Hello,

I am pretty sure that my bengal has a case of the ear mites. Coffee ground-like deposits in the ears, and he keeps itching at it quite a bit.


Has anyone else had experience with them? If so, how did you comfort and treat them? Any advice on the topic would be helpful really.

I do not have any other pets.

Yeah unfortunately I do have experience with them. They can be very uncomfortable for animals and should be treated promptly! I would see a vet and have his ears checked to make sure it's mites and not an infection, or both. Where are you located so we can give you an idea of medicine? It csn vary from place to place, or rather country to country.

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I live in Wisconsin, USA

I will definitely have him checked up by my vet as soon as I can and follow his instructions. I will call and probably have him seen on Monday - just looking for things that can help him out in the meantime.

My girl had ear mites really bad when I got her. The vet cleaned them out and put a 1 dose treatment in both ears. Took care of them great. After that, revolution once a month flea treatment prevents ear mites also. I use it as preventative just because the ear mites were horrible and I would hate for them to come back. It is very contagious between cats also. If you have any other cats, treat them all.

1 dose of what? What medication did you use to treat it? Is it available OTC or only at the vet's?

I am going to get him a revolution collar tomorrow - hope that will help!

Revolution is not a collar, its a topical application you put on the back of the neck and its by prescription only. And what julznala was saying is that her vet used a "1 dose" ear treatment, compared to some meds that need to be put in the ear multiple times. I personally don't like flea collars. But have used Revolution for my cats that got mites and it took about 3 treatments (once a month on the neck) to get rid of them. Your best bet would be to just take your cat into the vet so they can be 100% positive it's mites. It should only take a matter of minutes for them to verify... swab the ear and look at it under a microscope.

Okay,

Thank you for the clarification. I've never had to use these products before and I know next to nothing about them (obviously!). I'll take him to the vet ASAP and try to keep him as comfortable as possible in the meantime!

Thanks again!

NP... I didn't know anything about mites or Revolution either, so don't feel bad. My 3 cats were healthy as could be for 7 yrs and then I was forced to move into a dump of an apartment in Arkansas and their health went downhill fast, till I was able to rehome them in Denver with an online friend.

Good luck at the vet and keep us updated.

Will do!

Just an extra question - are the mites similar to fleas? Can they leave larvae/eggs that need to be cleaned to prevent re-infection?

If so, which products are good to use (I am in the US) and how often should things be cleaned? Also, do the shampoos that treat fleas/ticks/mites help - assuming he is happy enough to sit through a bath?

Ear mites are much easier to treat than fleas. The medication kills all traces of them when given properly.
Fleas are the worst!
Give me mites or lice any day.

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~ Kyenta

So the treatment for ear mites is just to treat the kitten, and clean the affected areas? There is no required cleaning of the house/carpet/cushions?

I will be combing with a fine tooth comb and searching for other little buggies just to make sure. Finding ear mites has given me a bad case of the creepy crawlies!!

Simple vacuuming of the house is fine. Mites don't last long off the host as they need to feed to survive, but I would wash and dry any item where the cat lays/sleeps a lot. Most vets will give a medication like the Revolution along with the ear treatment is because even though they are "ear" mites... they can be found on other areas of the body like the tail as cats/dogs sometimes curl up with their tail near their head. Also keep in mind that any other cats or dogs in the house will need treatment as well.

I will make sure to vacuum a bit extra then and clean all of his favorite spots frequently for a week or so (?)

I don't have any other animals in the house, so thankfully I don't need to worry about that one!

Thanks again for your advice - vet's tomorrow!

If the vet applies a one time treatment to the ears, then no need to go overkill on the cleaning... a one time simple cleaning/washing should suffice. Good luck at vet

Alright, that sounds reasonable.

Thanks for your advice.


Of course, I will double check what I should do at the vet's office when we are there :)