Introduction
When a cat becomes infected with ear mites, the mites will quickly begin reproducing and increasing in number within the cat’s ears. The entire life cycle of the ear mites, from hatching out of the egg to maturing into a reproducing adult, takes only three weeks. Prompt treatment is necessary to prevent permanent damage from occurring and to relieve the cat from the intense itching that the mites cause.
Treating Ear Mites
While there are many over-the-counter treatments available that can be used to treat ear mites in cats, a prescription treatment from your veterinarian is best. Over-the-counter treatments often take weeks to eliminate the ear mite population, and cats do not like to have medication applied to their ears on a daily basis. Additionally, a veterinarian will be able to confirm if a cat is indeed suffering from ear mites, or if another medical condition is causing the symptoms.
Two products, Acarexx and Milbemite, are prescription ear mite treatments that are directly applied to the cat’s ears. In most cases these treatments only need to be applied once to eliminate the ear mites. Prescription products that are applied to the cat’s skin to eliminate ear mites include Revolution and Advantage Multi. Revolution is also used to kill intestinal worm and flea infestations in cats, and Advantage Multi is used to kill flea infestations; both of these products contain an added ingredient to address ear mite infections.
Ear mite infections are easily spread between other pets in the household. For those with multi-pet households, all animals will need to be treated for ear mites even if only one animal is showing symptoms. Otherwise the mites can continue to be passed back and forth and re-infect treated pets.