What do ear mites look like in cats

Cat ear mites are parasitic mites in the cat’s ears. They are visible to the naked eye as black stains with slight crawling and redness. The ears will have a peculiar smell and more oil. It can cause the cat’s ears to itch and cause the cat to constantly shake or scratch its ears. Therefore, owners should observe carefully in daily life and clean up the ear mites immediately after discovering that the cat has ear mites, so as to avoid continuous reproduction in the cat’s ears.
Clean cat ears are one of the symbols of a cute cat, but if they are not taken care of carefully, they may be infected with ear mites.
Seeing a dark mass in a cat’s ear, many poop collectors will wonder: Is this earwax or ear mites? Why is this happening? what can we do about it?
In fact, dirty ears do not necessarily mean that a cat has ear mites. It may also be caused by earwax or an infection caused by Malassezia.
This involves the specific diagnosis of ear mites, and the diagnosis of ear mites is based on the identification of their symptoms.
This time we will talk about the common problem of cat ear mites.

What are ear mites?

Ear mites are a parasitic infection disease that mainly occurs in cats and dogs. It is highly contagious between the two animals (kitten are more likely to get ear mites than puppies). It is generally not transmitted to humans. Ear scabies ( Otodectes cynotis) is another name for ear mites.

Black granular ear mite

This highly contagious ear mite is generally contracted through contact and is not breed specific. It can infect cats of any breed and age, but kittens with weakened immune systems are more susceptible.
Cat ear mites are ear itching mites and ear scabies mites that live in the cat’s ear canal, causing a series of parasitic diseases in the cat’s ears.
Adult ear mites are about 4 mm in size, but can reach thousands in number. They feed on cat skin scabs and lymph fluid, or epidermal debris and tissue fluid, which may cause infection, redness, and swelling of the cat’s external auditory canal and nearby skin.
Moreover, it takes a total of 21 days for these pests to go from eggs to adults and then to death, and the entire life cycle is spent on the cat.
During this period, ear mites will use the cat’s ear canal as a good breeding ground for breeding, multiplying in large numbers, and endangering the cat’s health.
If the cat does not receive appropriate and timely treatment after infection, the number of macrophages in the cat’s ear canal will gradually increase, resulting in an increase in antibodies and severe allergic reactions.
In the above situation where timely measures are not taken, secondary infection or even mixed infection of the cat’s ear canal may occur, which virtually increases the incidence of otitis externa and otitis media in cats.

The picture above shows ear mites, so what are the specific symptoms of ear mites in cats?

Symptoms and diagnosis of ear mites

Ear mites are parasites that are invisible to the naked eye and live in cats’ ear canals throughout their lives. This is because the environment in cats’ ears is dark and moist, which is conducive to their survival.

When these tiny parasites are present in large numbers, they will irritate the cat’s ears and cause itching. The cat will scratch and tilt its head. In severe cases, it may become red, swollen, smelly, etc.

Cat ears are still red after cleaning

Ear mites generally have the following symptoms:

Itching, scratching, and head shaking

If a cat has ear mites, it will scratch its ears unconsciously when it feels itchy. Sometimes it will shake its head vigorously and frequently. Sometimes scratching will cause partial hair loss on the skin around the ears.

Redness, swelling, allergies and inflammation

Scratching may cause the skin around the ears to become red, swollen and inflamed. In severe cases, it may lead to bleeding and infection. It may also induce otitis externa, otitis media or even pus.
Cats’ ear canals may also become red and allergic due to parasite infection, and an inflamed rash may appear.

Black or dark brown earwax

Healthy cats’ ears generally contain a small amount of ear oil, and some may contain trace amounts of earwax (which can be removed by daily cleaning);
Ear mites will irritate the mucous membrane of the cat’s ear canal. The ear canal will secrete more ear oil to fight infection. Together with the inflammatory secretions and the ear mites themselves, a large amount of black or dark brown earwax will appear, and you may even smell it when you get close. Odor.
The above are the symptoms that cats will show after ear mites develop. So how are ear mites diagnosed?

Diagnosis

First, you need to ask about the cat’s medical history in detail, then do a simple general examination, and then proceed to the following steps.
1. Diagnosis of clinical symptoms: For ear mite infection in cats, it is necessary to observe and compare the clinical symptoms, that is, the points explained above, to make a preliminary diagnosis.
2. Microscopic examination: Microscopic examination of the secretions in the cat’s ear canal, that is, using an otoscope to examine the cat’s ear canal.
3. Microscopic examination: Use a cotton ball to collect earwax samples and smear them on a microscope slide. The diagnosis can be confirmed by seeing the white worm body.
4. Complete blood count examination and otoscopy: If the infection caused by ear mites is accompanied by other symptoms, these two relatively rare examinations must be performed to confirm whether the cat’s ear canal is damaged, inflammation, ear hematoma, etc. .
5. Exclude secondary infections: During the diagnosis process, bacterial and fungal infections such as otitis media and Malassezia infection should be excluded.

Malassezia

The above are some of the methods doctors use to professionally diagnose cat ear mites. In addition, ear mites must be distinguished from Malassezia and earwax.
Ear wax, ear mites and Malassezia

Healthy cats’ ears usually contain a small amount of yellow ear oil. So what does such cat earwax look like?

