My cat has waxy, itchy ears and vets are booked. Help at home?

Question

My cat has been pawing and scratching his ears like crazy for a few days, when I checked his ears I found large amounts of wax and small black/brown spots of wax. The vets I can get too are all booked up and I'm not sure when I'll be able to get him in, is there anything I can do at home to help for the meantime? Pet's info: Cat | Mixed Breed | Male | neutered | 2 years and 3 months old

Jennifer Summerfield, DVM CPDT-KA · Accepted Answer

Poor Milo! His ears do look quite sore and painful. In most cases, a large amount of sticky brown wax and pawing or scratching at the ears indicates an ear infection of some kind - normally either yeast, or bacteria. You will need prescription ear drops from your vet to treat the infection effectively, so I would definitely try to make an appointment to have him seen as soon as you're able to. In the meantime, you can try gently cleaning his ears to remove the excessive wax and soothe the itching. Get an ear cleaner labeled for use in cats from your local pet store - you can gently squirt a bit of this into each ear, massage the ear to loosen the debris inside, and then wipe it out with a cotton ball or damp washcloth. This will not treat the underlying infection, but it may help to make Milo a bit more comfortable until you are able to see the vet.

My cat has waxy, itchy ears and vets are booked. Help at home?

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