Bad case of ear mites, new kitten never had ear mite problem before. PLEASE HELP ASAP!!

mother of two

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Okay so, my new kitten 6 or 7 weeks old has ear mites. Sadly there's no possible way to take him to the vet and I really need help.  I need advice on how to prep the ears for treatment also I don't know what treatment is best. Basically I'm clueless I've never had to deal with ear mites before I also have a 9 year old cat who probably has them too but not as bad.I really really need help here. I'm trying so hard not to be nervous or scared and make them feel the same way but I can't help it. I'm really worried and it doesn't help that I don't know the damages that mites can cause. Please anyone, someone help.
 

Winchester

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You really do need to take the kitten to the vet. Trust me on this. Our Tabby (she was a stray 4-week old kitten who showed up on our neighbor's driveway one morning) had one of the worst cases of ear mites our vet had ever seen. We worked with her for months.....literally it was months til we got her ears cleared up. And to this day, she walks with a tilt to her head because she was so unbalanced due to the mites and to the resultant ear infections. We think she is deaf in her right ear and again, that was due to the infection. It actually put a hole in her eardrum (which the vet said eventually did close back up). Tabby is now a little over two years old and we are STILL cleaning that girl's ears out, although we're down to about once every other week now. Before we were cleaning her ears out twice a day, every day. And she ended up with a yeast infection in her ears, from us cleaning them so often. So she went on meds for that, too. We were also using a steroid ointment (I think it was [color= rgb(24, 24, 24)]Mometamax) [/color]in her ears for the mites. And that's why your baby really does need to go to the vet. Ear mites are a huge concern....in Tabby's case, she had an infection, a yeast infection, and deafness in her right ear. We were taking her to the vet twice a week, every week, for follow-up visits and such....thankfully, our vet stopped charging us for the follow-up visits as it just got too expensive. But we kept at those ears and we kept going to the vet with her. That little girl went through a lot until we got it all under control.

We are still cleaning her ears out with Derma Pet Ear/Skin Cleanser, got it from the vet. We use that once a month and the rest of the time we use Nolva Cleanse, which is an ear-cleaning solution for both dogs and cat. We pour the liquid into the ear cavity and then rub the outside of the ear gently to try to get the cleanser throughout the ear. Then we use big cotton balls to clean the ear out well. We use q-tips to get inside the little pockets inside her ears....you need to make sure those are clean! We still get black, icky stuff out of her ears, but it's not mites or infection anymore. She just has very, very waxy ears now, especially that right ear.

She still walks with a tilted head, especially when she's really tired. To her, it's normal. Her balance was so far off that she doesn't know any better any more. It doesn't stop her from chasing things and she can still hear a fly quite well. And she looks cute as heck with that tilted head of hers. She's an adorable little girl.

I'm not saying that your kitten is as bad as Tabby was. But I am saying that ear mites can become serious and quickly if you don't get them under control. And yeah, your other cat will get them, too. We had six other cats at the time and they were all put on meds for ear mites....just in case. 

Good luck!

I need to add that it took both my DH and me to clean her ears. I would hold her and Rick would clean. There were times when Rick was away and my BIL would stop in after work and hold Tabby so I could clean. I could usually get her done in the mornings by myself, but it was tricky. Two people make it a lot easier, one to hold and one to clean. 
 
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mother of two

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Thank you very much. I will get him to the vet as soon as possible thank you for the advice. (:
 

stephanietx

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Hannah had horrible ear mites when we adopted her.  My vet treated with Revolution.  They do have a baby dose, but not sure if it's safe for young kittens.
 
 

ondine

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I support getting her to the vet.  Our cat Josie is partially deaf and has an odd way of plopping down instead of laying down - all due to her inner ear being damaged by ear mites.  She never saw a vet until she wandered into our yard at about a year old.  Her ears were black and bleeding.

Now we have to take her to the vet every six months to clean her ears.  She has developed an auto-immune reaction that fills her ears with wax and really causes her pain.  She is getting better at hiding her symptoms, too, so last time the vet said she must have really been suffering.  I felt so badly and now I just make an appointment for her whether she scratches or not.
 
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