Hartz???

[plebayo]

My grandmother told me about the babyoil for earmites, and I guess if it's safe for babies it's gotta be safe for kitties. But if your worried you can cal your vet and ask. I have done this for years and it works, with no side effects.

I only do it when I see the brown in their ears, or excessive wax. I use a syringe, to get it past ear fur, lol. I only use 3 drops MAX, then I hold the ear down and gently rub to get the oil in good. The cats to the rest by shaking their heads, after the cat I am treating shakes it's head I take a cotton ball and very gently remove the gunk (you have to be very careful, ears are very sensitive.) Then I let the kitty shake it's head more and remove more of the gunk until it's clean. For very extreme cases I put the drops in wipe out the gunk, let the cat shake it's head remove more gunk, add 2 more drops, remove more gunk, etc.

Yeah, there was always a gal at the barn that recommended doing that. If anything it won't hurt to try it. I know they did it to a couple of the barn cats, and it seemed to work well, I think it only had to be done once or twice a year [since they were all outdoor].

I've used Acarexx in the past for some of the barn cats and it worked like a charm in two applications.

Are you guys sure it's ear mites, and not just wax build up due to a possible food allergy, or simply a cat having a constant ear problem? I only ask because it may not be ear mites at all. The kitten I adopted had "earmites" I'm pretty sure the woman didn't look under a scope because most kittens from bad situations have them and his ears were dirty, but as it turned out he was itching his ears.

 

[zissou'smom]

I for one am sure it's earmites. Every time the vet treats her for it it nearly goes away and then it'll come back just a little, like the stuff he's giving her isn't quite getting them all.

If you'd seen her as-found, you'd be amazed. The insides of her ears were brown. Like, it looked like her skin was brown. She was a feral kitten.

Anyway, mostly she gets just a few speckles down in the lighter area of fur at the base of her ear on her face, if that makes sense, and I can wipe it off easily with my finger or a q-tip. It's not an infection and if it's an allergy I can't possibly imagine what would cause an earmite-like reaction and absolutely no other symptoms.

I think I'll try that, thanks, katkisses!

 

[smilla]

Originally Posted by Plebayo

I know exactly what it is, they use Precor to kill flea eggs and it is non-toxic. It's kind of like Program, and it works for 12 months in cats etc. etc. It's still archaic, and pointless when you can use a flea control that goes on once a month with usually no ill effect [some aniamls do have reactions, but it's not too common] and takes care of fleas if applied like it's supposed to. I would never put any kind of a flea collar on my pets... it's just an extra thing that gets in the way and again, there's much more convenient flea control.

Eh? I'm not following your logic. An ovicollar isn't "pointless", it's an alternative to dosing your cat once a month and hoping your cat doesn't have a reaction. I can see you saying that you just don't like the idea of a collar on your cat(s) but to call the ovicollar archaic is just bashing a perfectly valid and useful product, IMO, and to lump it into the same category as powdered insecticide collars like Hartz is just wrong.

 

[yosemite]

Originally Posted by Smilla

Eh? I'm not following your logic. An ovicollar isn't "pointless", it's an alternative to dosing your cat once a month and hoping your cat doesn't have a reaction. I can see you saying that you just don't like the idea of a collar on your cat(s) but to call the ovicollar archaic is just bashing a perfectly valid and useful product, IMO, and to lump it into the same category as powdered insecticide collars like Hartz is just wrong.

I personally prefer not to wear any collar on my cat. It's too easy for them to get hurt or even choke to death with a collar by getting caught up in it. IMO it is much better to apply Revolution/Advantage/Frontline once per month.