Conference misery::feline_v1

Unless you keep your cat indoors all the time, you must be resigned to giving
the cat periodic ear mite treatments.  Severe cases require professional
attention from a vet.  What may be happening with Stanley is that the mites
start moving around when they are dosed with the medicine, and that is
painful and irritating for the cat.  I would ask your vet if perhaps something
more than the medication is required here.

--PSW

I'm surprised you're having that much trouble. Both of my cats had ear mites
when I got them as kittens. Daily treatment with ear drops for one week took
care of the problem. They are indoor cats, though. Maybe there is more
than one kind of medication available.

M.

The kind of treatment we always used on our outdoor family cats had to be
reapplied every month or so.

--PSW

There is a treatment (a kind of ear drop) which contains an insecticide
(the kind that comes from marigolds) as well as lidocaine. This kills
the mites, as well as dulling the itch.  It worked quite well for our cat -
but you need to get it from a vet.

Re: 4
I am currently using Cerumite on Stanley.  We have finally gotten to the 
point where it is only needed about every 3 weeks.  He still is slightly
neurotic whenever I touch his ears, even if I am just petting him.  I don't
think he trusts me yet.

If the medication you refer to is other than what I am using, I'd like the
name so I can request it.  My vet seems willing to try different treatments.

Ellen

	REPLY .-1
	
	We are blessed with a wonderful cat. His name is Calvin and we
adopted him from the Hopkington Humane Soc. When I first took him to the
Vet for a Physical (?) , the doc noticed that he (Calvin) was infested 
with ear mites. He gave us this stuff that resembled earwax and molasses
(really gross). After getting ripped apart every morning for two months for
violating Calvins ear space with this crud, I decided it was time to go to 
different doctor (Framingham Animal Hospital). There they gave me this stuff 
called MITOX LIQUID. At first I was hesitant to use it because it contains
Sevin, but the doc said that it was very diluted. After two weeks the mites 
were gone, and Calvin was able to sleep for more than an hour without 
scratching. Thank G. for small miracles...


	P.S. 	A small trick is to put flee powder on him/her every night
		so the mites that have crawled out of the ear won't stay
		around too long.



				Happy Holidays,

					CJM

A big part of why ear treatments are so resented by cats is that the mites
don't like the stuff and they start moving around when it is applied.  This
makes the cat's ears very itchy.

--PSW

I have been fighting mite wars with Empress Star for about 4 months.  Here's 
some tips:

  1) There are several effective treatments for ear mites.  However, mites can 
become immune to any of them.  The first medicine we used (sorry I don't 
remember the names of the medicines offhand) made no difference.  The second
treatment we used did the trick.  Any reputable vet should be aware of this,
and should be able to prescribe more than one remedy.  If the stuff you are
using does not make a noticeable difference in a week, it probably aint going
to work.  Get something new. 

  2) Cat's ears are subject to more problems than just mites.  The stuff we 
used that finally cleared up the mites contained a drying agent.  This 
made Star's ears susceptible to a fungus, which unfortunately looked a lot
like a mite infestation.  Unaware that the problem had changed, I blithely
continued the mite treatments, which continued to make the problem worse,
because fungi are not susceptible to ear mite medicine.  If I had followed my
own advice in 1), I probably wouldn't have given Star an ear fungus. 

  3) If your cat is skittish about getting its ears cleaned, try wrapping it 
up in a towel or shirt that you don't need anymore.  They often times are 
soothed by the warmth and softness.  Even if they aren't, only the towel gets 
clawed, not you.  You may need to get the towel reasonably tight around the
neck (without choking the cat, of course), in order to immobilize the front 
paws.

- Chris

Well, after several medications and months of treatments (a year now),
I think we have finally done it!!  The vet gave us TRECADERM about
a month ago to try.  I used it daily for a week (much to Stanley's
dismay), have used it about once a week since, and have found no
mites.  We are keeping our fingers crossed, but it looks good.

Congratulations!  Don't nice white ears look a lot better? 

By the way - are you sure that the name of that medicine isn't TRESADERM?  
Clear, kinda viscous liquid that you have to keep refrigerated?  That's
what we used for Oscar Gordon II, and it worked great.  But like I said two
responses back, nothing works every time.  That's what we started out using
on Empress Star, and it simply wasn't effective...

- CW

Yes, the name is TRESADERM.  Sorry about that.  

The white (actually pink) ears look marvelous.  I hope he doesn't
reinfect in the spring.

Ellen

    When I got my first cat, she had earmites pretty bad.  I took her
    to the vets (Witt Animal Hospital, Main Street, Worcester) and for
    10 bucks he poured this Wesson like stuff down her ears until the
    mites floated out.  He said NEVER EVER clean your cat's ears with
    a QTip as it will only push the mites into the second ear canal
    causing more damage.  It makes sense to me.  The only thing that
    doesn't make sense is that it took me 4 treatments with Mielikki
    (which equals $40) and it will be my 6th treatment today for Ishtar
    (which equals $60).  $100 for 2 cats with earmites?!?!?  Ouch.
    

