Cat wet/oily ear?

New to Tattle Life? Click "Order Thread by Most Liked Posts" button below to get an idea of what the site is about:
Order Thread by Most Liked Posts
bolimepipi

bolimepipi

yesterday my cat met a doggo for the first time and let's just say she did NOT like the visit 😂
a friend of mine just got a baby samoyed and we thought we'd gently introduce them but my cat had never met a dog before and she reacted quite extremely, she hissed at her (never in 1,5 years has she hissed) and she tried to jump onto her scratching post/bed then jumped off, kind of crashed into a few things on the way, ran away and hid in the closet
as my bf and i went to comfort her, we noticed that her fur was kind of wet behind her left ear, and a little bit oily/greasy, and we thought that she was sweating from all the stress
but as the fur remained unchanged, i was of course googling about it and found that cats don't sweat this way, i had no idea they sweat through their paws!
anyway, mainly it says they can have ear discharge if they have an ear infection - but i don't see why she'd suddenly get an ear infection because she met a dog and i'm not even sure this came from inside the ear
then i also found it could be a ruptured eardrum and thought she hit herself when she crashed into something but she doesn't mind it when i touch her little ear, there's no pain and in general she is now completely normal
it did seem like her eye was teary at the moment so i thought maybe it just went there when she lied down
my bf thought it was a way of marking her territory, but we only found mention of this possibility on some german forum where 1 person mentioned it but the responses were not helpful
i have to say i barely even see this spot anymore and she is behaving 100% normal: she's chilling next to me in bed right now with her tail on my legs
but i would like to know what this is. has anyone heard of cats marking their territory? any other ideas on what it could be?
any response is much appreciated, thank you! 🤍
since i can't really show it on photo, here's
a random lil photo of her 🤍
 

Attachments

  • Like
Reactions: 1
Laur91

Laur91

Sorry I can’t offer advice on the ear at all - I always just ring our vets for little things like this when our car had a weepy eye, I just ring and ask for a little advice etc and they’re usually so helpful.

On another note though, it wasn’t fair at all to introduce your cat to a dog, especially one that isn’t even yours and won’t be living with you. Cats are solitary animals & introducing a cat to another cat is extremely challenging and should be taken with caution (and done properly over days/weeks)- let alone introducing them to a dog/another species just randomly one day. It sounds like she was really petrified and you’re lucky that all she did was hiss and bolt out the room but just FYI she is in her home, she should feel safe and she clearly didn’t. Sorry to preach but as a cat owner I just feel as though what you chose to do was quite irresponsible.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 3
bolimepipi

bolimepipi

thank you for the response. just to avoid further comments like this - we had a reason for introducing them, the girl with the dog will live close to me and when we get back to work post covid we both have to travel. in case either one of us had to ''babysit'' the other, we wanted them to get used to each other and thought it would be good to start early as they are both so young. clearly now i know this was not a good idea - last night she came out normally and was behaving great right away - i cuddled her for hours and i had a cry. but didn't think it was necessary to write that i felt so terribly about this because i thought it would be logical that there was a reason we tried to introduce them to one another. we will not be repeating it that's for sure. i posted this for help, but i guess i should have expected the preachy ''as a cat owner myself'', and explained other things as well. all i want to know about is the ear thing so i wanted to give the relevant information.
i will ring my vet.
 
Laur91

Laur91

bolimepipi said:
thank you for the response. just to avoid further comments like this - we had a reason for introducing them, the girl with the dog will live close to me and when we get back to work post covid we both have to travel. in case either one of us had to ''babysit'' the other, we wanted them to get used to each other and thought it would be good to start early as they are both so young. clearly now i know this was not a good idea - last night she came out normally and was behaving great right away - i cuddled her for hours and i had a cry. but didn't think it was necessary to write that i felt so terribly about this because i thought it would be logical that there was a reason we tried to introduce them to one another. we will not be repeating it that's for sure. i posted this for help, but i guess i should have expected the preachy ''as a cat owner myself'', and explained other things as well. all i want to know about is the ear thing so i wanted to give the relevant information.
i will ring my vet.
Click to expand...
I appreciate you explaining more about the situation, perhaps it’s just me but I didn’t initially see the logical explanation, it makes a little more sense now you’ve explained that there’s a chance they might have to mingle in the future.

Depending on whether she’s an indoor or outdoor cat they can pick up things all the time even if it’s just a little ear infection/it’s been so cold lately that might be having an effect etc I know when it’s cold and windy ours gets a weepy eye etc but as long as they’re acting normal I’d say all is well! Cats will usually sulk and be miserable when they’re not feeling their best.
 
bolimepipi

bolimepipi

Laur91 said:
I appreciate you explaining more about the situation, perhaps it’s just me but I didn’t initially see the logical explanation, it makes a little more sense now you’ve explained that there’s a chance they might have to mingle in the future.

Depending on whether she’s an indoor or outdoor cat they can pick up things all the time even if it’s just a little ear infection/it’s been so cold lately that might be having an effect etc I know when it’s cold and windy ours gets a weepy eye etc but as long as they’re acting normal I’d say all is well! Cats will usually sulk and be miserable when they’re not feeling their best.
Click to expand...
thank you! she's been great with other cats, she has a little friend in the neighbourhood and they have little chats. but i don't think we will mingle them in the future, we'll find a different way. i'm worried it could actually affect her.
she's an indoor cat but goes out on the terrace and balcony. but yes she's in a great mood, very cuddly as usual, which is why i also think she's fine, and so does the vet :)
 
bolimepipi

bolimepipi

DCICassieStuart said:
Could you give your vet a ring and just describe it to them and see what they say?
Click to expand...
yep they said it probably was some sort of marking of the territory if she's perfectly fine otherwise and to monitor it and visit them if i notice any negative change! thank you! 🤍
 
  • Heart
Reactions: 1
DCICassieStuart

DCICassieStuart

bolimepipi said:
yep they said it probably was some sort of marking of the territory if she's perfectly fine otherwise and to monitor it and visit them if i notice any negative change! thank you! 🤍
Click to expand...
Oh sorry, somehow I missed the bit where you said you'd contacted the vet. Glad to hear that everything sounds okay :) Mine smacked the neighbour's Jack Russell in the face one day when he got too close.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1
You must log in or register to reply here.