WTF!!!! Ear mites????

Soo......yep. Another issue w/ one of the new cats....maybe.

Before I took this cat, I noticed she had an open gash on the back of her ear. I was told it was from scratching as she had been treated for ear mites. Oh...ok...no issue for me. She has been treated and the gash will heal. It seemed to be doing well until I noticed the sucker opening again from scratching. Looking in her ears, I saw coffee ground-type stuff that is indicative if mites.

I took some out w/ a q-tip and didn't see anything moving...but didn't know if I should/would see anything if they were still going or not.

HELP!! Would this nasty stuff still be showing if the problem had been taken care of????? Would there be movement????


I am LIVID about now with this stupid Humane Society. Granted, they can't guarantee the health of a pet, but when they see a problem initially, they should TAKE CARE OF IT/finish the process before releasing the animal!!

Not only do I have this potentially, but I had to nearly fight with them about the worm issue they SUPPOSEDLY took care of. I could never even imagine releasing a pet without making sure the issues I treated it for were taken care of. I can see if something else came up after the fact, but this is ridiculous now.

GRRRR. So....about these coffee-ground things....is there a chance it is just dead stuff not cleaned from the ear yet or does it mean they are still there?

Please don't take this rudely but you do realize that one treatment of dewormer or ear mite meds doesn't usually get rid of the whole problem, right? Especially if the cat had it bad. If the humane society said they treated for both of those, even twice, they probably did but the cat just needs a second or third treatment. That is not too uncommon. Generally it will be enough but not all the time. Just treat the cat again, it is inexpensive, maybe put an e-collar on the cat in the meantime. There is a good chance that the cat still has ear mites, you won't necessarily be able to see them moving but you might.

When i worked at the shelters in the past, there were people who would come in furious that their cat had ear mites or soemthing... they are so common and easy to treat usually with a few rounds of meds. I know for a fact that we treated all the cats with dewormer and ear mite cream if needed, but that doesn't mean it got rid of all the worms.

No no no...no offense taken. It just has been everything on top of each other...and while I know it could take more than one treatment, I DIDN'T know that at the time of adoption..nobody explained that to me..so there I was under the premise that they were golden to go and BAM! And not just that, but I was told this cat was dewormed on May 25th....and that is fine, but why didn't they keep on it and check on her?? Obvious she has them still! If you start a treatment...FINISH it or notify the potential owner of the current stats PRIOR to choosing the cat. That is all I am asking. Not that I wouldn't adopt, but at least for those people that DON'T HAVE the extra money for a vet visit (after paying the adoption fees) in the near future, they have that option instead of being stuck.

Would the coffee grounds stuff be gone if the mites were dead? Or could it be dead mites left?

they would be gone,
so if you are having a problem there is a treatment called revolution it is great it gets ride of worm mites everything and takes about 2 applications you will do one application then the next one a month later.

OMG. I still have Revolution from when had given it to Ashley when she had fleas!! That stuff will do ear mites?????????????????????????????

OMG!!! I just even went on their website....round worms, hook worms, ear mites, fleas...DANG!!!! That is AWESOME!!!!

Now....she did get treatment for worms today....Revolution won't hurt her (like overdose!), right?? And what she got today isn't going to do anything for ear mites, correct? I am not sure WHAT it was she was given, but it was a liquid given orally...and she got a pill for hook worms, I think it was.

That stuff isn't cheap!!!! I am glad I have a few applications left!

the pill was most likely for hook and round worms, they usually go hand in hand. An oral medication would probably not do anything for ear mties, that needs to be put directly into the ears.

the ears should not have coffee ground looking things in there, I would do another ear mite treatment, but make sure you are giving it enough time in between treatments. I am not sure what the cat got the first time so I can't help there. Keep cleaning the ears with (ha! I almost said toothpicks!) no Q-Tips is what i mean and you can buy just a general ear cleaner too to keep them clean. Revolution would be great if you can buy some or have some left from last time.

I don't think you can actually see ear mites move because they can only be seen under a microscope. If you see ground coffee like then it's most like ear mites. I went through multiple series of treating my two stray cats both at the vet and ear drops. It just didn't work!! I even had my vet taught me how to clear their ears with q-tips! I did that every other day and still didn't work along with some cleaning ear drop solution. This whole thing probably lasted 2-3 months until I came across this OTC Otomite Plus. Just a few treatments, the ear mites went away! I was surprise consider it only cost me less than $10 compared to the stuff my vet gave me cost like $30. Amazing! I understand your frustration there.

I heard of revolution does wonder. My vet tries to get me to put my cats on that but I don't believe in flea medication, plus they are 100% indoor cats.

Originally Posted by Jen

the pill was most likely for hook and round worms, they usually go hand in hand. An oral medication would probably not do anything for ear mties, that needs to be put directly into the ears.

the ears should not have coffee ground looking things in there, I would do another ear mite treatment, but make sure you are giving it enough time in between treatments. I am not sure what the cat got the first time so I can't help there. Keep cleaning the ears with (ha! I almost said toothpicks!) no Q-Tips is what i mean and you can buy just a general ear cleaner too to keep them clean. Revolution would be great if you can buy some or have some left from last time.

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Jen... I thought Q-tips could be used. I thought it was just that people had to be careful when using them in cat's ear not to go deep in the ear canal.

