Ear Mites in Cats

Owning a cat is an altogether different experience since they are fun to observe and play with. However, what also matters is, the cat's health which mainly depends upon the cat food and the hygiene maintained. If you happen to own a feline for a long time now, you need to know the various cat health problems that might bother your feline. And as I mentioned, one of the commonest infections is ear mite infection in cats.

Causes and Symptoms

This ear infection is generally a result of lack of cat hygiene and care. Ear mites are present in the environment in large numbers but love to reside inside the ears of pets like dogs and cats. These are parasitic organisms with hairy bodies that cause irritation in the ear canal and the resulting infection. The causes? Now, your feline might get infected while he/she is grooming in the garden, or else if it comes in contact with any other infected animal even for a few minutes or so. Ear mite infection is highly contagious and a slight exposure could result in this painful condition. Well, how do you know whether your cat is infected or not? If your cat is constantly head shaking as well as scratching its ears, it has been affected by ear mites. However, the degree of pain depends on the severity of the infection, and in worst conditions can lead to bleeding ears, wherein your cat might whine because of pain. If you simply observe your cats' ears using a magnifying glass, then you would see a black or dark brown fouling debris which is actually the mixture of earwax, blood and ear mites. Following are the treatment measures you need to follow for curing this infection.

Treatment

Antibiotic Ear Drops
This medication mainly recommends the use of ear drops or solutions available in the local pet shop. What you need to look for is the presence of an insecticide that would kill these harmful parasites. The most recommended ear solutions are Milbemycin, Acarexx, Fipronil, Selamectin since they contain pyrethrin which acts as an excellent insecticide.

Home Remedies
Home remedies for ear mites work well, trust me. They require the use of essential oils in place of the above antibiotics for smothering the mites. First of all you need to clean the ears of your feline properly with the aid of a cotton ball and remove as much of debris as possible. Next, you need to mix the ingredients, add few drops with the help of an ear dropper and massage their ears so that it gives a soothing effect. If the ear has any internal bleeding or injury, then the oils help cure these wounds as well. However, the treatment needs to be continued for few weeks to absolutely get rid of the mites. Below is the list of home remedies you could try out.

• Corn Oil: few drops
• Mineral Oil: few drops
• Almond or Olive Oil: half ounce of oil mixed with 400 IU of Vitamin E
• Yellow Dock Root Extract: 9 drops of extract mixed with 1 tablespoon water
• White Vinegar: 1 part of vinegar mixed with 2 parts of water

Shampooing
Along with the above treatment measures, shampooing every alternate day is a prerequisite. Even though ear mites reside inside the ears, they can be found in the fur or near the tail or the entire body as well. To avoid this, make sure you shampoo your feline with an odor free and an effective herbal shampoo. This would keep its body clean and free of any further infection.

This was all about ear mites and the treatment options. The treatment technique is alike for antibiotics as well as the home remedies. As they say, prevention is better than cure, so make sure you keep your cat healthy in all the respects. Take care of your feline!