Ear mites are a common annoyance in pets; Here is a simple home remedy for removing those nasty little pests and keeping your favorite feline happy . . .
Symptoms of ear mite infestation can be excessive scratching at the ears, shaking of the head, rubbing their ears against objects (such as furniture) in an attempt to alleviate the microscopic creatures living in their ears.
You can frequently tell there is an ear mite infestation simply by looking into the animals’ ears. Ear mites cause the ears to appear as though they contain dark brown or even crusty discharge which is frequently foul smelling.
To Kill the Mite Infestation You’ll Need:
10 Drops Yellow Dock Root Extract
1 Tbs Water
Cotton Balls
Mix the Yellow dock root and water, apply 1/2 tsp per ear, then rub it in, do not let the animal shake it’s head while administering (it may take an extra pair of hands for help!)
Repeat every other day for up to 2 weeks.
Yellow dock root extract is the most effective treatments, it’s frequently used to treat bacterial infections, pain, and swelling (inflammation). It can be purchased online or at Natural food stores, usually for around $5 a bottle and is great to keep in your medicine cabinet.
Alternative Recipe
1/2 Ounce Almond Oil
1 400 IU Vitamin E capsule
Puncture the capsule of vitamin E and mix it with the almond oil. Use Cotton balls soaked in this mixture to clean the cats’ ears daily for 6 days.
To Soothe the Ears You’ll Need:
Cotton Balls
Corn Oil (or) Coconut Oil
Apply several drops of Corn Oil to a cotton ball and gently massage into kitty’s ear.
Your feline friend may protest if so, you can gently wrap her up in a soft towel. Repeat once daily for 3 days.
The corn oil will soothe the irritated ears whilst smothering the nasty mites. This also works well with coconut oil, which is quite soothing to the pet.
Note: Feline ear mites cannot infest human ears.
i have heard and used mineral oil also works. i have used the cheap brand of baby oil and a washed out medication syringe, one you used to give animals liquid medicine and use a couple of drops in their ears. rub it in and it works like a charm.
i also do this for my little dog. works great, you should message the out side of the ear on dogs to make sure it gets all the way down,
could you use olive oil in place of corn oil? i would think the way it works is by suffocating the mites. i have plenty of olive oil and use it in my own ears to soften wax for easy cleaning.
Here more info: (but, yes, it says olive oil is okay!)
A Safe and Effective Home Remedy for Eradicating Ear Mites from Your Cat’s Ears – Yahoo Voices – voices.yahoo.com
Glad you asked…I’m going to try it!
We recently moved to a new house and the previous owner had cats. I thought I cleaned all the carpets and hardwood floors well but I must have missed something. All of our cats now have earmites but not our dogs which I thought was a little odd. My big issue is we have several large, expensive carpeted cat towers with hiding spots. My cats have been treated for over 30 days but the mites keep coming back. What is the best way to treat pet beds and the carpeted cat towers? I don’t want to toss them out but this has been a nightmare.
The ear mites go through three stages of their life cycle. These are the larvae, nymph and adult ear mite stage. Through this time they can transfer on and off the pet. The ear mite life cycle usually lasts for a period of about three weeks. The ear mites are microscopic so you cannot see them on your carpet.
However, they can only live 4-6 days off a host without dying.
The easiest way to kill all stages is to thoroughly dust your house with food grade diatomaceous earth powder, let it set overnight and then vacuum it up the next day. You’ll need to cover ALL carpets, bedding, toys, furniture etc that your cats come into contact with.
Also mites can affect face, paws and tail areas of your pet as well, so dust your cat liberally with the DE, carefully avoiding their eyes, nose and mouth (you don’t want them to breath it in).
My poor doggo has struggled with ear mites for most of his life he just seems to be a magnet for them and also I suspect the little buggers have managed to get far enough down his ear canals so that my efforts at control are never getting every last one of them. It’s mostly just one ear that they reoccur but once they’re there they can find a way to spread to the other ear again. Unfortunately mine is never happy to have his ears messed with, I’ve found natural remedies that work but he sees me grab the bottle and then where is doggo? I just found out about almond oil and vitamin E, I realized that a product I already use on myself is almost pure almond oil and already has E in it. Burt’s Bees makes the product, Mama oil, it’s marketed as a product for pregnant ladies to help with stretch marks etc. It is primarily almond oil with extra E (almond oil is already loaded with E) with lemon rind oil, wheat germ oil, rosemary extract (not oil-extract, there is a difference) and then citrus smell and some other things with uncommon names but still natural. From a few hours of research I can’t find anything in it that isn’t natural or marked as something toxic to dogs. I’m swabbing his ears with the oil and putting a few drops in the canal daily. In two days the ears are a hundred percent less yucky looking and I haven’t observed any head shaking. Better yet he doesn’t disappear when he sees me get the bottle (or may he’s just decided momma gonna get me anyway). For $6.95 worth a try, the company has a long rep for not using chemicals in their products it’s better than over a hundred dollars for a pesticide medication from the vet for sure. My local Target store carries a lot of Burt Bees products I highly recommend them for the human too.