How to Spot and Treat Cat Ear Mites
The first step in ear mite treatment is checking your cat for ear mites. A cat can have an infected, itchy ear and not have ear mites. The best way to test for ear mites is by allowing a vet to check your cat. If your cat is scratching at her ears, look for some additional symptoms.
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Instructions
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Watch your cat for signs of ear mites. Classic signs include head shaking, ear, neck and head scratching, generalized itching, crusty discharge around the ears, brown bumps in ear canals and scale on the ears, head and rump.
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Gently fold back the ear to check for ear mites. Fold the ear back enough to reveal the inside. You may see a discharge that looks like wet coffee grounds, scaly or thick crusts and inflammation. You may also see a brown, sticky substance--this substance is ear wax. It can range from light brown to black in color. In most cases that is normal.
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Gently flush the ear with a commercial ear cleaner. Your vet may also prescribe ear drops. For a more holistic approach, you can use a syringe to drop vegetable or mineral oil into the ear. Additional recipes for ingredients you can use to alleviate ear mites can be found online.
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Read and follow the directions of any preparation carefully. Most ear mite treatment medicines will have you dispense about four drops into each ear and gently massage the ear--repeating once each day for about a week.
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Tips & Warnings
Scratching the ears, crying and tilting the head to the side, and shaking the head often are signs that your cat may have ear mites. However, this is not a definite sign of cat ear mites. Wax build up could be a sign that your cat has an ear infection--not ear mites. Always check with your vet.
Ear mites are contagious. They can spread among your household pets quickly. Humans do not get cat ear mites.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Martin Poole/Digital Vision/Getty Images
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Comments
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my one kitten as a wet and sticky ear what can I use we do veggie oil what will it do.
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And when do you put vinaeger and or vegetable oil in their ears.
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Gotta a cat that scratches at his ears all the time. there isn't wax build up of any kind. Is there anything I could try short of taking him to the vet?
