Ear mites are a disease called otodectosis in cats. Otodectosis (ear mites) Ear scabies in cats

You can find out what an ear mite looks like in cats only by examining it under a microscope. Otodectes cynotis has an exoskeleton, eight legs, one pair slightly longer than the others. Females are slightly larger than males. There are no jaws, instead there are chelicerae - oral appendages.

Before mating, the female usually moults. Each mite lays about 5-6 eggs in the ear canal. Ticks are born six-legged, do not immediately mature, but first go through the eight-legged nymph stage.

Otodectes cynotis feeds on lymph and tissue fluids. To get to nutritional fluids, the mite uses chelicerae to damage the upper layers skin its owner.

Cases of human infection from a cat are very rare. But this happens if a person has a weakened immune system. Otodectosis in humans occurs in a more pronounced form, with symptoms of external otitis.

Clinical picture

• dark discharge that looks like dirt;
• redness and peeling of the skin;
• unpleasant odor from the ear.

These symptoms may be mild if the cat is well-groomed. But it will still itch, and an attentive owner will definitely notice that the ears “get dirty” much more often than before.

It is important to diagnose otodectosis in cats as early as possible to make treatment easier.

Treatment

On early stage When the tick has not yet penetrated the middle ear, treatment will not be difficult. Any ointment against ear mites in cats during this period will help positive effect subject to the doctor's recommendations and proper ear treatment. It should be remembered that both ears need to be treated and treated, even if only one is affected.

If the process is started, longer treatment of otodectosis in cats will be required; in this case, drops will be more effective. You may need injections of specific medications: otodectin is most often used for ear mites in cats; antibiotics may be prescribed to enhance the effect of the main drug and prevent the development of a secondary one. bacterial infection.

Choice of medicine

Currently, the pharmacological industry offers a huge selection of drugs for ear mites in cats and different shapes- ointments, creams, drops, sprays and aerosols, powders. The main mistake is that many owners do not know how to use them: they instill the medicine incorrectly, violate the recommended doses and treatment schedules, and do not take into account the characteristics and condition of their pet when purchasing. Of course, many people immediately buy sprays and aerosols, thinking that this form is the most convenient for use - and miss out on others, no less important nuances treatment. For example, spray or drops on the withers are not the main form of medicine; they are used additionally, along with drops or ointments for the ears. Without treating the auricle, sprays are useless, and their uncontrolled use is even dangerous, since any insecticide is toxic. Therefore, how to treat ear mites in a cat should be decided by the doctor after a comprehensive examination. In addition, it would be a good idea to ask how to use the prescribed medicine.

How to put medicine in the ear?

Usually two or three drops are enough. The main thing: try to prevent the cat from shaking out the medicine.
To do this, you need to hold the ear being treated upward, after instillation, carefully fold the auricle and massage it lightly. Both ears need to be treated. The procedure must be repeated after 5-7 days, but not earlier, since all anti-tick medications are toxic. After instillation, moisten a cotton swab with the medicine and wipe the inside of the ear and the skin around the ear.

How to clean your ear?

Important! You cannot clean your ears with cotton swabs!

You should always clean your ears when they get dirty. But when treating otodectosis, it is necessary to cleanse ears before instilling or applying medication. Even if the instructions do not indicate this, dirt accumulated in the ear will weaken the effect of the drug.

Prevention

There is no specific prevention. Mainly, all efforts should be aimed at eliminating contact with potential tick carriers and disinsection of the premises and household items. You should also not forget about the hygiene of the ear canals - this will not only reduce the risk of infection, but will also allow you to immediately notice that something is wrong.

Otodectosis is a disease that is often found in dogs and cats. How to recognize it and how to treat it, says Nadezhda Ilyinichna Levyatova, a veterinary dermatologist at the Biocontrol clinic.

— How can my pet become infected with ticks?
— Infection with otodectosis can occur through direct contact with a sick animal or with care items. If a cat or dog has never been outside or had contact with other animals, infection is extremely unlikely.