    I don't understand.  How does a strictly indoor cat get ear mites?
    Do we humans bring them in on our shoes, clothes, etc.?  Corkie
    is 7 years old and this is her very first case of ear mites ever.
    I never even noticed that she had any problems in the first place.
    No scratching or rubbing her ears.  The vet found them when I took
    her in for another problem.  I'm treating her with the stuff mentioned
    in the previous note although I was unaware it needed to be kept
    refrigerated.  I can't imagine putting cold stuff in Corkie's ears.
    How nasty.  What happens if you don't refrigerate it?  How do you
    know when you've gotten rid of them (short of taking her back to
    the vet?)
    
    Pat
    

    Has Corkie ever been boarded?  Ever had any feline visitors?
    I don't believe humans can transmit ear mites, but I'm not
    sure.   How do you know when you've gotten rid  of them...
    you don't really, only a look under the microscope can tell
    you for sure, however, if there's no black, ucky stuff in
    the ears, then chances are you've gotten rid of them.
    
    Donna

    Donna, you just jogged my memory (senile at 27?).  I was sent to
    California for training just a few weeks ago and Corkie was boarded
    for the first time in her life.  I knew there was a reason I never
    did it before.  I didn't even think about all the possible things
    she could have been exposed to, especially ear mites.  I guess this
    is where she had to have picked them up.  Oh well, hopefully it's
    not a bad case and we'll be able to knock them out quick.  Thanks.
    
    Pat     

    Detective Donna ... has a nice ring to it.  (-:
    This example serves to illustrate one of the benefits
    of having a cat sitter.
    
    Donna

    This is the tale of my battle with the Mutant Ear mites from outer
    space:
    
    In .12 I mentioned that I was going on my 6th visit for Ishtar and
    had so far spent $60 on the ear mite battle.  Well, it didn't stop
    there.  I went 3 more times at a total cost of $90 when I realized
    that this vet's medication just wasn't doing the trick.  He furthered
    my suspicions when he mentioned that some cats have to get this
    treatment for YEARS until they finally get rid of them.  Sorry,
    I'm not going to pay $10 every 2 weeks for years to come.  So I
    switched to another vet that a fellow noter here recommended.  I
    got an ointment called Mitox that I was to apply every morning.
    I did and when the tube ran out, she still had the mites.  I brought
    her back in, yes they were ear mites still, and got another tube
    of Mitox.  The tube ran out again and I brought her back to the
    vets.  Well the ear mites where gone but now she had an infection
    from the ear mites!  So I got a tube of some antibiotic and now
    the tube has run out.  How do her ears look?  BEAUTIFUL!!!!  And
    how much is the total bill?  Aprox $150.  But at least (knock on
    wood) her ears are free of the beasties.
    

When I first got Shamus from the shelter as a kitten, he had ear mites.  
The vet gave me the most standard ear-mite treatment (sorry, but it was
over a year ago and I can't remember the name) and it worked beautifully.

I got Daisy from the same shelter 3 months later and she also had ear-mites
so we tried the same treatment, which didn't work.  I can't remember how long
I tried this stuff, but I finally asked the vet for something else to try.
That stuff actually made things worse.  So I asked for yet another medication
and this one thankfully worked.  This entire process took over three months
and Daisy was really traumatized by all the things being done to her ears.
The final treatment consisted of cleaning her ears with a sterile solution
and then putting something (I think it was Mitox) in on a daily or twice
daily basis.

At any rate, I think the moral of the story is that if a particular medication
doesn't work within about 2 weeks, ask the vet for something else.

Pam

    All of my cats arrived at my door with ear mites and in all but
    2 cats (there are 7) Tresaderm alone did the trick. However, with
    2 cats, the mites were so bad that the vet had to tranquilze
    the cats and flush out their ears. Then I medicated with tresaderm.
    Flushing isn't always necessary but in certain cases it is  
    very helpful.
    

    Last summer I had a real problem with my cats and ear mites. It
    took constant cleaning and a little home remedy of smearing baby
    oil on the inside of the ear. This works in that it smothers the
    new mite hatchlings and most of those that are currently active.
    Doing this I managed to clear up their ears in a weeks time.
    Fran
    

    In an earlier note, someone mentioned that her cat had earmites
    and she didn't even realize it.  I would like to know how one can
    detect mites.  All of my cats had a clean bill of health on their
    annual visits late last year and the vet even remarked how immaculate
    they are for indoor/outdoor cats.
    
    So, what do I look for in my cat's ears?  Is it possible for them
    to have mites without me even knowing it??
                
