Poor kitty

My mums dogs actually got ticks last year, and since I'm everyone's resident dog sitter, mine got em too. But it's a fixable thing thank goodness.
Ok. So. Kingston scratches incessantly. Almost no matter what. Right now his ears are healthy as they've ever been, but still he scratches. When he has a fresh haircut and nails, he will scratch himself till he bleeds (seriously). I have a cone, it's hilarious, but cumbersome and he's old so I don't want him to hurt his neck or anything.
He's had the booties on for a few days, still scratching as much as usual, and his ears look GREAT! Like he hasn't even been scratching.