Cat ears are remarkable. Think of them as delicate satellite dishes pulling in sounds of higher frequencies with greater positional accuracy than human ears ever can. It’s no wonder that ear problems, like mites, can be so darn annoying to cats.
What are Ear Mites?
Ear mites (Otodectes cynotis) are a common cause of ear inflammation (otitis) in cats, particularly in kittens that are stressed and/or live in close proximity to other cats. Adults develop some immunity but can still become infected when they come in contact with large numbers of mites or have underlying health problems. Dogs can also be affected.
Ear mites are related to ticks but are much smaller. To the naked eye, they look like little white specks and can sometimes be seen moving around if you place a chunck of debris from your cat’s ear on a well-lit, dark surface. Under a microscope, an ear mite looks a bit like a crab. These parasites feed on the skin flakes, wax and other materials found in ears and are highly contagious. Left untreated, ear mites can cause permanent damage to a cat’s ears.
Ear Mite Symptoms
It’s not hard to imagine how irritating it must be to have hundreds of tiny, crab-like parasites crawling around, feasting, pooping, mating and laying eggs in your ears. Cats with ear mites respond by shaking their heads, holding their head and ears at weird angles, and scratching themselves around the ears, head and neck. If you look in the ears, you’ll probably see a dark, granular discharge that resembles coffee grounds.
Other ear problems, like bacterial or yeast infections, can cause similar symptoms to ear mites in cats. To confirm that mites are to blame, a veterinarian will usually look within the ears using an otoscope and examine a sample of debris under the microscope.
Ear Mite Treatment
Thankfully, many medications are available that will get rid of ear mites in cats. Over-the-counter ear mite treatments may seem like the most convenient option, but they generally necessitate treating the ears daily until the infestation is gone. Newer medications available through veterinarians will usually get rid of all the mites with just one or two applications. Some go directly into the ears (Acarexx or Milbemite, for example) while others are applied to and absorbed by the skin (Revolution, Advantage Multi or Bravecto). Your veterinarian can help you determine the best option.
Another important part of ear mite treatment is getting all the gunk that the infestation produces out of a cat’s ears. You can try this at home with an appropriate ear cleaner like Cerumene or Oti-Clens, but the procedure can be messy, unpleasant and will probably have to be repeated several times. Your veterinarian can do a more thorough job and follow up by looking deep within the ears to ensure that all the debris is gone.
Ear Mite Prevention
The regular use of many preventatives for fleas, ticks and other parasites (like Revolution, Advantage Multi, and Bravecto mentioned above) will also prevent ear mite infestations in cats. And because ear mites are so contagious, treat all the dogs and cats in your home with one of these products if one of them is diagnosed with ear mites.