Well, i'm not a troller, for sure, and i got the ideas for the above
from this news group, and my cat being a very anti-social person, at
her age it would probably kill her to be placed in a box and carried
in a car or even walked to the vet. She trusts no one but those in my
household of three, and is deathly afraid of cars and anything that
looks like a broom. when i moved her from our lake home to here i had
to put her in a cat carrier and she cried like a banshee until she was
totally exhausted and hoarse for over 40 miles. if there is anything i
can do to save her that trauma, i want to do it. Perhaps i am just too
naive but thought this group would be a pretty good source of
practical information. Here is what i coppied off this group:

Subject: Re: Cats Ear Cleaning  ..From: Shelley Driscoll
(sepickard@aol.comspamnot)Newsgroups: alt.cats
Date: 2001-03-27  ...In article <3ac000b3_1@news.greatbasin.net>,
"Rob" <badcat5@gbis.com> writes:
<<<Any tips for cleaning cats ears? I need help.  Rob>>>>
Rob, First of all, you are correct, you WILL need help!  Get someone
to hold the ole fuzzball while you attack the ear problem.
Use the standard, over the counter, first-aid type of hydrogen
peroxide.  The 99 cents for 16 ounces stuff.   I believe it's 3%.  Do
NOT use that "high octane" stuff they sell for bleaching your hair!
;-)

I have found that an eye dropper full of peroxide placed in the ear
canal, and then massaged will loosen and "foam out" any debris.  The
cat will then shake it out (stand back once you let go of the cat!)

DO NOT USE Q-tips!  Q-tips just force the "dirt" down into the ear
canal. (This applies to humans as well)  A cat's ear canal is almost
"L" shaped, and is no place to be digging around if you don't know
what you're doing. You can moisten a cotton ball with peroxide and
wipe the outside entrance of the ear also.

However, a healthy cat's ears should not require cleaning.  If there
is an accumulation of black sticky stuff, it could mean ear mites.
Any other drainage could indicate an infection.  If there is too much
"gook" for kitty to remove with routine cleaning, it's time to call
the vet. ---Shelley
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: Gerry (gmantha@home.com)Subject: Re: Cats Ear Cleaning
I like to advise against using q-tips.  They can be pushed in too far
causing injury or simply push crud deeper into the ear canal.  Get one
of those child bulb-squeezy things at the drug store instead.  Use
plain luke warm water in it, and fill the ear canal and rub the base
of the ear for several seconds.  You should hear a squishy sound.  If
the cat's ears has a wax buildup or mite problem, apply drops of
mineral oil or glycerin (also sold at the drug store) about an hour or
two before doing the water treatment to loosen things up.  Do the
rubbing thing after putting several drops of that in too.---Gerry
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Subject: Re: Cats Ear Cleaning From: Buzz & Joy Harris
(buzzjoy@austin.rr.com) Date: 2001-03-28 06:30:03 PST
Rob, for routine cleaning we have had good luck using the antibacteria
towelettes.  Cover you finger with the towelette and gently clean the
outer areas of the ear and with very gentle pressure, the deeper areas
moving toward the inner ear.  Our cats don't mind this much and one
person can easily manage it.

