I adopted a cat to a new home this morning. I took her to the vet and they picked her up. The vet said that she had ear mites and she is now on meds for it. I was suprised to ear this. The very first thing I do when I take cats in is check their ears. I even check other people's cats ears. I would not have missed ear mites. You can usually see a bit of dirt in the ears. Hers were spotless and she never itched. Not that I don't believe the vet, but he was a new one and he wasn't exactly Mr. Personality. What is the chance she has them if her ears are spotlessly clean? And if she does have them, how likely is it to pass to the adopters resident cats? They have been keeping their distance so far, so not like they are snuggling or anything.