And Carrie could I please ask question's in your thread?

Because I took my cat to the vet to get rid of his ear mites. They used some then called Milbemite. They said it was a one-time application. and the mites are still there. Plus I waited the 30 days he said it may take to see result and nope they are still there. So, do anyone reccomend a site that's sells good ear cleaners and/or revolution.

Revolution should be available at a vet's office. It was amazing for the flea treatment I used it for.....but it certainly isn't cheap...but then, neither is an office visit to the vet!! LOL!

Originally Posted by Mellow

Jen... I thought Q-tips could be used. I thought it was just that people had to be careful when using them in cat's ear not to go deep in the ear canal.

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I can't speak for Jen but I think it's just a matter of the words she chose...I believe she meant that q-tips are OK. She was thinking out loud, joking about how she almost said toothpicks instead of qtips.

Keep cleaning the ears with (ha! I almost said toothpicks!) no Q-Tips is what i mean

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FWIW, I use qtips and/or cottonballs depending on what kind of gunk is in there.

oh. Sorry Jen. Thanks Beandip for correcting me. When Jen said "no" she was just correcting herself about meaning Q-tips not toothpicks.

Ear mites are tricky litter buggers. My Molly was treated for them, but still had them. That particular treatment just didn't work for her.

Ears Mites!! OMG do I know about those!!! It took 2 years to finally get rid of them in my 2 cats!....yes, 2 years!

I got my 1st kitty at an SPCA and poor little thing was FILLED with brown coffee crap in his ears. No lies, I use to pick up big brown chuncks everywhere troughout the day in my house (had white floors was easy to see), it was on my clothes from holding the kitty, I even ate some from cleanning his ears! yuck!!! It was disgusting!! it truly was because the chuncks were so big!! and those big chucks lasted many weeks too.

I had taken him to a Vet the next day and all they did was cleanned his ear. When they brought him back into the room I was in, kitty shook his head and there goes flying more brown chucks all over the table!!! They didn't care I guess as they sent him home with Revolution, told me that would work... that didn't do a thing! I continued picking big brown chuncks.

Two weeks later I took him to another Vet, they cleanned his ears and gave me a 2 weeks ear prescription (forget the name). Well, that only removed the big brown chuncks. He continued to scratch his ears and his ears always had dirty brown crap inside, so I started cleanning his ears with vinegar & distilled water every week... helped a bit but his ears were still ALWAYS dirty. There was nothing I could do. He was still on Revolution and that didn't help either.

During that time, I had gotten another kitty (from another SPCA) he had no ear mites (I made sure I checked) but he ended up catching them from my holdest one. Arrggg!

I did many Vet trips and tried many meds to try to solve the problem. I spent A LOT of $$ on my babies ears until I finally found a Vet who was able to finally solve the problem. He prescribe 'Malotic' and the ears mites was cleared within 2 weeks! yaahhh! finally!!!

My Vet has both kitties on 1 weekly little drop into their ears for the rest of there life to prevent re-infection. I cannot beleive it took almost 2 years of Vet visits and different products to finally find something that would work. My new baby Snowball is going to get a drop too if I ever see anything in his ears! LOL...

Carrie, I volunteer at an SPCA and I know what goes on in some of those SPCA. My kitties are from different SPCA's. I always did my 'own' inspection on the kitty I was choosing, and I did a good one too! LOL... after what happened with my 1st cat.

The SPCA is a great place to get a pet but I agree some of them really do not take care of the animals like they should. I really feel bad for those pets!

Minou

Sorry for the confusion! Q-Tips work wonderfully!!

P.S. Ear mites can be seen with the eye if you have good eye site and look VERY closely! I can see them!

When Merlynn found me (she was right by my door one morning...8 weeks old...she must have been hungry b/c I live on the second floor) I took her to the vet and they treated her for ear mites. Poor thing's ears were just full of that brown gunk. The vet gave her a 1-time dosage (I don't remember what it was called as this was a year ago) right in her ears and said that it should clear it up but may take a second dosage. A few weeks later I noticed she was scratching her ears and saw the gunk so back to the vet's we went. They took out some stuff with q-tips and thought it was still ear mites too, but after the test came back negative they figured it was just leftover stuff and there was a heavy wax buildup in there too.

So they sent me home with an ear flush and told me to clean out her ears daily. She really loved that.

But that one-time treatment was all it took. Thankfully!

The vet later recommended Revolution to prevent the infestation of fleas, ticks, ear mites and worms...so I think it may prevent them and not kill them...but don't quote me on it.

I hope your baby's ears get cleared up soon. And yes, frequent cleaning with a q-tip or cotton ball is a great idea. My Merlynn gets wax buildup very frequently in her left ear so I've taken to cleaning them with a cotton ball and a few drops of Vitamin E on a weekly basis. They are shiny and clean! Yummy!

(The q-tips scare me...I'm always afraid I'll go to deep...especially since Merlynn likes to shake her head a lot when I'm trying to clean her ears.)

Q-tips are ok if you know how use them. My Vet is totally against Q-tips, he say even if you don't go deep, you can still 'push down' some of the gunk which can compact and end up creating an infection.

I think I became a PRO with Q-tips from almost 2 years of weekly ear cleanning! ... poor babies!!

Minou