Question:
As my other cat recently died I brought home a semi-wild 4-year-old cat who is the brother to one of my other cats. I took him to the vet to get vaccinated and tested for FIV and Feline Leukemia first. His ears were also cleaned. Since his ears were cleaned (they were very dirty), he started falling over and cannot walk and his eyes move back and forth. He is not eating or drinking. I believe he has labyrinthitis. I took him back and he was given an injection of Baytril and dexamethasone. He was given subcutaneous fluids. I was given Clavamox to give him and ear drops. That was at about 3:00 p.m. yesterday. It is now around 5:30 a.m. on Saturday and he is no better - still cannot stand up or walk. He still isn't eating or drinking. My questions are: does it take this long for there to be any improvement and secondly, given that he had no problem before his ears were cleaned (I've seen him for 4 years at the barn where he lived), could something have been done to cause this when his ears were cleaned?

Answer:
Oh poor kitty! Since he was living outside and had very dirty ears, I'm assuming he had a heavy infestation of ear mites? They can do a lot damage - even puncture the ear drum and cause some of the symptoms you are seeing.

Also, Clavamox does cause nausea in some cats and they will not eat.

You're going to have to take him back to the vet since he isn't eating or drinking. He will get dehydrated rapidly if you don't.

Let us know how he does.:(

Answer:
I phoned the vet's just after they opened this morning at 8:00 a.m. and took him in and left him there. I feel so sorry for him. I took him home to give him a better life and now he is going through this. His temperature was below normal when the veterinary assistant took it today. Even though he was wild, I have known him for 4 years since his mother brought him to the barn where my horse was and he did not exhibit any health problems. He was the only one of 3 cats in the barn to escape getting attacked by raccoons a couple of months ago. I suspect he had a bad case of earmites but I took him to the vet's Thursday evening, his ears were cleaned and Friday he is staggering, his 3rd eyelid is across his left eye and his eyes are going back and forth continually. It seems too much of a coincidence that he is fine, has his ears cleaned and then cannot stand up. I am wondering if the vet could have punctured his ear drum or wasn't careful enough and pushed the earmites/bacteria in farther resulting in a inner/middle ear infection he did not have before. It just seems too odd that he was fine before and now he isn't.

Answer:
Yes, it does seem very odd and I guess you'll have to wait to see what the vet says.

Simply cleaning his ears and flushing them out should not cause such serious illness to result.

I really have no answer.

Answer: