[amidee]

My oldest cat, Amidee, seems to have ear mites. He gets thick brown buildup in his ears every week. He was treated by my vet a year ago, but they came back. Strangely, my two younger cats were treated successfully and haven't been reinfected by Amidee. My only theory is that it's because Amidee is a long hair, and the mites can't get through his ear hair. Anyway, money is a little tight right now, and if I can avoid an extra trip to the vet, I would like to. I bought an over-the-counter ear mite treatment (PetGold Mite-X) and tried it with Amidee. I only gave him 3 treatments, because it seemed to make the problem worse. Does anyone have any advice on whether or not I should keep trying the treatment (aka is it supposed to get worse before it gets better?) or another over-the-counter treatment that might be more effective? Any insight or help is welcome.

Have a nice day!

 

[wookie130]

Well...I haven't heard a lot about the over-the-counter treatments as far as effectiveness goes, but I'm thinking if the problem is getting worse, and that the ear mites are not going away...unfortunately, I'm thinking the poor kitty will have to go to the vet. Ear mites (when left to get worse) can actually cause deafness, if the problem continues to escalate. Since money is an issue right now, I'm wondering if you couldn't ask your vet to put you on a payment plan...if you have a good relationship with your vet, and have always paid for service promptly, perhaps you could work something out with him/her.

 

[brite]

Amidee,

I don't know where you're located, but here in the US, it seems like some of the big chain pet stores like Petco, Petsmart & others have lower cost vets come in on the weekends to administer cheaper vaccination shots and ivermectin drops for ear mites... so you might want to call around and check that out.

Hope that helps,
Brite

 

[drjean]

Save your money -- OTC earmite products don't work.

It's unlikely to be mites at this stage of the game, anyway. Really, you should have your vet take a look, do a swab, and see what is really going on in there so it can be *effectively* treated.

Cheers,
Dr. Jean