— Who gets sick more often and at what age?
— There is no age or gender predisposition to otodectosis. No immunity to the disease is developed.

— How does this disease manifest itself in an animal?
— Classic manifestation otodectosis - copious dry discharge of a dark brown color from the external auditory canals (in most cases symmetrical), intense itching in the head area, behind the ears, and, as a result, the consequences of self-injury. At chronic course the development of secondary fungal or bacterial inflammation in the external auditory canals is possible. In some cases, the mite causes damage not only to the ears, but also to the skin. It is extremely rare that the disease is asymptomatic.

— What does the doctor do in the clinic to clarify the diagnosis?
— To detect the otodectec cynotis mite and/or its eggs, a microscopic examination of the discharge of the auditory canals is carried out. If the presence of external otitis is suspected, an additional cytological examination smear impressions of the contents of the ear canals - to determine the composition of the microflora and prescribe additional anti-inflammatory treatment.

- If I don't contact veterinarian immediately, are there any complications possible?
- Let's proceed from the fact that a sick animal must be treated! If we are talking about chronic otitis media, which arose against the background of otodectosis, then one of the most unpleasant complications in the absence of treatment is perforation of the eardrum and inflammation of the middle ear.

— Why are relapses of this disease scary?
— In case of recurrent invasion, you should think about more effective methods protection and prevention. Chronic recurrent otitis, which can occur against the background of otodectosis, leads to irreversible changes in the tissue of the auditory canals and, as a consequence, the need for surgical intervention.

Pet lovers are sometimes forced to let their pets go for a walk. There is a risk of infection when contacting stray animals various diseases, such as otodectosis. Most often, representatives of the cat breed become infected with it. Otodectosis in cats - what is it, and why can the disease lead to the death of the animal?

The reasons for the development of otodectosis include various variants of infection with ear mites. This may happen:

Otodectosis in cats is not classified as seasonal diseases. Ticks can get into an animal's ears regardless of the time of year and weather conditions.

Symptoms of otodectosis

Based on the cat's changed behavior, the owner may suspect an infection with ear mites.

The animal has:

• anxiety;
• scratching ears;
• frequent shaking of the head;
• refusal of food.

If you look into the auricle of an animal, you can see a large number of dark brown sulfur. This substance has a dried out appearance and an unpleasant odor. In more advanced cases, pus accumulates in the ear canal. The vital activity of mites leads to severe itching, and then the cat scratches the ears with its claws.

Inexperienced owners may think that the cat has accumulated dirt in its ears and
diligently carry out hygiene procedures for cleaning. This is absolutely impossible to do. This biological material is necessary to confirm the diagnosis, and rough intervention in the auricle can intensify the inflammatory process. And this is already fraught with complete loss of hearing in the animal.

You can try to check your guesses about “ear scabies” at home. To do this, you need to lightly press your fingers on the base of the ear, being careful not to cause painful sensations at the cat. If ear mites are present, then when pressed, a quiet sound similar to a squeak will occur.

Ear mites that lead to otodectosis, although small in size, are visually distinguishable. But you can’t stop at visually examining the cat’s ear; medical confirmation of the diagnosis is necessary. To do this, your veterinarian will need a microscopic examination of ear discharge and skin scrapings.

Using cotton swabs, a specialist will carefully take biological material from the animal, place it on a special glass, and mix it with a drop of Vaseline. With this technique, it is possible to detect the presence of not only adult ticks, but also tick eggs. Only after examining the earwax and identifying all the symptoms will the veterinarian make a diagnosis of otodectosis.

An erroneous diagnostic result is possible if the material is collected incorrectly. This happens when the owner, for some reason, does not want to take the animal to the veterinarian, and collects ear discharge on his own.

