ear mites dying = trembling hind legs?

I recently adopted my first kitty. He was a stray but fixed male, appox. 2 years old.

Last month, when I got him, I took him to the vet and they found ear mites. He got a dose of Revolution and all seemed fine. A couple weeks later his right hind leg was trembling, he had trouble putting weight on it and couldn't jump up on things. Back to the vet, where he acted perfectly fine/normal at the office so no diagnosis or anything.

About 48 hrs ago I gave him his second round of Revolution (he's still scratching at his ears). This morning he's back to the trembling, shakey, weak hind leg - but this time it's his *left* hind. Both times, he's sensitive to me touching that weak leg.

So, is it possible that the dying ear mites could be causing the hind end problems? That's the only possible cause I can think of. Is it possible they are dying quicker this time, so a quicker reaction??

Last time the leg got progressively better over a few days and he was back to normal within a week. I'm hoping the same will happen this time, but would love any input and suggestions.
Thanks!

I don't think it's the ear mites...I would be worried about the revolution causing problems. Another vet visit might be in order!

I would suggest checking with your vet.

I've used Revolution many times, even on very small kittens and I have yet to see any negative reaction to it...but it sounds like that could be the case with your kitty. Even if it happened 2 weeks after the 1st dose...I don't think it's out of the question.

UGH! I think you guys are right. I was thinking the time difference meant it wasn't the Revolution - but maybe he was more sensitive to the second dose.

In case anyone's interested, I found these after your responses.

http://www.fda.gov/cvm/Documents/ade_web_rpts_SZ.pdf
A short scroll down shows topical Selamectin in cats


This one shows safety info:
http://www.fda.gov/cvm/FOI/141-152052699.pdf

Thanks so much guys - my poor kitty!

Can I bother you with more questions?

About the ear mites - what are the chances they'll be gone now? What other product can I ask my vet about, since the Revolution doesn't appear to be agreeing with him?
Thanks again!

Originally Posted by nytbs

Can I bother you with more questions?

About the ear mites - what are the chances they'll be gone now? What other product can I ask my vet about, since the Revolution doesn't appear to be agreeing with him?
Thanks again!

Click to expand...

It's been quite awhile since I've had to deal with earmites, but there should be something your vet can prescribe to be applied directly to your kitty's ears.

I think you should call the vet asap about the shaky legs...but I imagine you might have to wait until it would be time for the next revolution dose before applying a second earmite medicine?? The vet will know for sure.

Let us know how it goes.

I know that Revolution also prevents fleas & ticks, if I am remembering right. So, if you are using hte Revolution for fleas & ticks, I would suggest asking your vet about Frontline as well.

As for ear mites, I volunteer at the local shelter & we use Mita-clear, I believe. Different vets use different things. I know the Mita-clear requires 5 treatments every 3 days.

Welcome to TCS!

You probably need to check with your vet. I think it's very likely your cat is having an alergic reaction to the revolution. And everytime you give it to him the potential is there for him to have a more severe reaction. What you describe sounds pretty close to some kind of seizure. It's the same in humans. If someone has a mild skin reaction to Penicillin, for example, the next time they could have anaphalxis. It's pretty important to tell the vet you think he's having the reaction to the medicine.

I am hoping You got the kitty to the vet today... those symptoms need a vet check

Is your kitty an indoor only? If so, you should be able to stop treatment. When we got Puppy, he had fleas. They say to treat for 3 months to get rid of them, but they were gone at 2.

Check with your vet, but another medication might not necessarily be better. Depends on your cat. Puppy has a reaction to Frontline; his hair falls out and the place where we drop the meds.

I would toss the Revolution immediately! In the name of pet-owner convenience, the manufacturers seem to be pushing the safety envelope. My understanding is that there are a lot of flea treatments being sold that are downright dangerous, and that may be one of them. At least it seems to be for your baby.

And yes, I don't recall the name, but there are some perfectly good eardrops you can use to get rid of the mites. Gosh, I hope your baby will be all right!

My vet suggested revolution for my cats but after doing research on numerous top of the line flea medicines, I decided no medicine is good medicine. Most of the ingredients are carcinogenic and or neurogenic both dangerous to us and our cats. This maybe the reason why your cat's hind leg was trembling, shaking and weak. I would take him to the vet ASAP.

As for the ear mites, the vet gave me tresaderm to treat my cats for 21 days. It was a real hassle but it did help ; however, one of my cat got it again. I've been just using an OTC ear mites on both of them . One gets weekly treatment and the other one gets once a month treatment. I clean their ears weekly with sulfodene (twice a week for the infected one).

Hope your kitty gets well soooon!!!!

Poor kitty! I would really get him checked by the vet again in case he is having a reaction to the medicine.

Hope he feels better soon.

Wow! Thanks to everyone for your advice!

He is an indoor kitty but those ear mites are tenacious! I have a feeling he was an outdoor/loose/stay cat for all of his two years, because the mites were bad.

I'm frustrated with the vet. They look at me like I'm crazy and she even suggested glucosamine in passing (meaning, she doesn't believe me, right?). He acts normal when we go in there - I don't know how he does it. He just switches into survival mode, I guess.

Today, he's acting CRAZY. Playing, eating like a pig and just plain wild. Yet, *I* still detect a problem in his left hind. But, in general, he's acting much, much better than yesterday - where he hid under the bed all day.

Anyway, I'm supposed to bring him back in a couple weeks to have his ears looked at again - to see if the mites are gone. Right now, he's separated from my dog and I'd like for the mites to be gone before they live together.

These ear mites are a real pain in the butt. I've always had dogs and horses so this is all new to me. Thanks so much for the suggestions on other medication. I'm crossing my fingers that I won't have to give him anything else at all! Now I'm completely paranoid about medicating him. (I owned a horse that couldn't be dewormed once he hit 25, because he'd get neurological symptoms - now, here I go again!)

If I'm missing something or if there's something I should know, please keep the advice coming!

Thanks to you all! This is such a nice board! I feel so welcome!!!!

If your kitty is still scratching his ears please go back to the vet. Ear mited can be difficult to get rid of. My kitten had a bad case of ear mites. The vet had her on ear drops twice a day. I was also given an ear wash to wash her ears with twice a day before putting the drops in. It took over a month but the ear mites are gone. Make sure his ears are being cleaned out. Once a vet tech showed us how to use cotton swabs to clean my kittens ears her mite problem improved dramatically.

May I suggest that you bathe your cat with medicated shampoo - I don't really know what's available there but I personally use a shampoo called Malaseb. By treating the ears one tends to forget that earmites actually lay their eggs not in the ears but on the coat of the cat. My vet has always recommended that I bathe the cat with medicated shampoo a week after the eardrop treatment to ensure no recurrance of the earmite problem.