Especially outdoor cats are often suffering from ear mites. What is it actually, and how to get rid of it?
Mites or scabies are a parasitic condition. The condition is caused by several kinds of mites. Mostly, it is the Otodectes cynotis. Dogs are affected by it more often than cats, especially the outdoor ones. The parasite is 0.5 mm in size, therefore, it is possible to see it even with the naked eye. The Otodectes parasitizes on the outer skin, where it lays its eggs and lives off flaked skin cells.
You can notice first changes on the lobe of the animal’s ear. The presence of parasites stimulates the production of ear wax, which resembles coffee-grounds. You can even notice some scabies. In case you regularly check your cat’s ears, you surely won’t miss ear mites. In some individuals, strong itching may appear, accompanied with even fanatic scratching that can lead to injuries. However, it is believed, that this itching is caused by an allergy to the mites rather than their activity itself. Since the itching can occur in a single cat under the presence of only several mites, and in another cat, it can manifest itself only in case of a strong infection or not at all.
In any case, it can be very dangerous to leave the cat in such state. In advanced stages, it can lead to inflammation of the ear canal. This can even lead to perforation of the ear-drum and to spreading of the infection into the middle and inner ear, or all the way into the brain.
The ear mites are very contagious through direct contact between the cats, however, you don’t have to worry, since they are not contagious for humans. But if you have more cats at home and you bring a new arrival, or your cats goes outside, you have to pay greater attention to it.
The are several treatment methods. There are anti-parasitic ear drops available, however, most of the cats react very negatively towards them and the treatment is lengthy. Another possibility is repeated application of injections, while both the trip to the veterinarian and the application itself stress the cat. Therefore, I believe, the best option is to choose anti-parasitics in the form of a spot-on. These work both on the inner and outer parasites, so it is appropriate to consider, whether not to deal with regular deworming in this manner. In this way, you can combine it also with mite prevention. These are spots called Stronghold and Advocade.
Cat ear mites can seem to be quite innocent. However, in case we won’t take notice of them, they can have grave consequences.
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