need your experience with ear mites

fatemah

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Hello everyone,

I rescued a cat off the streets a year ago. he had ear mites that simply won't go away

he's been to the vet for it many times and we've tried Mitesaway like 20 courses, injections twice, Stronghold, oils (which the vet said it doesn't help at all and I stopped), and Sentry topical treatment (that my vet swears by it) 2 courses and still they won't go away

the ear mites have infected my rescued kitten as well. but I've treated it. however, it keeps coming back because of the other cat. I clean their ears twice a day (or used to) with Q-tips and tissues, I clean with the Q-tips as far as the vet told me, then when I take a Q-tip out I throw it away (I don't let it in twice) I then apply the medication (Sentry) then I clean the table with disinfectant between each cat.

my vet advised me to do another Stronghold treatment, so I'll do that, but it's frustrating :( I'd love to hear your advise, experience or any medication you think I should ask my vet about

I must be doing something wrong, it's just not normal for ear mites to last a full year.

 so please tell me exactly how did you get rid of ear mites, if you have any experience with them, or what you think is worth trying.
 

stephenq

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Hello everyone,

I rescued a cat off the streets a year ago. he had ear mites that simply won't go away

he's been to the vet for it many times and we've tried Mitesaway like 20 courses, injections twice, Stronghold, oils (which the vet said it doesn't help at all and I stopped), and Sentry topical treatment (that my vet swears by it) 2 courses and still they won't go away

the ear mites have infected my rescued kitten as well. but I've treated it. however, it keeps coming back because of the other cat. I clean their ears twice a day (or used to) with Q-tips and tissues, I clean with the Q-tips as far as the vet told me, then when I take a Q-tip out I throw it away (I don't let it in twice) I then apply the medication (Sentry) then I clean the table with disinfectant between each cat.

my vet advised me to do another Stronghold treatment, so I'll do that, but it's frustrating :( I'd love to hear your advise, experience or any medication you think I should ask my vet about

I must be doing something wrong, it's just not normal for ear mites to last a full year.

 so please tell me exactly how did you get rid of ear mites, if you have any experience with them, or what you think is worth trying.
Hi

I'm not sure where you're located but in the USA the most common treatment is a type of ear drop called Tresaderm, and it's quite effective if used correctly and after cleaning the ears first.  Here is a link http://pets.thenest.com/tresaderm-cats-used-ear-mites-5673.html

A good article is here: http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?A=664
 

chromium blues

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Revolution for ear mites. Clean the ears, apply the revolution as you would if you were treating fleas, and then leave the ears alone until the next month. Clean the ears, do the next treatment, don't touch it, continue until the mites are gone. Conversely, you could use Gold Medal, which is more labour intensive, requiring you to clean the ears and treat the cat twice each day until the mites are gone. It does work, but how long is your cat going to let you go digging around in his ears?
 
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fatemah

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fatemah

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Revolution for ear mites. Clean the ears, apply the revolution as you would if you were treating fleas, and then leave the ears alone until the next month. Clean the ears, do the next treatment, don't touch it, continue until the mites are gone. Conversely, you could use Gold Medal, which is more labour intensive, requiring you to clean the ears and treat the cat twice each day until the mites are gone. It does work, but how long is your cat going to let you go digging around in his ears?
the kitten will NOT let me, but I've used Advantage before I'm wondering is it similar to Revolution?
 

evamilly

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I took in a stray cat in August last year, she had problems with her ears for ages, it's only in the last month that the problem has resolved. The first vet I went to diagnosed ear mites (without doing a swab and microscope test), we were given Advocate spot on along with Twice daily ear cleaning and surolan drops for 3 weeks. However she was still scratching and shaking her head so vet said to try another 3 weeks of surolan. Seemed a bit better for a few weeks but again head shaking and scratching. Went back to the same vet, was told she still had mites, we were given Revolution, and told to clean ears daily. Ears still problematic 6-8 weeks later. Finally went to a different vet, who actually swabbed her ears and looked under the Microscope, the problem wasn't mites but a bacterial and fungal infection, she prescribed the appropriate drops and my cat is finally comfortable.

I'm not saying that my cat didn't have mites to begin with, but I think it is important to ensure you have the correct diagnosis initially, so ensure you've had a swab taken.

Also I've read lots about mites over the past few months, many suggest that revolution on its own is not enough, that Tresaderm drops are often needed as well.

Good luck
 

evamilly

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Also I was told not to use q tips as you can push the mites further down causing more problems, get a cleaner that is suitable for ear canals and hold ear up and put some ear cleaner down the ear canal, massage ear canal area (side of neck, you will hear it squelching) then let the cat shake her head to get rid of the cleaner. Then use cotton wool to clean just where you can see. Then put your drops in.
 

evamilly

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Oh I forgot to say Stronghold is Revolution (The UK name for Revolution is Stronghold)- active ingredient is Selamectin.
 
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