Remember that this is a maintenance type of cleaning, not a deep
cleaning to cure ear mites or yeast infections; those types will need
vet attention and prescription ear drops. ---Buzz
~~~~~~~~~~
EAR MITES:
Subject: Treating Ear mites in cats From: Amber
(ambercatlover@yahoo.com) Newsgroups:alt.cats, Date: 2003-06-21
Old timers in the country down here in TX use to just use olive oil
for ear mites!  I like this stuff from Ranch Supply houses called
Miticide for rabbits (okay for cats, dogs and various other creatures
too, says on $5.00 bottle.)  I believe the oil itself is what kills
the mites.  Something about not allowing the mites to breathe once the
oil gets on their skin.  Unfortunately have to be careful with some
cats.  Too much oil in the ears can cause kitties to grow cysts in the
ears, like my Winnie.  She is pretty old and does not have too much
problem with ear mites anymore.  So I only clean her ears now with q
tips and minmal oil and try to wipe out any excess oil, so her cysts
don't get worse. --Amber
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Subject: Re: Natural Treatment For Ear Mites?  From: Eric Lee Green
(eric@badtux.org): alt.cats
Date: 2003-02-17
Olive oil should work, and will naturally biodegrade. It won't remain
there forever, just for a few weeks. The oil (whether olive oil,
vegetable oil, or mineral oil) works by smothering the ear mites (and
by soothing the ear to prevent the cat from scratching it -- much of
the damage to the ear occurs from the cat's incessant scratching), and
should be re-applied daily with an eyedropper for about a month.  Your
cat will *NOT* appreciate this, but it does appear to work, in my
experience. I placed maybe four drops of the oil in the cat's ear,
then massaged the kitty's ears to attempt to evenly distribute it,
then let go of the cat's head. The cat then shook his head rapidly
trying to get the oil out of his ear, and succeeded in flinging a
large amount of it out (and at the same time evenly redistributed the
amount that stayed in the ear). The cotton wool is then used to clean
up the oil that has escaped onto the cat's fur under and around the
ear. The oil coating smothers the mites, and by repeating the
treatment, you catch newly-hatched mites, thus interrupting the
reproductive cycle and exterminating them.

I've never had it do harm, though I must admit that I've never used
olive oil (but I've used both vegetable oil and canola oil --
pretty much any type of oil SHOULD work). Beware -- my kitties have
all been North American Short Haired Alley Cats, and "pure-breed" cats
that have strange ear configurations may not tolerate the treatment as
well. Also note that I'm not sure how long the ear mites' life cycle
is. I did the treatment for several weeks and it got the mites.

Some "organic treatment" folks add vitamins or herbs or such to the
oil, but that's unnecessary and potentially harmful (since your kitty
could OD on the vitamins, and the herbs won't be flushed from the ears
by the kitty's normal ear-wax system).
 
Most commercial treatments are pyrethroids. I personally disagree with
using pyrethroids for ear mites, because the oil-based
treatments do seem to work in my experience, and work without the
pesticides. Also, pyrethroids are a repellant. If any mites survive
the pyrethroids, they will migrate to elsewhere on the cat (e.g.,
under the tail), then migrate back to the ear after the pyrethroids
wear off. Add in the fact that they are considerably more expensive
than a few  drops of oil, and I think it's safe to say that the
"natural" treatment is worth trying first. --  Eric Lee Green    
http://badtux.org/eric/eric.gpg
       mailto:eric@badtux.org  Web: http://www.badtux.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NOW... before i used the oil, i checked the drug store and the meds
there did contain pyrethroids, so figured the writer of the above was
knowledgeable.
Thanks for your time,
lee h/tvksi

Loved Ms. Kitty's website; she looks like a grand lady. The story was a neat
too. I kept hearing this *noise* and couldn't figure out what it was, till I
realized it was purring! Thanks for sharing Ms. Kitty and her story. I enjoyed
it. Good luck to her with her ear problem.

Sherry

circa 11 Jun 2004 21:53:05 -0700, in alt.cats, Lee (leo@1starnet.com)
said,

Good to hear. :-)

I'm confused- does this cat live with you, or outside? (I was reading
the story on the page. :-) )

Laura

think i need to change vets then.  mine charges a fortune to come out.  must
be the price of living somewhere rural i suppose

In the fine newsgroup "alt.cats", leo@1starnet.com (Lee) artfully
composed this message within
<news:17fed037.0406112053.244658f0@posting.google.com> on 12 Jun
2004:

She's an amazing cat to have made it out there for 12 years. I really
enjoyed reading her story on her web site (haven't read all of it
though!). I haven't read this thread from the start but I wanted to
ask if she is still around?  She's ~17 now? Good job all around to
everyone who helped this little one during her hard life.