Ear Mite Remedies

I have a cat that will not allow me to put any kind of liquid into his ears. Even if somebody holds him down for me, he's too strong and goes nuts when the liquid hits his ears. I've found the best way is to rub vaseline inside his ears while petting him. He doesn't seem to notice, and even when he does, he doesn't mind too much. It seems to work almost instantly suffocating the mites. After one application, he stops scratching, but I do it each day for a week until I'm sure they're gone.

Hi! I have two cats and my daughter has one. She didn't know her cat had ear mites when she moved into our home. Now I have to deal with all 3 of them having ear mites. I tried cat mite medicine from a store, plus the one called Adams. All it did was make my cats very sick and their ears heated up, and became irritated!! I was at my wits end when I thought I would look up about ear mites on-line. I was so happy to hear about your natural remedies!! I have been using vegetable oil,' for the past 3 days and it seems to be working!! If it doesn't clear them all the way up, I am going to try some of your other remedies. I like the vegetable oil, because it doesn't irritate their ears, and doesn't make them vomit. (the other remedies from the store made them vomit and run fevers.) They don't seem to be scratching as much with the vegetable oil either. It is a battle though putting it into two of the cats ears, as they don't like anything in their ears. Thank you so much for helping me deal with these pesky mites who seem never to leave!! Now maybe my cats and me can get some rest!! Thanks again. I will write more to let you know how they're doing. Thanks again!!

I used to raise rabbits. For ear mites I used a solution of quarter cup vegetable oil and teaspoon of iodine. The solution needed to be shaken before I applied it with an eyedropper and rubbed it into the rabbits ears. Each day I would clean the waxy build up from the ear and reapply the oil until the infestation was gone. Is this remedy safe for dogs?

My 5 year old Collie has had ear mites for as long as I can remember. I tried cleaners and treatments nothing worked. I put ambesol ( baby ambesol for teething) to numb her ears but that was just temparary relief. One night I thought about what would sufficate those pesky things and as I reached for the cleaner I saw the vicks. She has been ear mite free ever since!!! I just swabed it on with a cotton ball once a day for 3weeks and cleaned it out after 24 hours then reapplied. I don't know if it will work for everyone but it worked on her! Smells good too!!!

My bull terrier picked up a nasty case of ear mites from an encounter with an especially filthy ferral cat. Because she's vet-shy here's the cure our vet had us do at home with ordinary earth-friendly products.

First we irrigated the ears with vinegar, which changes the pH and kills adult mites. Then we put 5 drops of heavy oil (olive would have been okay but we used jojoba) in each ear and gently massaged the base of the ear before allowing her to shake it out again. The jojoba really did wonders to stop itching and speed up healing.

The vinegar changes the pH in the ear, killing the eggs and the oil drowns live mites and soothes the ear. We irrigated and bathed weekly and oiled every other day.

Irrigations took place in the tub to restrict mess and so I could immediately bathe her in a pyrethium-based flea/tick soap; treating only the ears and not the entire body allows mites to flee the ear during treatment, then move back in. Our other dogs had their ears swabbed with hydrogen peroxide daily to prevent transmission.

We continued treatment for 5 weeks to be extra safe, but things noticably improved after the first treatment.

Wanted to say thanks for all the great advice here - I noticed one of my guys shaking his head at the beginning of last week and thought he'd gotten into a fight with his brother. When he was still doing it the next day, I looked and there they were. Looks like they have not been 'moved in' for too long, thankfully. After reading the comments here I decided to try using a mixture of about 80% Vitamin E oil (cutting open the gelcaps and squeezing the oil out) mixed with 20% Purell with aloe. I used cotton balls to wipe his ears out and then a clean one to 'drizzle' the mixture further down the canal. He was not happy at first but was not in pain at all. Afterwards, he glared at me for an hour but then came over to knock his face into my hand. It's a few days later now and while they have not gone completely (because of the breeding cycle, of course) his ears are much cleaner and when he sees me starting to make his 'mix' up he comes over to me and waits. Wanted to also remind everyone that the eggs can live on the fur around their ears so you want to pay attention to keeping that whole area cleaned, too.

