Does anyone know a good home remedy for ear mites?

Question

I heard that a tiny bit of olive oil on the tips of the ear will get rid of mites????

Answer 1

I've heard that you can suffocate them with mineral oil, but don't know if that really works or not. You can get a product called Acarexx at the vet that's a one-dose application to kill mites, and they can put it in the ears for you, you don't have to clean them or anything, it costs about $20 here. Occasionally you need a second dose in 3 weeks if it's really a severe case but about 95% of the time one dose is all you need. Revolution topical is a nice med for cats too, it covers fleas, mites, heartworm, and some kinds of internal parasites too, but not sure what that one costs.

Answer 2

Lizzy is correct, mineral oil can work, so will baby oil. It smothers the mites.

If mites are not treated they can get to the point where they enter the middle ear & her balance can be ruined for life, then you might have to euthanize her.

You don't put it on the tips of the ears, you need to get an eye dropper or syringe, you need to get the oil deep in the ears & then rub the bottom part of the ear "well" to get it down inside. {do not put the dropper or syringe deep in her ears, just fill the bottom part of the ear til you can see the oil}

You need to repeat this treatment for several days depending on how bad the mites are. Mites usually come from the cat walking thru weeds or exposure to another cat that has mites.

You can NOT catch mites from your cat!

Before you start: no matter how sweet & docile the cat she will seriously go ballastic when you put anything in her ears....so, get a blue jean pants leg--preferably from a childs sized jeans, cut them as high up on the thigh as you can.

Put the cat into the thigh end of the jeans and then sit on that end!! Push the cats head thru the foot end of the jeans & hold her between your legs/knees.

It's best to do this in the bathroom with the door closed, when you are done, she will shake her head a lot & maybe even dig at her ears for a min, the oil will splash out of her ears & you don't want it on good clothes or furniture, it will stain! {all this is normal!}

The reason for the jeans is that after you treat the first ear if you don't have a tight grip on her she will be gone! {it also keeps her feet confined so she can't scratch you while she is trying to get away.}

Good luck!

PS. there is a shot now for ear mites but I have tried it a few times on trapped ferals & have found that it doesn't work for the most part & the last cat you want to try to hold for the oil treatment is a wild one!

Does anyone else have experience with the shot? If so, did it work for you?

Answer 3

Ear Mites live deep in the ear canal and coating them with oil may kill a few but it won't cure your cats problem. You need Meds from the Vet, IE Mitaclear or Tresaderm. They are not expensive to buy and you will be doing your cat a favor. They can give the mites to other cats you may have in the house or outside for that matter so treating them may also in time help out the spreading in the neighborhood. You can give a shot of Ivermectin to wild cats that your are unable to treat daily. If given the correct dose it does work but it is not a preventative. Good luck.

Answer 4

None that are effective. Interestingly, part of the reason in-the-ear medicines & remedies don't work all that well for ear mites is because they don't spend their entire life in the cat's ears - they also reside all over the cat's body, including the tail (which is near the ears when the cat curls up). Since cats are extremely sensitive to pesticides, and tea tree oil is toxic to cats, DO NOT try any pesticide or herbal-oil home remedies or you may make your cat very ill.

The easiest way to get rid of ear mites is to get Revolution or Frontline flea medication from your vet. Revolution will kill ear mites if you apply it as directed to the back of the neck - it only takes one dose, that's all, no messing around with ear medicines for weeks. To kill ear mites with Frontline, apply one drop into each ear, then apply the rest of the dose to the back of the neck as directed. Simple, easy, no repeat applications necessary, and great for cats who don't like being given drops in their ears.

Answer 5

Nope. The only remedy that will completely rid your ears (or your cat's ears) of mites contain mild pesticides. You need to get to your vet. Mites ain't no laughing matter. They are HARD to get rid of completely.

So the best ear mite home remedy is to leave your home and get the remedy from your local vet.

Answer 6

Not true you need to goto the pet store and get ear mite medicine. Then you need to clean and treat the ears until the infection is gone. If not your cat will not get better and could go deaf and blind. Never heard the olive oil thing until now

Good luck it only cost about $8.00 for a bottle

Answer 7

Take your puppy to the vet. To start with you don't want to treat for something you are not even sure the puppy has. You can make the problem a lot worse. There could be an ear infection. To be sure just take the pup to the doctor. The sooner the better, your puppy is suffering. Also you will save money by treating early before this problem gets worse.

Answer 8

They used to use kerosene on a swab for that but I certainly wouldn't recommend doing that to your kitty cat.
That is like a Voodoo Country Witch Doctor remedy.
You would be better off getting some medication from a Veterinarian.

Answer 9

go to the vet for treatment if you have ear mites.

you can try mineral oil in the ear, just use an eye dropper to put one or two drops in each ear, then squeeze and roll the ear with your fingers. if it is a large animal use more( good size dog). they tend to shake there head and the , gunk, comes fling out, and goes everywhere.

but if it is serious go to the vet.

Answer 10

ear mites are nasty--get the hardcore stuff from the vet to get rid of them. They drive your poor cat nuts and they will go cat to cat.