Black stuff in cat's ears.

Hi Dr. Marie. My cat Thelma (who happens to be male and nearly 15) has had an issue with his ears for about a year. Last summer, he was scratching his ears and they were filled with something that was dark red/brown and would flake out of his ears when he scratched. I took him to his regular vet who cleaned out his ears and treated him for mites even though no mites were seen under the microscope. He said the stuff in his ears looked like mites, so he treated it to be safe. Within three days, Thelma's ears were filled up again. His ears were red and inflamed. We went back to the vet. They treated him for mites again (although still no mites were found) and they had me bring in my three other cats to be treated for mites even though none of them were scratching their ears or had any of this gunk in their ears. At the third visit to have his ears cleaned out, the vet prescribed a very potent antibiotic. It didn't help. After the third visit, Thelma developed a hematoma in his ear because he was in such pain after the cleaning of his ears, he wouldn't stop scratching. I didn't have surgery on the hematoma because he was still scratching his ears. I took him to a different vet for a second opinion. That vet also didn't find mites but said the brown/red gunk appeared to be from mites and he suggested I try an over the counter ear wash and baby oil. It didn't help. After nearly $800, I went back to my vet who I respect very much and ask for him to look again. It was at that point that he said this may be something Thelma would have to deal with for the rest of his life, but he gave me a saline-type ear drop to put in his ears every day to help give Thelma relief and clean them out.

The ear drops never cured the problem but definitely seemed to give Thelma relief until recently. He has been scratching so much at the ears that he makes them bleed and then when I put the drops in to try to clean the ears out, it is agony for him because the ears are so raw. The vet has told me that he can't sedate Thelma to look deeper into the ears because he has a severe heart murmur. I am afraid to take him back to the vet because the cleaning of his ears is so incredibly painful for him I don't want to put him through it. I was wondering if you had ever seen a cat with ears that filled up wtih this type of material/dark brown/red gunk when it wasn't mites? I was also wondering if you had any ideas of something that I could use to soothe his ears or give him some relief from the pain/itch that wouldn't burn? Any ideas would be helpful. I always take my cats to the vet but after two vets, several visits and lots of money, I'm out of options. Any advice or help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Suzanne

Hi Dr. Marie. They did do a culture and at that time thought that it was a rare infection so they started with antibiotics. I can't remember what the antibiotic was called but the vet said it was extremely potent and could even cause deafness. When it didn't solve the problem, he went back to the idea of mites. I'm going to take him back to the vet to see if I can get a medication that will help with the itchiness. Thanks for your help.

Suzanne