I'm a retired vet and believe strongly in both home remedies and vets. Why it is a good idea to have your animal checked out regularly by a veterinarian, most are very expensive and give worthless tests. When I was ten my horse, Toyota, caught colic and we tried (my Mother and I) peppermint tea. It cleared right up. The vet even said not to but we did and it worked. Also for ear mites in dogs or cats, try warm water and a Q-tip. Be careful not to push grid into the ear canal. Put the Q-tip at the base of the ear and gently swipe it up. Do this until it is clean. If your animal's ear stinks, it may have a infection and should be checked out your vet.

I tried the Yellow Dock described below and it worked great. Thank you.

I am very sure my cats have ear mites; one seems to be worse then the others and has them on his body as well. I purchased the yellow dock root extract. Can I use this on his skin too? Please let me know, thanks.

Is that nine drops of essential oil and one tablespoon for each ear or just for one ear? I am wondering about the Yellow Dock Root Extract.

Thank You.

Ear Mite infestation in dog can make the dogs ears very sensative and painful. Since the most prevailant type of yellow dock tincture contains alcohol, which I would imagine would cause stinging pain in the dogs ears, would a glycerine-based tincture of yellow dock be preferable?

Part of the introduction to the Ear Mite Remedy page says:

"In order to actually kill the mites, there are a couple of natural remedies that you can make at home.

The first one is a mixture of 9 drops of Yellow Dock Root Extract and 1 tablespoon of water.

Use an eyedropper to insert the treatment into the pet's ear, being sure to massage it well prior to the animal having the opportunity to shake it out. Administer the treatment once every three days for a period of six weeks.

The second treatment mixes 1/2 an ounce of Almond Oil with 400 IU's of Vitamin E. Warm up the mixture to body temperature and apply 1/2 an eyedropper into each affected ear. Massage the mixture around in the ear and remove the excess with cotton balls. Administer the treatment for a period of six days, leave it for three days and then repeat."

However, according to http://www.healthynewage.com/ear-mites.htm (which claims to have gathered their information from William Pollak D.V.M. and the Fairfield Animal Hospital), the treatment regimen listed above is inaccurate in some ways: It explains these treatments as two separate remedies (whereas the following info describes them as two steps of the same remedy), and the administration differs slightly.

I am not sure which is more or less accurate, but seeing as the following information was provided by medical professionals, I personally trust it a bit more. The following info is also more specific and gives reason for each application of treatment. Of course, you have the final say in what you end up using for your pet, so I can only recommend that you do extensive research and become educated on anything you may be considering before deciding on any one remedy.

www.healthynewage.com's remedy is as follows:

Step 1: Make a mixture of 1/2 ounce of almond or olive oil and 400 IU vitamin E in a dropper bottle. Warm to body temperature and put about 1/2 dropperful in the ear, massaging the ear canal well for a minute or so. Let your pet shake its head and then gently clean out the opening with cotton swabs. Q-tip type applicators many times compact material already in the ear canal. Apply the oil every other day for six days. Then let the ears rest for 3 days. (The oil mixture will smother many of the mites and start a healing process.)

Step 2: Using Yellow Dock Root Extract, dilute it with water, 9 drops to 1 Tbsp of water. Treat the ears with this mixture once every 3 days for 6 weeks. Ear mite eggs are quite resistant to just about anything after they have already hardened, that is why a 6 week period of treatment is recommended. The eggs will continue to hatch out in cycles and if medicine is present for 6 continuous weeks (medicine administered will last for four days) there will be no more eggs present.

I also found this tip very helpful: Instead of trying to place the drops directly in the ear, lay the dropper across the entrance of the ear so that the liquid first goes onto the outside and then drains in.

Reading some of your e-mails, i am trying to find out what really works to kill/control/repel ear mites. Since there are so many kind of these mites, does anyone know of zoonosis? Not only does the pet get them, but some people like myself (documented proof at UC Davis on file), how do you try to live a normal life with your pets? Anyone out there know the answer? I have tried all the above, or have heard of them, but chemicals are dangerous, so I'll pass on the vets opinion, use natural products, or stuff like mineral oil, Not nice to Lice shampoo, another thing that works is DermaTechRX also. That is my arsenal, any suggestions?