Question

My cat Peanut has been scratching at her ears a lot lately. She's an indoor outdoor cat. How can I tell if she has ear mites?

Answer 1

The crust in the ear looks like coffee grounds. When I found my cat, she had ear mites, and her ears were almost flat back on her head. She cried when I touched them.

Comments

I work for ProbiotiSmart and have learned a lot from working here and having pets, which I am happy to share with others! From my experience with Ear Mites, Gordon is Exactly Right! I took in a cat that needed some TLC and thought he had ear mites due to the coffee ground appearance. I took him to the vet and he sure did. The vet gave me some drops to put in his ears once a week for the next 4 weeks (also told to put in our dogs as well since they were around him). This seems to be doing the trick.

Answer 2

Itching and shaking her head will be the first signs. Her ear will be all crusty on the inside.

Answer 3

First of all observe your cat for scratching, as the bites can be very irritating and cause their ears to become very sensitive and itchy. You may also notice minor skin irriations around the ear, or your cat shaking it's head before and after scratching to attempt to free herself from the mites.  Next gently rub the outside of the lower ear canal. If this prompts an automatic scratch response this indicates ear mites. Next examine the hears with a flashlight, if you see small granular substance simular to coffee grounds there is a presence of mites. Clean the ears to provide immediate relief from the infestation by using something like Dr. Gold's Ear Therapy to help sooth the irritation. Your cat's first instinct is to shake his head. Holding him close and rubbing gently will prevent him from shaking the oil free before it has a chance to loosen mite debris. Clean the residue with a clean cotton ball or swab, but do not insert the swab into the ear canal. You may damage your cat's ear. Finally treat the ears, generally with a mixture of 1/2 ounce of almond oil and 400IU's of vitamin E. Massage ears, make sure liquid is room temperature, and repeat daily for one week and then let them rest for three days. Repeat whole process as necessary to keep your cats ears in proper health!