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I think my cat has ear mites. She has the little brown spots that look like coffee grounds in her ear, and a red sore in the base of one of her ears .
She had these when she was a kitten many, many years ago, and so I recognize the signs. However, we had gotten her from a rural family & she was outside then. We treated the mites successfully with some OTC medicine. She never had ear issues after that.
Other background on my cat: She is 17 years old. She has only one eye; the other was removed less than a year ago due to glaucoma. She is also on hyperthyroid medication and very skinny, but she has gained some weight back due to her meds working.
She has been indoor her whole life, and the vet always says she has excellent teeth & a strong heart. I'm still worried about her ears because obviously her health is declining.... I'm concerned it's something worse than mites.
1. She is ALWAYS indoors. We have another cat who is always indoors also. How could she get ear mites? Is this possibly something else? If it turns out not to be mites, will OTC mites medicine do harm to another condition?
2. Is it okay to use ear mite medicine when she has an open sore in her ear? I don't want to irritate the sore or cause her pain.
I'd like to do try the OTC mite meds ASAP to prevent the other cat from gettting mites (if that's indeed what it is) and because I can't take her the vet just yet anyway (it's closed due to the Holidays).
I read that corn or olive oil is a good home treatment for mites....this doesn't seem like it would do any harm even if it's not mites....? Even if it's an infection, it may be helpful.
I think I may dab a little olive oil in her ears with a cotton ball until I can get her to a vet.
Don't treat something when you don't know what it is, the possibility of doing more harm than good is very high. Since the liklihood that she has mites is low, it is probably something else. Just take her to the vet.
An indoor cat can get mites just like they can get fleas. They come in on other stuff like plants etc.
I would not use anything OTC for an older cat. Those products can be harsh on healthy adults cats and its not worth the risk. I agree not to put anything on it because it could take away from the vet being able to use the tool of his eyes to give him a clue to whats going on. Also if it triggered an allergic reaction on top of whatever is going on...one more problem to deal with. Allergies can develop at any time.
You need to make sure it is mites before treating for mites. There are other conditions that look very similar. I had a cat we thought had ear mites, but it turned out what she actually had was a yeast infection that was related to her allergies.
here's a good otc medication that is very safe for older cats and young kittens too. It will soothe ear symptoms from infection in the ears and get rid of ear mites if present. It helped our cat tremendously when it had ear problems and scratched a hole the size of a quarter. This treatment healed the open wound and resolved the ear issues entirely. it's called Dr Dogs Ear Oil and was from http:/drdogs247.com
Is dogs ear oil safe for my 16 and 18 year old cats? I take them to the vet every three months to make sure they aren't suffering, I have mainecoons and they are very hairy and you can't tell when they lose weight. I felt very guilty when the ve told me he was skin and bones when we put him to sleep. Anyway, they started scratching their ears and have junk in them. I was just at the vet two weeks ago, I can't afford visit after visit, and I'm not going to use extraordinary means to keep them alive at this age. They have been too wonderful of pets to see them suffer, because I would be too selfish too put them to sleep. At their age they don't need to suffer, just let them go without more painful treatments! If more people felt this way, I wouldn't see so many very old pets suffering cause their owners " love them too much" to put them down. That's a selfish attitude. Anyway, is their something otc I can use without two more expensive vet visits? I'm 62 and on disability myself, we r growing old together.
no dogs anything is safe for cats. for heavens sakes ear mite are treatable. but if let untreated can cause deafness and infections from the scratching.
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