Cats with Ear Problems

Unlike dogs, most cats aren’t prone to ear problems, but there are exceptions:

Certainly ear mites are a common problem in cats, but your doctor will detect this problem during it’s examination and recommend an appropriate treatment. 

Note that ear mites, like fleas, are resistant to many ear mite remedies available which explains why home treatment so often fails.

Some individual cats, especially orange tabbies for some unknown reason are prone to heavy ear wax build up.  In such individuals, the gentlest and most effective ear cleaner available is one we put our own label on containing aloe.   Use as needed.

Other cats are prone to facial allergies to include tender, irritated ears.  The management of this problem needs to be discussed with your veterinarian which we will gladly do.

And finally, some cats; especially those with white ear flaps, are prone to sunburn, solar dermatitis, or insect/fly attacks. 


Treating Ear Mites
in Cats

First, we recommend that a veterinarian check to see if you really do have a mite problem and not an infection. Or both.

Usually, when we discover ear mites in your healthy kitten or cat, we flush your pet’s ear out with a strong suspension of ivermectin which is 100% effective in killing the adult mites but may not kill all the eggs so retreatment or Revolution as a follow up.  Concentrated ivermec is nice and cheap but it's an off label treatment and not safe for weak kittens or patients with ear drum damage.


- Revolution, which we highly recommend for all cats will kill ear mites as well as fleas, ticks, and heartworms, but you’ll get faster results if you first flush the ear out with ivermectin or baby oil.
A single dose of Revolution costs $13

- ACAREXX is now available and is an ivermectin based medication approved for cats and kittens and designed specifically for the treatment of ear mites.  It’s safe and effective, easy to apply, no pre-cleaning required, and usually only one treatment is needed.  The only negative is that it’s a little expensive: $15

- Pyrethrin Based Ear Drops are available in every pet store and catalog.  They used to work ... just like pyrethrin based flea products used to work. Alas, the fleas are now resistant and so are the ear mites.  These products no longer work well.

A little About Treating Ear Problems in Pets and About The Great Products We Recommend and Offer To Help
A short introduction about taking care of waxy, itchy, smelly, painful, or infected ears:

Many dogs are prone to frequent ear infections.  Especially dogs with ears that flop down over their ear canal.

And for those dogs that are prone to frequent ear problems, the most common cause is a combination of 3 things:

  1.  The tissue and glands inside the ear become ALLERGIC and hypersensitive to either certain foods, fleas, pollens, molds, etc.
Because of this hypersensitivity, the glands and tissue become red, inflammed, and produce extra wax and other secretions.

  2.  Because the ear canal tissue is inflammed and oozing secretions, it becomes infected with BACTERIA and YEAST.

  3.  Bacteria and yeast multiply and multiply and invade deep into the tender ear tissues excreting ODOROUS toxins that cause PAIN and severe INFLAMMATION.

Luckily, we have some products that usually do a great job of killing the bacteria and yeast, soothing the painful ear, repairing the damaged ear canal, taking away the extreme itching and inflammation, and controlling the allergies.

This page is a short summary of the products we proudly offer to help:

FoxNest Ear Cleaner with Aloe:
Inexpensive, soothing, low pH, and a very gentle way to keep ears clean which prevents infection.  With or without added antibiotics.

Tris EDTA Ear Flush:  For severe ear infections due to the bacteria Pseudomonas.  This type of ear infection is not too common, but if your dog has an extremely severe ear infection, we will perform a test telling us which type of bacteria is causing the problem.  If Pseudomonas is present, then using Tris EDTA Ear Flush, usually with antibiotics added, is an important step in the cure.

Zymox HC Ear Drops: This natural, enzyme combination solution is our most successful treatment of painful ears infected with pus and yeast.  This stuff is amazing.  Most vets are still selling "Panacur" ointment for most routine ear infections and don't know about Zymox which works 10 times better.  It's also easier because once a day is enough. 
Guaranteed to make a huge improvement in 3-7 days or just bring it back.  $18

But, as fantastic as Zymox is at removing pus and inflammation from the surface of the ear canal, you will also want to consider these additional or alternative treatments:

Malotic Ointment Rx   Having just criticized Panacur in comparison to Zymox in the paragraph above, sometimes Zymox doesn't work well and Malotic Ointment does.  Go figure.
Malotic Ointment is inexpensive, and does a good job at killing  bacteria, a fair job at killing yeast, and a fair job at reducing surface irritation.  Malotic is also a good all purpose ointment for minor wounds, athlete's foot, paw infections and so forth.  Much superior to Neosporin as a first aid treatment.  $12

Momentamax Once a Day Ointment Rx: Another all purpose ointment for treating ear bacterial and yeast infections but potent enough for once a day treatment.  $15-30

Anti-histamines:  Inexpensive benadryl, chlorpheniramine, or more potent hydroxyzine HELP make allergic ear dogs more comfortable, less itchy, and may prevent future ear flare ups.  Super safe for most pets and while usually not enough to control the underlying allergies completely, do help.  $2-3   Ask us about the appropriate dose for your size dog.

Oral Antibiotics and Oral AntiFungal Medications Rx: While Zymox or our other alternative topical treatments are often adequate for most superficial ear problems, some cases involve deep infections of the tissue.  We will prescribe oral antibiotics and antifungal medicatons if needed on exam.

Omega Fatty Acid Supplements improve the quality and nature of the extracellular fluids that nourish connective tissue incluing skin and ear tissue.  That makes them helpful in healing damaged ears and reducing inflammation.

Duralactin Chewable Tablets:  Duralactin is a natural and very effective enzyme medication for pain and inflammation.  Excellent for painful ears as well as arthritis, bladder infections, and general aches and pains.  $24 for a big bottle of tablets or $14 for the suspension designed for cats and smaller dogs.

HypoAllergenic Diets and Treats:  Ear allergies are sometimes related to food allergies so you might find a special diet trial successful at preventing the ear infections in the first place.  Talk to our staff for details.

Thyroid Testing, Cytology, & Ear Cultures:  Not all ear problems are simple or associated with allergies.   A good examination and some lab tests are often needed to get a good diagnosis and treatment plan.


Douxo (Phytosphingosine) is a micro-emulsion, natural product that's very effective at healing flakey, damaged ear tissue.  You apply a few drops once a week as a supplement to other treatments.  
Just $3.00