Gaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh, ear mites! I thought our foster kittens just had dirty ears, but then the ears got more and more and more dirty, so we took them to the vet today for a cleaning. The kittens all had massive ear mite infestations, as did Missy Mae. We can’t figure out how they developed, though. As far as we know, the kittens ears were fine when they arrived at our house—in fact, their tiny ear canals were barely open.
We also know that Missy Mae’s ears have been given two clean bills of health in the past couple of mnnths. She’s had ear mites at least once in her life (because she’s got that crumpled up, scarred ear tissue), but she was examined very thoroughly and proclaimed healthy. I never saw any dirt in her ears at all.
It was Fannie Mae who showed the first signs of a problem in one ear, then the other ear, and by then it had spread to all four cats. It looks like all the upstairs cats have avoided the problem, thank goodness. We were given free treatments for the kittens, but just to treat Missy Mae (without an office visit fee) was $55.
We had to make two vet trips today. First, we took in the kittens, and found out they had ear mites. Then we came home, I checked Missy Mae’s ears and pronounced her infested as well, so we had to take her in so she didn’t reinfect the kittens. When we were home for good, I changed out towels, cleaned the floor with bleach, and gave the carrying crates a washing out with bleach as well. I know ear mites aren’t the end of the world, but I do not need them to spread to seven other cats and four dogs.
