[ponymony]

Hello!

Recently got a little girl kitten, medium hair grey/white/black tabby. Shortly after receiving her she got ear mites? how I am not sure, anyhow I took her to the vet, he showed me how to clean and apply the drop medication. I did that for about 2 weeks, twice a week as recommended by him.

Then I started to notice she would shake, scratch her head a lot. Upon further inspection I noticed her ears were very red, along with hardened crust in the ear and black/grey gunk at the bottom of ear. She would scream in agony when I touched her ears.

Back to the vet, she had some sort of infection, doctor didn't say what, he prescribed tresaderm drops to be applied twice a day. But before this I was to use mineral oil to clean out her ears of the gunk and hardened gunk. Which I did, but I wasn't able to get all of the hardened material out, she would scream and get unbelievably uncontrollable even when wrapped in a towel.

Now my question is more about the ear canal, I've read that ear mites etc they are deep in the ear canal, now I use the medication, but how does that take care of the little buggers in the ear canal since I cannot clean it out with a Q-tip or so I was told?

How do I clean inside the ear canal?

Thanks!

 

[scottd]

If she's in that much pain, you should really consider taking her to the vet and having them sedate her to clean her ears well.

 

[ponymony]

Well it's all fine now, ear is pretty much 99% clear of gunk, except inside the ear which is where most of the ear mites reside, correct?

How do I get the stuff from inside of the ear canal out?

 

[Penny135]

Mac had them bad when I got him.Trasaderm was what my vet gave me. He hated having it put in. You need to get it dirctly down the canal. I held his ear over the canal for a bit after to make sure it stayed in good. The vet had me give it for 7 days and said I could use it longer if needed. I used it the 7 days then waited a few days. It worked its way out and I just used a cotten ball to wipe his ear for awhile. When its brown wax and not black you know they are gone. Havnt had to use it since but the vet said to store it in the fridge and it will keep well to 2014 (dates printed on side).

Oh, Mac would shake his head alot after treatment and some during the day too until they were all dead. Hope he's feeling better soon!

 

[ponymony]

Mac had them bad when I got him.Trasaderm was what my vet gave me. He hated having it put in. You need to get it dirctly down the canal. I held his ear over the canal for a bit after to make sure it stayed in good. The vet had me give it for 7 days and said I could use it longer if needed. I used it the 7 days then waited a few days. It worked its way out and I just used a cotten ball to wipe his ear for awhile. When its brown wax and not black you know they are gone. Havnt had to use it since but the vet said to store it in the fridge and it will keep well to 2014 (dates printed on side).

Oh, Mac would shake his head alot after treatment and some during the day too until they were all dead. Hope he's feeling better soon!

Yeah the vet told me to use it for 10 days twice a day. So far so good, she was REALLY squirmy first time, but I think the bath I had to give her kind of scared her, so she is much calmer now. I also give treats twice during it though, that might help. What about dried brownish skin that's stuck to the ear? looks like its scabbing, I don't want to peal it of though.

So the gunk inside the ear falls out? I haven't noticed that as my cat shakes her head one time when I put the drops in, but doesn't really shake them other then that.

 

[doodlebug]

Maggie had a really bad mite infestation when I got her. The medication took care of killing them within a couple days, but she had goo coming out of her ears for months. It tapered off...from daily cleaning to every couple days to weekly...but it was still coming. When she went in to get spayed (3 months later) I asked them to clean her ears while she was under. They said that they couldn't believe how much was still in there. And that was finally it.

So, my point is, after days of medication...the mites are likely dead but you're just dealing with debris from deep in the ear canal that's working it's way out. Maggie also had the brownish "skin", that just seemed to be mite crud mixed with medication that dried.

Also...don't let her shake her head after putting in the medication. She'll shake it out. Hold her until you're sure it has worked it's way down into the canal.

 

[ponymony]

Maggie had a really bad mite infestation when I got her. The medication took care of killing them within a couple days, but she had goo coming out of her ears for months. It tapered off...from daily cleaning to every couple days to weekly...but it was still coming. When she went in to get spayed (3 months later) I asked them to clean her ears while she was under. They said that they couldn't believe how much was still in there. And that was finally it.

So, my point is, after days of medication...the mites are likely dead but you're just dealing with debris from deep in the ear canal that's working it's way out. Maggie also had the brownish "skin", that just seemed to be mite crud mixed with medication that dried.

Also...don't let her shake her head after putting in the medication. She'll shake it out. Hold her until you're sure it has worked it's way down into the canal.

Ok thanks! that makes sense.

Also, do you know what these white flakes are that shes getting behind her ear? the fur? it's a hassle to get out!