Earmites :o

lovelulu

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So i have a female 1 year old domestic cat (Lulu) and I just got a 2 month male cat. I am separating them bc i dont think theyre ready yet. I let them visit each other's rooms to sniff around, but never together. My new cat (Tito) has earmites. his ears were bleeding. We went to petco and got medication thats supposed to help. Then, i checked Lulu's ears and she has a little bit of black, no blood. I cleaned both of their ears with vinegar and water. Tito's ears are really bad though. The 2 cats never touched so I dont know how Tito gave her the ear mites. What can I do? Is a vet really necessary? Any precautions i should take? i'm so worried! Thanks
 

red top rescue

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If Tito's mites were so bad his ears are bleeding, I would definitely suggest a vet visit.  Cleanng his ears with vinegar and water could sting, and if not treated properly, he could get an inner ear infection which will then require a vet visit for sure plus antibiotics and possibly other medication for side effects of an inner ear infection, like dizziness and nausea.  Since you just got him, it would also be wise to get him checked by a vet before allowing him contact with Lulu, make sure he is tested negative for leukemia and aids, and that he doesn't have any parasites she might catch.  It is always wise to take a new cat to the vet for an initial check up.
 
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lovelulu

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thank you. i'll make a vet appointment. Will Lulu be affected if she uses his bed and toys?
 

red top rescue

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Until you get him checked out and vaccinated, he should have his own bed and toys.  Some viruses can be spread through saliva which is on any toy that is chewed.  Even if the virus is causing no problem in the cat that carries it, if the other cat has never had it or been vaccinated against it, they could catch it.  It's not a huge risk when both cats appear healthy, but it's still better to be safe than sorry.  They should not share litter boxes, food dishes, water dishes, toys, or anything else until the new cat is cleared.  Also, having a couple of weeks apart is useful in case he is incubating any illness, becaue even if he's fine now, he may have been exposed to something.  All of us in rescue have run across this problem!  If Tito has terrible ear mites, obviously he didn't come from a squeaky clean environment.  As for Lulu, if she has not had ear mites all along, then the black you got from her ears was probably just old dried ear wax.  However, you may want to take her along for the vet visit too, just to have her checked. 
 
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