If you peek into your cute little kitten's ears and discover a large amount of dark, thick discharge, chances are your furry feline has ear mites. While the treatment for these pests is fairly simple, preventing them can be rather difficult, depending on your situation.
Things You'll Need
- Ear cleanser
- Ear medication
Instructions
How To Get Rid of Ear Mites in Kittens
Take your kitten to the veterinarian. While it is generally easy to tell if your kitten has mites just by looking at the discharge in her ears, the only way to be certain is to have your vet look at the debris under a microscope. Sometimes, yeast and bacterial infections can be mistaken for ear mites if the mites are not properly identified. Your vet will place a small amount of the discharge on a microscope slide and add a few drops of mineral oil on top. He will then look at the sample under the scope. Mites are almost always visible, but in some cases, they are not. If this happens and your vet is suspicious of the mites, he will usually prescribe the medication anyway.
Clean your kitten's ears and apply the appropriate medication. It is important to remove the debris from your kitten's ears for the medication to work effectively. If you place medication in an ear that is covered in discharge, the medicine will not make contact with the ear and will not work. Use a gentle cleanser to flush your kitten's ears. Your veterinarian may prescribe a cleanser, or they are available at pet stores.
Your veterinarian will prescribe a medication that contains an insecticide, most commonly, one containing pyrethrin. This could include the medications milbemycin, acarexx, fipronil or selamectin. Treatment may take two to four weeks to completely eliminate the infestation.
Despite the name, ear mites can live all over an animal's body. In order for treatment to be the most effective, many veterinarians recommended treating the whole body. Usually, sprays, dips or shampoos are prescribed.
Keep your kitten away from other animals who may also have ear mites. Ear mites are extremely contagious. Your kitten probably got them from an infected animal--most likely, his mother. If your kitten interacts with any animal who has ear mites, including dogs, other cats, gerbils, rabbits and ferrets, he can get them again. This also means that while your cat has ear mites, be sure to keep him away from other pets.