Biophys Acta, Factors affecting struvite (MgNH4PO4.6H2O) crystallization in feline urine
Vetstreet, Chronic Ear Infections (Chronic Otitis) in Cats
Newton, you were so good at the vet – I hope you are feeling better soon!
Poor Newton, being sick is no fun. Hope you make a speedy recovery. xxx
poor Newton – this hasn’t been his month (or two) …..we hope he is feeling much better very soon
I just wanted to climb through the computer and smother him in kisses while reading this. What a GOOD, GOOD boy he is!! So patient! He is like Cody, he doesn’t love it but will endure whatever he has to, as patiently as he can. What a good, good boy. Hoping he is on the mend soon and everything gets sorted out. xoxoxo
Aw, Newton, I’m sorry about your vet visit. What a good boy you are. I do hope your urinary problems will get better very soon.
dood, so glad yoo r home now
I am sure glad it is over Newton and we hope you are all okay now!
Newton you are a brave brave ginger!!! Wax and pp extraction on the same day. Good golly miss molly. They were testing your good nature. MOL I know about the ultra sound and pp extraction. I’ve had that done 3 times since October. I only had to have an ultra sound and my tummy shaved the first time. Nov and Dec my bladder was full. I go back one more time in January.
I hope you are feeling tons better now that you are home. One thing for sure now that your ears are wax free you can hear the food being prepared
hugs madi your bfff
Aww, poor Newton. But what a good kitty he is at the vet. I hope he feels better soon!
New,ton what a trooper you were to go through all those indignities. We sure hope you got lots of extra love and cuddles when you got home. We’ll be purring and praying for you that you are back to 100% healthy super fast. XOCK, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Angel Fiona, Astrid. Lisbeth and Calista Jo
Aw, Newton…we’re sorry you had to go to the vet. But we sure hope you’re feeling better…and your ear is not full of gunk anymore.
Poor Newton, you’ve been so brave and so good at the vet ! We hope you get better soon ! Purrs
You are so brave, Newton. I hope your ear is feeling better now.
Poor little guy! He just can’t catch a break lately 🙁
Poor Newton, I am sorry the ditilled water didn’t help as much as expected. I hope your ear gets better soon.
Newton you were such a good boy at the vet, but so sorry you are not feeling well. We hope you feel so much better soon.
Happy New Year!
Poor guy! We hate ear drops. Whenever we’ve had to endure that, we make sure Mom winds up wearing most of it!
Happy New Year to you all!
Wow,Newton,you were super good at the vet ! Hope you get your diet and your pH balanced and your ear is feeling better ! Purrayers & POTP !
Poor Newton! He was such a sweetheart at the vet! Hopefully you’ll get a reprieve from the torture for a little while … and we hope you feel better soon.
Poor Newton. 2016 wasn’t your year at all. I’m sending you healing purrz. TW said she doesn’t think anyone at my vet would be brave enough to do that to me.
I’m sending purrs & hug. I hope you feel better
🎉 ☆ ＨＡＰＰＹ MＥＷ ＹＥＡＲ ☆ 2017 🎉
I hope this year will bring all the best to you & fameowly
💖 =^x^= 💖
Poor Newton.
We hope you feel better soon and that 2017 is a healthy happy year!
Noodle and crew
You’re such a good boy, Newton. We hope you’re feeling better soon. Happy New Year!
As a new kitten, LC was gunked like that and the vet was surprised TBT didnt return her to the seller. AS IF! It was fixed easily.
May 2017 bring you happiness, love, security, and fun!
Newton, you are such a trooper. I’m sorry you’re not feeling well, but hopefully your ear yuckier will be cleared up soon and you’ll get your diet dialed in.
Huge purrs to you buddy for a quick and complete recovery!
fascinating that his PH went up. I wonder if it might have less to do with what you are feeding him this time and more to do with the stress of the bad ear and the trip to the vet. I used to hang out with a group that would home test their cat’s PH and they found out that the ph does fluctuate considering how recently they have eaten. He might have a case of both things working against him for that 8.0 number.. But I am just speculating.. I do that.. 😉