Kitten, Fleas, Ear Mites....or both!?!

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Gary - 21 Oct 2004 07:17 GMT

Hello,

We took our 7 week old kitten to the VET yesterday to get registered and
have its first checkup (it was previously checked when it lived with its
mother).
Our VET used a Flea comb on the kitten and found fleas, she shook the
contents of the comb onto the table, and a flea hopped backed onto the
kitten. Needless to say she sold us every drug under the sun for our kitten
and two adult cats, as well as various house hold treatments for the
furniture etc. Whilst at the VET the lady applied a small tablet and asked
us to keep an eye open for the dead fleas which should appear sometime in
the next hour or so. We had the kitten in its cage on a light blue blanket,
and by the time we had got home could find no fleas on the blanket. It then
lay on our couch for about two hours asleep, and again we could find no dead
fleas once it had moved.

I woke this morning to find the kitten sitting on our bed, scratching behind
its left ear and then shaking its head as if to try and get something out.
My Girlfriend gently dabbed a small piece of tissue around the inside of ear
and there appears to be small black specs on the tissue. Dabbing the ear
with tissue seemed to upset the kitten, it let out a yelp and tried to get
away.

Our two adult cats, we have taken the flea comb to them and they are
spotless, and they are not itching at their ears.

The kitten is going back to the vet when it opens in an hour, I am still
trying to figure out what the hell is going on.

To summarise:
- Only one flea found, at the VET, no dead fleas dropped off the kitten as
far as I can tell.
- My two adults cat are free of any visible fleas when using the flea comb.
- The kitten and its two brothers and mother were tested for fleas at the
local PDSA only 7 days ago, before we had it. No fleas found on any of the
cats.
- This itching of the ear and shaking of the head.
- The little specs which come from the ear.

Anyone care to help me draw a conclusion?

Regards,

Gary.
PS - The kitten was found abandoned in a box, in a bin, with its mother and
4 siblings. Unfortunately, 2 of them had passed away. The other two and
the mother are now being well looked after, and our one is having a blast of
a time here, ignoring this little flea / mite hiccup.

PPS - Sorry for the X-post.

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Wendy - 21 Oct 2004 13:05 GMT

> Hello,
>
[quoted text clipped - 46 lines]
>
> PPS - Sorry for the X-post.

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_ear_mites.html

Some info on ear mites.

It probably wasn't ear mites that you saw on the tissue as they are very
small. Not to say that the kitten doesn't have ear mites but it would take a
microscopic examination of wax removed from the ear to confirm the
diagnosis.

Did the vet check the kitten for ear mites when you were there?

What products exactly did they send you home with?

W

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Ivor Jones - 21 Oct 2004 13:44 GMT

[snip]

> http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_ear_mites.html
>
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>
> What products exactly did they send you home with?

Don't know about ear mites, but the best products on the market for fleas
are Advantage and Stronghold. both available only from your vet.
Stronghold also handles roundworm. Spot-on liquid to the back of the neck
once a month. Brilliant stuff, never seen a flea in this house :-)

Ivor

PS *NEVER* buy a drop-on preparation in a store or anywhere except from a
vet, you don't know what's in some of them...

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GW - 21 Oct 2004 14:13 GMT

>> It probably wasn't ear mites that you saw on the tissue as they are very
>> small. Not to say that the kitten doesn't have ear mites but it would
>> take a
>> microscopic examination of wax removed from the ear to confirm the
>> diagnosis.

Vet checked, and your right, no ear mites! :)

>> Did the vet check the kitten for ear mites when you were there?

Nope, not on the first visit yesterday.

>> What products exactly did they send you home with?

Advantage Tabs and Stronghold neck squirt things. And a big giant yellow
spray for the house.! Cant recall the name

> PS *NEVER* buy a drop-on preparation in a store or anywhere except from a
> vet, you don't know what's in some of them...

The VET also warned against this!

Thanks,

Gary.

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Phil P. - 21 Oct 2004 15:19 GMT

Not to say that the kitten doesn't have ear mites but it would take
a

> microscopic examination of wax removed from the ear to confirm the
> diagnosis.

The mites can easily be detected on the dark brown background of the wax
(cerumen) with an otoscope. The mites start walking around when they're
warmed by the light of the otoscope. This way of detecting earmites is
almost foolproof and more reliable than microscopic examination of a cerumen
sample.

Phil

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Sara - 21 Oct 2004 18:00 GMT

I know that the black spec could be two things:
1) ear mite
2) excess ear wax
By the way it sounds my guess would be ear mites. Those are fun to
deal with, I fought with ear mites for over two months. Is there any
black specs in the other cats ears? If so they would most likely have
them too, just not bugging them as much.
HTH
Sara

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Sara - 25 Oct 2004 03:35 GMT

Since it wasn't earmite do you know what was causing the kitten to
scratch it's ears?
Sara

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Gary - 29 Oct 2004 10:11 GMT

Nah, vet said hes fine! Still doing it though!

Gary.

> Since it wasn't earmite do you know what was causing the kitten to
> scratch it's ears?
> Sara

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Sharon Talbert - 29 Oct 2004 21:46 GMT

If the kitten is scratching his ears, there is irritation. Sometimes
earmites are way down there in and an instrument is required to detect
them. If the vet didn't take a good hard look into your kitten's ears or
run a comb down his back to check for fleas, I can only recommend another
vet. If both were done and the kitten is still scratching, you might ask
for a follow-up or at least keep an eye on the kitten. If it is earmites,
they may come boiling up to the surface sometime soon.

Or you can apply two consecutive doses of Revolution, which kills fleas
and earmites. Don't forget the second dose in 3 weeks. If the scratching
continues, it's vet-time again.

Sharon Talbert
Friends of Campus Cats

> Nah, vet said hes fine! Still doing it though!
>
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>> scratch it's ears?
>> Sara

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Sherry - 30 Oct 2004 03:06 GMT

>If the kitten is scratching his ears, there is irritation. Sometimes
>earmites are way down there in and an instrument is required to detect
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>for a follow-up or at least keep an eye on the kitten. If it is earmites,
>they may come boiling up to the surface sometime soon.

I thought Bootsie surely had ear mites once, because of her persistent
scratching and digging at the ear, and she'd hold it funny. Turns out it was a
yeast infection.

Sherry

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Samantha G. - 28 Oct 2004 03:14 GMT

> I know that the black spec could be two things:
> 1) ear mite
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> HTH
> Sara

I found a good cure for ear mites. 'happy jack's ear miticide' bought
at the local feed store. One treatment and they were gone! (and it can
be used on cats AND dogs!)

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M.C. Mullen - 28 Oct 2004 04:04 GMT

| > I know that the black spec could be two things:
| > 1) ear mite
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
| at the local feed store. One treatment and they were gone! (and it can
| be used on cats AND dogs!)

Don't forget to repeat the treatment after 3 weeks, then the mite's eggs
come alive.

Carola

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