Mites!!!

[miss mittens]

We brought home a kitten last week and poor baby's ears were full of mites. So full of mites that we could not see her little ear canals at all. After a couple of baths and cleanings with mineral oil we can now see pink in her ears. She is isolated in one room currently, because we have another kitty and a couple of birds I would hate to see pick up mites. How do I get rid of the mites that may be living off of our new baby, around the room, just waiting to climb back in her eats? Currently I am cleaning her ears nightly, at the same time my son is vacuuming his room and I am washing the bedding frequently. She is a little princess who loves sleeping on pillows.

TIA

 

[red top rescue]

I would suggest you stop using oil now that the ears are clean and try to let them dry out.  Clean with dry q-tips.  Then you should pack the ears with one of two things.  As long as there are no sores in the ears, you can use plain boric acid powder, which you can get at Rite-Aid.

https://www.riteaid.com/shop/rite-a...jCNbd86OwXWpNhYje_vzZBoCVebw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Put some on the end of a small spoon, hold cat, fold back the ear and drop the powder into the ear canal, press in gently with your finger but don't rub, then holding the flap of the ear down, massage the ear canal from the outside to sprad the powder around.  Then, let go and stand back and she will shake out any excess.  Do the other ear.  Then wipe her face with a dry washcloth to get rid of any excess powder.  Repeat in 3 days.  Then repeat in one week.  Then repeat in a week one more time and that should be the end of it.

You can do the same thing with food grade DE (diotomaceous earth) which you can get at feed supply stores or online.

http://www.swansonvitamins.com/swan...HUqes_5Pmd-7bFVPb-YpMbqT8otzRJc-mSRoClgLw_wcB

The DE and the boric acid powder both work by penetrating the mites' exoskeleton and allowing their fluids to leak out so they basically dry out.  It works on fleas and cockroaches also.  If you have other cats, just pack their ears with it once before letting them be around the kitten.  It will make their ears dry and uninviting to mites, who prefer warm wet ears.

Keep checking her ears weekly for a few weeks to make sure there is no more mite dirt, or just put it in once a week for a couple more weeks if she is being exposed to mites anywhere.  The mites will not go for your baby, they just like cats.