When it's not just dirt.

So... this guy...

Sad ears even while resting.

He was shaking his head and eventually on Sunday just hid all day.  He seemed wobbly when he walked and basically acted like he had a migraine, hiding in dark corners and unwilling to be with anyone.

So today we walked him to the vet.  The first vet we went to said it opened at 9 a.m. but no one was there and a sign on the door said something about a vacation until September 12. So, Google Maps to the rescue and we walked to another vet that was open and didn't seem to mind walk-ins.

Some swabs later and a peek under the microscope showed a pile of creepy crawlies - ear mites. Shawarma is pretty calm on the whole.  He was not calm while getting his ears cleaned out and goo dribbled in. Thankfully he's not a biter, but he can be quite the cat contortionist and threatened to use his claws more than once. A shot of what we assume was antibiotics will help him feel his normal self by tomorrow.

But, he's already a ton better.  We also had the joy of bringing home the ear med and treating both other cats, though their ears seem to be fine.  

With a quick inspection, we also discovered that one of his teeth looks infected. That's an issue for another day, after the ears are taken care of.  Ian gets to figure out bringing Shawarma back to the vet next Monday while I'm gone.