    Thanks,
    Roberta
    

    I noticed it by the large amount of black crud in their ears.  If
    their ears are pink and clean, they are pretty much safe, I would
    think.
    
    Sharon
    

    
    
    They look like coffee grinds..   am I right??  I feel 90% sure on
    this, as I've had cats that had mites..
    
    I think an occasional *short* ear scratch is normal.. but in one
    case in particular I can think of, my cat would scratch her ears
    for a few minutes, meowing in aggravation while doing so..  Thats
    mites!!
    
    One note:  lighter colored cats get mites easier and more abundantly
    that darker cats.
    
    F.

    I didn't know there was a difference in how seseptical light or
    dark cats are to ear mites.  
    
    But, they do look like coffee grounds.  You may also notice the
    cat shaking it's head kinda funny like.
    
    Roberta, use a Q-tip and wip a little around the ear, and if you
    get black crud, and it is crusty like, then they have ear mites.
    
    cin
    

    
    
    A vet told me that once..  it kind of makes sense a little too..
    
    For instance, at one time in my house was a orange tiger and a black
    and white kitty.  (the black and white was almost complete black,
    no white on the belly or anything..)  This was way back when I lived
    with my parents, and they didn't worry to much about fleas..  After
    the vet told me this, I noticed that the orange kitty had fleas
    whereas the black an white and none!  I mean none fleas here.  That
    could have had something to do with skin or something.. but it almost
    makes sense if fleas or mites are attracted to lighter colored cats...
    
    
    The flea business is just an observation, that was not confirmed
    by a veternarian!  But the mites was..
    
    F.

    Hmmmmm, this seems pretty funny, cause I bought two cats from the
    same house, one black, and the other white...they both had a bad
    case of ear mites!!!!!
    
    I think it may just be easier to see the fleas or mites on lighter
    cats....
    
    

    re: .22
    
    > If their ears are pink and clean.
    
    Then I guess Trouble is in trouble (pun intended).  She is a black
    and white, and her ears show up dark too :-)  Not to worry though,
    she has been checked and does not have mites.  
    
    Bernice
    Mother_of_Trouble

    Amelia had a terrible case of ear mites as a kitten.  Because of
    that she has one ear that still gets gunky brown wax in it because
    of the damage the ear mites did.  I have her checked regularly and
    she is still free of mites so it is possible to have the yucky wax
    and not have mites but it is always the best idea to check with
    the vet.  She does get panalog ointment put in the ear regularly to
    help control the problem, though at her next visit I may look into
    a different kind of treatment that might take care of the problem
    on a more permanent basis (if there is such a treatment).
    
    Jan

    Of course, if you have a microscope or a strong magnifying glass,
    you can take some of the gunk out of the ears and put it under the
    glass....don't be too afraid of what you see!!!!!  Those mites look
    mighty grewsom all blown up!!!
    
    Usually when you have ear mites, it is not brown and waxy, but more
    crusty.
    
    cin...who also has cats with waxy ears
    

    I have hauled poor Kosh into the vet several times, asking
    "Are you SURE she doesn't have ear mites?"  Each time, the 
    diagnosis is the same:  she has DDEW!
    (DDEW is, of course, Disgustingly Dirty Ear Wax, yuck!)
    
    The one clue that makes me believe it is that she just never
    scratches her ears...except after I have cleaned them.  We have
    tried various ointments, and all they do is make her look like
    "airplane ears" and next week her ears are dirty again anyway.
    I *wish* she would learn to wash her ears like a proper person!

    One of my friends had a few cats with DDEW - she used Panalog
    ointment - it cleared up the whole problem!  
    
    

    re: black vs white cats and fleas.  We had a flea problem which
    caused an anemia problem (Feline infectious anemia is caused by
    fleas) in two of the four cats in our household at the time.  We
    had Bumpy (B&W), Mao (Calico-tabby & White), Isis (Black kitten)
    and Singh (our roommates seal point siamese).  The two who picked
    up the fleas, apparently from a rug we'd bought used at a yard sale,
    were Mao & Isis - both ends of the color spectrum.
      That doesn't seem to support the theory that one color cat is
    more susceptible than another.  BTW - the anemia cleared up once
    we got rid of the fleas and with the help of some vit. B-12.
      Nancy DC

    I can always tell when our three have earmites.
    
    Symptoms are airplane ears, and frequent scratching of ears followed
    by prolonged headshaking.  They had a bad case as kittens and the
    vet said that if mum has it=kittens have it.  Likewise if one cat
    in the household has them, they'll all get them.  No mention of
    colour.
    
    Kate

    
    
    
    Well... the fleas must have been a coincidental observation..
    
    But a veternarian was the one who actually told me lighter colored
    cats get more ear mites than darker colored cats do..
    
    oh well....
    
    F.