Ear mite treatment

15 years ago

I took my kitty to the vet.He gave her treatment for ear mites and about three other things,When I left I had a huge bill.Went back a month later for shots and ask him to check her ears,same black stuff but he said no mites,Charged me to tell me "no mites"another huge bill.I checked my pets ears today black stuff still there,Do you think it's serious and should I go back to the same vet?Somehow I feel he is getting over on me and what I went for in the first place is still there.Has anyone had to change vets in the middle of the stream?

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Comments (7)

cindyxeus
15 years ago
The life cycle of a mite is about 3 weeks. One needs to make sure they are using a treatment that kills both the larva and the mites in the ear as well as using soemthing on the cat/dogs body around the neck and face that some mites can hide and than crawl back in. Make sure bedding and or any other animals in the house are also mite free so as not to get reinfected. Also making sure you are administering the medicine correctly. Below is a link showing one exactly how to do this.
I coudn't tell you if you Vet was negligent or not in determining if any more mites were present. If you still see debris and the cat is still shaking the chances are it could still have them..maybe even down deeper. Being you don't seem satisfied with your vet if it were me and I felt this way than yes I would go get another opinion.

Here is a link that might be useful: How to medicate your cats ears
goldy
Original Author
15 years ago
Thank you for your help.Will have to make up my mine about changing vets.He never gave me any Meds. He applied the drops in my kitty cat's ear himself.
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Ditto what CD3 says! Aural hematomas (ear-blood-growth/swelling) are most often caused by trauma. We see it in dogs, cats (and even pigs and sheep), when they have an ear infection - bacterial, yeast, or parasites like ear mites or flies, and they vigorously shake or scratch their ears. Or physical trauma, bites to the ear during fights for example, or if the wind whips the ear pinna (the long flap part) around when a dog has it's head stuck out the window or is in the back of a moving vehicle. As CD3 said, I believe they may heal without surgical intervention, but this may cause scar tissue leaving the 'crinkled ear', which feels very firm to the touch, and is no doubt uncomfortable for the pet (during healing, I don't believe its painful once over with). Treatment usually requires sedation, draining of the 'blood blister' and then either placing a temporary drain (less common and not as effective), or placing repeated stitches through the ear flap from one side to the other to prevent it from filling with blood again. And then treating the source of the problem. There have been reports of using surgical glue instead of sutures, but we have not found this to be as successful. There may still be a bit of scar tissue, but the ear usually doesn't get all 'crinkled' up and the animal gets almost immediate relief from the discomfort. Unfortunatley animals in the wild (or on the loose) don't get veterinary care. As I said, I don't believe that once the hematoma has resolved and the source of the problem is treated the cat has any discomfort, though I wonder if the tips of the ears may not be more prone to frost bite due to lack of circulation. Cats have an AMAZING ability to heal themselves, but scars will remain. Sorry, got wordy again! (And REALLY sorry if I seemed to put words in CD3's mouth, didn't mean to, I'm used to filling in the blanks for our clients when they have more questions after they leave the doctor! :) Have not heard of any genetic quirk either. S
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oakleif
15 years ago
goldy, sure recommend you look around for new vet. We 've had trouble with earmites before and vet always sends home meds to continue treatment with.
oakleif
brutuses
15 years ago
There is a prescription formula of Ivermectin that vets use to treat earmites. Sorry I can't think of the name of it right now. Maybe Meghane can post the name of the drug. It's a one time application and shouldn't cost more than $15, if that much.

Trained vets can use straight Ivermectin, but since it's not formally approved for dogs and cats, they've come out with this diluted formula and put a big price on it. It does the job though so it's worth the cost.
cindyxeus
15 years ago
He never gave me any Meds. He applied the drops in my kitty cat's ear himself.

Maybe he applied the Ivemectin like Brutuses mentioned. Do you have any record as to what was used? If not I'd call the clinic and ask what was used just so you know. And for the record never be afraid to ask questions, in fact never leave the office without having full disclosure about any procedure.
Meghane
15 years ago
There is a one-time mite treatment but I am also drawing a blank on the name of the medication. It works really well, so selling you a take-home treatment would have been just jacking your bill up for no reason.

They probably did a physical exam, ear cytology, and the treatment.

Some cats just have dirty ears. You can clean them yourself using an OTC ear cleaner. I use Epi-Otic for my own dogs, just once or twice a month. It keeps their ears clean and infection-free. Most adult cats are very resistant to ear mites, but I've seen many cats with black stuff in their ears and it wasn't any kind of infection.
goldy
Original Author
15 years ago
Meghane Thankyou.I feel a little better.Will clean her ears myself and see if it clears up.By the way if anyone needs to spray their pet go online and get a coupon from"Friends of Animals $65.00 for cats and $95.00 for dogs.

Ear mite treatment

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Ear mite treatment

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