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jonereb

Cats & ear mites

jonereb
12 years ago

What is the black tarry substance in a cats' ear?

I'm cleaning their ears about once a week or so. Each time, I find a treasure trove of black gunk. I'm using mineral spirits, cotton swabs and cotton balls. After cleaning, I add a drop of mineral spirits to their ears and gently massage in an attempt to smother any remaining mites.

Comments (19)

  • jonereb
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    I should have said "I'm using mineral oil"- not mineral spirits.

  • sylviatexas1
    12 years ago

    Mineral oil ought to work just fine.

    The little buggers are aerobic;
    like us, they suffocate if you cut off their oxygen supply.

  • calliope
    12 years ago

    One of my new kitties came to me with a good case of ear mites, and he's been a hard one to get a handle on, but he's finally cleared up. Initially the vet gave me Otomite to use when I cleaned his ears once a week for five weeks. I can't say it helped and is an oil with pyrethrins in it. I was very faithful with cleaning his ears and using it. He is now on Revolution flea treatment and it's effective against ear mites too.

    Some cats seem more prone to them than others and resistant to treatment. I had one feral cat whose case of mites spread from her ears to the areas around it, and it actually was causing hair loss. The vet finally put her on selemectin in the form of Revolution.

    They really do need to be controlled, because the irritation they cause can set the groundwork for ear infections and even eventual deafness.

  • michelle_phxaz
    12 years ago

    I agree with Meghane, they should be gone now.

    I use olive oil, I have a rescue kitty and her gift to me was 5 kittens (she was pregnant when I got her, am getting her spayed in about 2 hours) but she spread them to her babies, I use several drops of olive oil in their ears and rub the oil down in the ear canal. The next day I use cotton swabs and cotton balls to start removing the gunk. Bleh. But the oil does help kill the mites and is not harmful in any way to any of the cats unlike the pesticides you can buy from the store.

  • jonereb
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    I've been using mineral oil once or twice a week. I've cleaned their ears probably 4 or 5 times total using cotton swabs and cotton balls. I'm not detecting any ear mites, but still getting plenty of gunk out of their ears. I even checked some of the gunk under my sons microscope - it's an elementary microscope but has enough magnification to see ear mites, I'd think. Didn't see anything moving. So why all the gunk? Ear wax? It's black and doesn't smell.

  • Meghane
    12 years ago

    Wax is yellow. Most likely either bacterial or yeast infection which is not cured by mineral oil. The cat still needs to see a vet.

  • jonereb
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    I took Sebastian to the vet this morning. He has a yeast infection in his ears. He is to be treated with Zymox Otic for 14 days. He also has irritable bowel syndrome which requires Prednisolone Syrup for 7 days, then every other day. I was also told to change his diet to dry lamb & rice. No wet food.

  • jeanie_beth
    12 years ago

    The best thing to kill ear mites with is ivermectin.I have wasted lots of money on those messy creams & ointments. Veterinarian finally told me what to do one day. Buy Ivomec (ivermectin) brand at a feed store such as Tractor Supply. DO NOT buy Ivomec Plus. 200 micrograms (mcg) placed on the shoulder blades of the cat like a top spot application once a month will kill ear mites, body mites, heart worms, & round worms. Cats can handle up to 400 mcg, but 200 mcg is sufficient.

    200 mcg is a very small amount. Selamectin, the active ingredient in Revolution is a derivative of ivermectin (Ivomec brand).
    If using a 1cc syringe fill syringe with Ivomec to the .03 or .3 on the syringe.

    And remember 3ML = 3ccs

    ML = CC's in medical syringe dosing.

    Adult Dosage: 200 mcg

    Kittens Dosage: Do Not use on Kittens unless they are at least 4 wks old,this is because of the blood brain barrier in kittens.
    Remember, you are NOT injecting this--you are placing it on the shoulder blades of the cat, just like a Frontline or similar.

    Ivomec comes in a sterile bottle and will require a syringe with needle to transfer a little bit from the sterile container to another sterile bottle with a lid on it. Once you have transferred some with a needle into a lidded bottle, throw the needle away and use the now needleless syringe to draw up 200 MICROGRAMS (mcg)--NOT milligrams (mg) and then squirt on shoulder blade of cat.

    A bottle of Ivomec will last a LONG time--it's worth it!

  • lzrddr
    12 years ago

    I think instead of medicating your cat's ears yourself, I would ask your vet's opinion first. Though not really uncommon, ear mite infections are primarily problems with kittens and large, outdoor cat populations (and very rarely puppies). Most adult cats and about 99.9% of all adult dogs with dark waxy debris in their ears do NOT have ear mites. Most of these cats have yeast infections, usually secondary to some allergic or immune problem. And cleaning those cat's ears usually only makes them worse - cleaning is very traumatic to the delicate cells along an animal's ear canal, and often the result is more inflammation and the production of more wax, which is the last thing you want if your cat's ears are already full of wax. Your veterinarian will likely recommend a topical otic preparation with something for fungus and probably something for inflammation. If both ears are affected, sometimes some anti-inflammatory systemically can help. But do not go out buy a bottle of ivermectin for your cat based on it's having a lot of black waxy debris in the ears. It is most likely not ear mites.

