Can I treat my cat's ear mites myself?

by Anonymous

I am pretty sure my cat has ear mites but my vet did not treat them. Can I treat the cat myself without spending hundreds more?


About a week ago, I noticed that my cat had brown debris in his ears. We took him to the vet with suspicions of ear mites. They said that it wasn't mites, nor was it an infection, but probably dirt because he had been a stray recently.

They cleaned his ears (for $150) and said he was all set. Now I am noticing that the brown debris is back and I am pretty positive it is ear mites.

Do I need to bring my cat back to the vet or is it safe to buy the ear mite drops at the store and save myself a great deal of money?

I obviously will spend the money if I need to for him, but if it is safely avoidable I would really like to know. Just can't call the vet to ask because they will tell me to come in no matter what. THANK YOU so much.

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Apr 18, 2018
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starstarstarstarstar 		Careful cleaning ears
by: Jim W.

If your cat does have ear mites, I've read that you have to be extremely careful cleaning the ears.

If you do it the wrong way, you can push the mites down into the ear canal and make things worse. I would probably not want to try this myself. I've also heard the over the counter stuff and especially the home remedies for ear mites don't work well or at all.
Apr 18, 2018
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starstarstarstarstar 		I would question the vet
by: Sally F.

If the vet misdiagnosed your cat, I'd call them out on it and see what happens. You brought your cat in for suspected ear mite treatment, and didn't get it.

If your cat has mites, your vet messed up. If left untreated, mites can do damage to the ears (and so can cleaning the ears improperly). I think your vet should at least meet you half way on the follow up.

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