Home treatment for ear mites in cats

Ear mites are very small and they commonly live and breed inside the ear canal of a cat or a dog. They are characterized by feeding on the ear skin and tissue and cell fluids and blood as well. When a cat has ear mites, it usually scratches the ears, shakes its head and holds the ears at unusual angles. Ear mites can be recognized very easily because they resemble coffee grounds. In order to treat ear mites one has to remove all the debris from the cat’s ears and apply insecticide topically because it kills the remaining mites and their eggs.

An antiflea product must be applied to the animal’s fur because the mites may crawl out of the ear onto the fur. The cat’s owner should not be troubled that much, because ear mites are pretty much common and the treatment required to get rid of them is inexpensive and veryeffective.

All the debris in the cat’s ears must be inspected by using a cotton ball. If there is any movement involved it means that it is the ear mites. Ear mites can sometimes be located deeper in the ear canal and a simple massage at the back of the ear should help cats not to have mites would usually enjoy such a massage.

If the mites are hidden deeper, the cat will start scratching the area rather vigorously. The first phase of the treatment is to get the ear mites out of the ear canal. Massaging the ear canal with mineral oil will help the debris in getting out. After that, one should wipe the ear canal with a cotton ball or flush it out by using some lukewarm distilled water in a special ear syringe. Insecticides that contain pyrethrins should then be applied topically in order to kill the mites.

Ear mites may crawl out during the treatment and stay hidden in the cat’s fur. So once, all the fuss is over they can crawl back into the ear canal and repopulate the entire colony. This is why one must also apply flea products in order to kill the mites who have managed to stay hidden in the fur surrounding the ears.

The treatment requires several repetitions because one single mite could return and start the whole thing all over again. Sometimes the treatment may last weeks. If the condition gets severe one should definitely call the vet.