Recurring/resilient ear mites?

[Velvet]

Anyone ever come across ear mites that are really resilient & keep recurring?

At start of July the rescue vet cleaned & treated Mindy's ears. 10 days later when she went for her first jab they were bunged up again with debris, Vet cleaned & treated and we had ear drops for two weeks, vet inspected ears, cleaned out debris and said all was well

Three weeks later I noticed debris, so cleaned out her ears thought it was just residue but earlier this week noticed her shaking and twitching her ears - more debris build up

Vets today, he cleaned out a lot of debris from both ears, put in ear drops and she got Advocate this time as well, he said she had ear mites again

One of the ears is irritating her tonight as she is shaking lt and holding it go one side and scratching it. I feel so sorry for the poor wee pet. We have ear drops again for a week, stop a week and then insert them for another week

I've never known ear mites to be so prolific or resistant as this. Any animal I ever had before this that had them, once treated, that was it so the question is - has anyone else come across ear mites that have been such a problem?

To confound matters when we got home, Tim sniffed this strange smelling kitten (Advocate & ear cleaner/drops) decided he didn't know her & hissed every time she went near him

[MrsH]

I've never had any problem with ear mites in cats or dogs but being a cocker spaniel owner, I'm well aware of many people whose dogs have ear problems, it's a bit of a breed thing

There is an old-fashioned preparation called Thornits which experienced cocker owners swear by (it can be used on cats too) A tiny little pinch of the powder is put into the inside of the ear flap (not down inside the hole) and it claims to keep the ear clear of build-up and mites. It smells lovely and medicinal and I use it every couple of weeks as a preventative on Morgan, I don't think it's used as a primary treatment to destroy mites though.

It's been used for decades and was generally called canker powder. Vets don't approve of it, so we cocker owners don't tell them! They tell owners that you should never put powder in the ear but I don't know of anyone who's ever had any side effects from it.

It's pretty cheap, for example Petmeds sell 20g for £8.49, and it lasts for ages. I'm still using the same small bottle and Morgan is 3 years old now.As far as I know it's only available online, I don't think any petstores sell it.

edit: Oops! should have mentioned that you can't use the powder at the same time as a wet cleanser, the ears have to be dry.

[angieh]

That's very useful advice MrsH. Sometimes old-fashioned remedies work the best!

[dandysmom]

I hope that helps, Velvet; I've no experience, thank God, with ear mites.

[Kim]

When we first re-homed Harvey, it soon became obvious that he also brought ear mites with him. He had a particular nasty infestation and took 2 lots of drops to clear.

[Velvet]

Thanks folks, will go online later & have a look for Thornit

After i put her ear drops in this morning, she ran away up the back stairs as fast as her wee baby kitten legs could go.

[truthisouthere]

Yes, Mitzi's had ear mites alot throughout her life. Yet Chesi's only caught it off her once. Poor little Mindy, it's very annoying!

The norm is to treat the whole household as they're stubborn little blighters to shift and very contagious once they take hold. Prevention is definitely better than cure, once you see the coffee granule type dirt in the ear it's usually at an advanced stage.

Aside from treating any other cats it's also very important to break the life cycle of the ear mites, this is treat for 3 weeks, break for one, then treat for another 3 weeks. I use Stronghold, it's a miticide, used to use Frontline but the general consensus is (and I have found too) that Frontline seems to have lost it's effectiveness.

The head shaking will most likely be due to the response of the mites crawling in the ear and also later a build up of wax as the body's response to the mite debris. The drops should loosen this, the Stronghold should treat.

Thanks for the advice MrsH, made a mental note and archived for future reference!

Let us know how it goes Velvet, keep us informed, it'll be interesting to learn which way works for Mindy.