    I think ear mites is probably one of the single most overdiagnosed (by owners) diseases in both dogs and cats and at least 95%, of not closer to 99% of all cases of owner diagnosed ear mites in their pets have not been due to any mites at all. Still, every once in a while a puppy, or particularly a kitten, or pound cat, will come in with ear mites. The good thing about ear mites is they are incredibly easy to get rid of (unless you have a huge population of infected outdoor cats). So if I were a cat owner, I would much rather opt for it being ear mites than something like allergies as ear mites will be gone and never come back, while allergic ear problems are usually chronic and come back frequently, and can be very frustrating to 'cure'.

  • emaansana18
    8 years ago

    I found cat last night from street she is around one year

    And her ear too much dirty and around ear there is no hair with warm or mites in white colour I tried bath but cat is too much in pain she is not ready to bath and both of ear full of fungus or mites or fles

  • SaltiDawg
    8 years ago

    Of course, need to see a Vet.

  • sylviatexas1
    8 years ago

    Of course she needs to see a vet, but

    1) it's the week-end &

    2) we don't know if OP's funds run to paying a vet.

    Sometimes pets are found by people who are tapped out as far as vet fees.

    to Original Poster:

    you might try a little mineral oil in her ears.

    Gently apply it, & massage her ears gently, working the oil into the base or root of the ear.

    Clean the loosened mess with a tissue, & stand back to let her shake her head.

    It ought to ease the pain of filthy, impacted ears.

    & bless you for caring.

  • SaltiDawg
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Not sure why you felt the need to address me directly once again. My advice was to see a Vet ASAP for a seemingly serious issue. You talked down to me and then proceeded to repeat advice already given in the thread.

    For something as serious as this, Vet help is available on the weekend. Your suggestion that there may not be money nor available Vets flies in the face of there may well be money and there may well be available Vets.

    (I took my Vet to the Vet yesterday for suddenly required care. texas based www dispensed medical advice of course would not have been appropriate for my dog's issue yesterday. )

  • emaansana18
    8 years ago

    Thnks all

  • tete_a_tete
    8 years ago

    Hope the vet fixed your vet, Salti. But shouldn't you have taken him or her to a doctor?


  • buddycuddlerband
    7 years ago

    jeanie_beth thank you for the great info on ivermectin. One thing though just for anyone referring to the info and the dosage. If a dose for an adult cat is 200micrograms......then, to draw that amount up, from a Ivermectin injectible solution bottle, 1% solution, for cattle/swine..........you have to have a 1cc syringe. they are the syringes that are very thin, about as half as thin as a pencil would be. On a one cc syringe......which is also a one ml syringe....they usually have both ml and cc written on the syringe........ On the syringe you will see ten larger increments with numbers written next to them: .1, .2, .3.....all the way to .10. between each of the large increments, you see the ten tiny increments between each. Since a 1% ivermectin injectible bottle has 10mg per milliliter(mL).....and the adult cat dose is only 200micro-grams.........(there are 1000 micrograms in one mg).........you will only be drawing up to the second tiny increment mark on the syringe......as seen in photo below: So, assuming you have Ivermectin Injection 1% for cattle and swine, in order for you to draw up the correct dose for an adult cat, which according to Jeanie's vet is 200 microgram,..... you will draw up .02mL on this ONE mL syringe shown in the photo.


    so, literally it will contain a couple of drops. Ivermectin can be very toxic and can kill a cat or dog if overdosed. and since the dose for cats and dogs is so tiny, you have to be very careful and not confuse measurement,....otherwise you can easily give them 100X the safe dose!!!!.....ALWAYS make sure you are starting with the 1% ivermectin injectible.......that will say for cattle and swine...................(NOT the one that says sheep drench, or horse paste, etc)...................... first take alcohol swab/pad and wipe off the top stopper first. Then ALWAYS draw it up with sterile new 19 gauge needle (its very thick liquid, and is basically impossible to draw it up with a 23 or 25 gauge needle) , using ONLY a 1 mL syringe (which is a one ml syringe)sterile syringe as well. Then draw up to exactly the second tiny line marked on the syringe(from the point closest to the needle hub). THAT tiny amount is 200 micrograms. .........if you want to draw up only 100 micrograms, you would only go to the first tiny increment, and if you want to draw up 300 micrograms, then you would go to the third tiny increment (from the needle hub)., etc.

  • AA BP
    2 years ago

    The dosage for skin usage is 2.5 times the injectable dosage of Ivermectin. Ivermectin can be substituted by Doramectin which maybe easier to get and is very similar. The dosage is the same. 0.2 ml 0r 2/10 of 1 cc syringe should be enough for about 9 pounds of body weight when applied directly on the skin, not the fur. If applied directly in the ear the dosage can be much lower 1/10th. With such a small amount it is better to dilute the injectable solution in propylene glycol. Do Not use on Kittens unless they are at least 4 weeks old, this is because of the blood brain barrier in kittens.

    Sources: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1476370/

    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20391367/

    https://www.bi-vetmedica.com/species/pet/products/acarexx.html

  • Stax
    2 years ago
    last modified: 2 years ago

    "The best thing to kill ear mites with is ivermectin."

    AND, if in the remote case of a pandemic in 9-10 years, you can also use Ivermectin in place of any vaccines the Government Develops!