Earwax

When ear oil dries in a cat’s ears, it will turn into yellow earwax. Cats that eat a lot of meat will have slightly darker earwax, a yellowish-brown oil, and a slightly larger amount.
Compared with ear mites, the accumulation of earwax is very small and can be wiped away with a wet tissue.

Ear mites

Cats with ear mites will have small lumps of black or dark brown particles in their ears, and there may also be small red rash-like bumps in the ear canal. This is redness, swelling and inflammation of the external auditory canal caused by ear mite saliva. .

Malassezia

Malassezia infections are commonly caused by fungi in the ear canal.
When a cat is infected with Malassezia, there will be a large amount of dark brown mud in the ears, and there may also be white scurf in the ear canal (emphasis added, this is the biggest difference from the symptoms of ear mites) and things similar to keratin.
Only after making a good distinction can we confirm whether the cat has ear mites. After confirming that it is ear mites, we must start to deal with ear mites.

How to deal with ear mites?

After discovering ear mites in cats, you should be fully prepared and use long-term patience and correct methods to care and treat the cat. Only then can the ear mites be cured. It is very important to insist on giving good care to the cat. Before treatment, the cat should be taken to the hospital for a thorough examination to see if the eardrum is intact before treatment can be carried out.

Isolate the cat

It should also be noted that if you have a multi-cat household, it is best to isolate and treat cats with ear mites. Cat ear mites are contagious and highly contagious. Then, if the owner has multiple cats at home, the cat with ear mites should be isolated and placed in a separate cage to prevent other healthy cats from coming into contact with the infected cat and being infected. Also, use disinfectant to clean the living environment, especially the affected cat’s nest, tableware, toys and other items.

Treatment

Clean the ear canal

You should know that if cats’ ears are excessively moist or poorly ventilated, bacteria and fungi can easily breed and cause ear inflammation, so it is very necessary to help them clean their ear canals.
Before cleaning the ear canal, prepare ear drops and absorbent cotton balls. It is best not to use cotton swabs, otherwise it is easy to push dirt into the ears and injure the cat.
Step 1: Hold the ear drops in one hand, fix the cat’s head with the other hand and use your fingers to evert the cat’s auricles to see the ear canal clearly (you can use a towel or cat bag to wrap the cat to prevent biting)
Step 2: Know the location of the cat’s external auditory canal (the side closest to the cheek).
Step 3: Put 1 to 2 drops of ear drops into the cat’s ear canal.
Step 4: Hold the head with one hand and quickly massage the base of the cat’s ear with the other hand for 30 seconds to encourage the ear drops to dissolve the earwax; then let go and let the cat shake its head.
Step 5: Use clean cotton or paper towels to clean the dirt on the auricle (note, this is a step that is often ignored!)
Ear canal cleaning can be done once every two days. Once the ear mites in the ear canal are removed, it can be done once or twice a week.

Regular deworming

Ear mites are a parasitic infection, so deworming is extremely important.
Normally, cats should be dewormed regularly every three months. We recommend Dapai Ai and Ai Walker, both of which have good results. Cats with ear mites can be dewormed once a month. If you insist on deworming, they will not relapse.
If you have a multi-cat household, you should use Big Pamper on each cat. Generally, one application can effectively remove ear mites.
This kind of drop should be placed on the back of the cat’s neck. It can be absorbed into the cat’s blood circulation and transported to the ear canal, thereby killing ear mites that feed on skin debris.
I have also mentioned the precautions for deworming in my previous article. You can click on the link: Deworming.

The above are the methods for treating ear mites. If you want to prevent ear mites, you should start with the following points:

Prevention

Carry out daily care and hygiene

Wipe your cat’s ear canal with a cotton ball dipped in ear drops, 1 to 2 times a week.
It should be emphasized that every cat’s ears have a certain degree of self-purification ability. As long as you maintain good household hygiene and ensure a clean environment, you generally do not need to use ear drops too frequently.

Regular insect repellent and window screens

Generally, households should be dewormed once a quarter, but in places where there are many mosquitoes, deworming can be done more frequently, even once every two months.
Installing screens can prevent mosquitoes from invading unknown corners of the home and reduce cats from suffering from various parasitic diseases.

Give fresh and nutritious food

Feed your cat nutrient-rich food. If possible, you can feed it raw bones and meat, or make more homemade cooked meat. Chicken, duck, beef, sheep, fish, rabbit, etc. can provide cats with different nutrients.
Only in this way can the cat’s resistance be improved, make the cat stronger, and reduce the chance of contracting ear mites.
That’s all for today. Ear mites are a common cat disease that every cat owner should pay attention to.
The reason why cats are susceptible to ear mite infection is because the owners do not do a good job in daily cleaning, or the place where the cat sleeps is damp and unventilated. On the other hand, there is malnutrition and weak resistance. Therefore, you should pay attention to supplementing nutrition. You can make some nutritious meals for cats to eat. Then you should pay attention to cleaning the cat’s nest, especially in some dead corners, where there may be residual eggs of ear mites. You should also keep the indoor and cat nests clean. Keep it dry to avoid reinfection with ear mites.