Treatment of a cat can be carried out at home, but the results must be monitored by a veterinarian. Before you start treating your ears, you should clean the ear canal of dirt, scabs and pus. This procedure is done with a cotton swab dipped in camphor alcohol or hydrogen peroxide.

For greater effect, repeat the procedure after 10 days, if not positive result, then the product is used until all ear mites are destroyed. This can be determined by repeated microscopic examination.

It is up to the owner to speed up the recovery of a beloved pet. After all, a cat’s health and future life depend on its immunity. Therefore, it is important to provide the animal with fortified and high-protein food during treatment.

Prevention

Every pet owner should exercise constant control monitor the pet’s condition and provide favorable living conditions. Cats, just like people, need a warm, well-ventilated and humidified environment. Necessary
frequent wet cleaning, carpet cleaning, daily airing. After all, a person can bring ticks into the house himself and thereby unwittingly infect a cat.

It is also important to maintain the cleanliness of objects with which the animal comes into contact the most. These are bowls, carriers, scratching posts and hygiene products. They must not only be washed regularly, but also treated disinfectant. And, of course, protect your pet from contact with stray animals.

The entire development cycle lasts from 14 to 20 days, depending on environmental conditions, and occurs in phases: egg, larva, protonymph, teleonymph, imago (mature individual). In the external environment and under optimal conditions, the tick is viable for up to 65 days.

Symptoms

Symptoms of the disease are initially invisible; only stunted growth and dull hair color are noted. Then the animals periodically experience anxiety attacks. Due to severe inflammation, accompanied by, sick animals shake their heads, scratch their ears, and rub them against various objects.

Pathogenesis .

Infection occurs through contact with sick animals, as well as items caring for them. Owners can also infect their pets by carrying ticks on their clothes or hands (for example, by interacting with a sick animal). Otodectes cynotis, feeding on the cells of the epidermis (lining the upper layers of the skin), mechanically injure the skin, and also have an irritating and toxic effect waste products on nerve endings, resulting in itching.

Diagnostics.

Inflammation of the inner surface of the auricle with the formation of dark brown crusts gives rise to suspicion of otodectosis, and the subsequent detection of mites in scrapings confirms this. But there are other causes of inflammation in the external auditory canal, clinical symptoms which are similar to this disease. Carrying out differential diagnosis necessary for exclusion inflammatory process of another origin - notoedrosis (another type of skin mites), hypersensitivity (allergy) to bites, as well as lice infestation. The presence of a fungal or bacterial infection that contributes to the development of otitis media is also excluded. To do this, perform a cytological examination of smears - impressions from the external auditory canal.

Treatment.

Prevention.

To prevent otodectosis, it is recommended to prevent healthy animals from contacting sick animals, especially stray animals, and to monitor the hygiene of the ear canals. Monthly sanitation of the ear canal using special lotions (for example, Otifri, Virbak) reduces the risk of otodectosis. Not recommended to clean ear canals cotton swabs, and also wash them with solutions that irritate the skin (hydrogen peroxide, dioxidine, chlorhexidine). Animals kept in nurseries have their ears systematically examined to identify tick carriers.

• Increased earwax volume means dirty ears.

• Tick ​​waste is a brown coating with a noticeable unnatural odor. In a progressive form, the ears are literally filled with a wet mush of brown mite secretions, wax, coagulated blood, and skin scales. On the picture advanced stage ear mite.

Before choosing a medicine for ear mites in cats, make sure you have a diagnosis. Many skin diseases, as well as allergies cause itching in the ear area, and brown discharge may have several root causes.

Note! If a cat scratches its ears vigorously, the scratches bleed, but the animal does not stop, and the inside of the shell is clean - you are dealing with. The disease is also caused by a tick, but is subcutaneous and affects the outer part of the ear.

How to identify ear mites

• You will need a flat black surface. Exactly black! The ear mite has a white color, but is literally microscopic in size, so the surface should be as contrasting as possible.

• Using a cotton swab, take a swab from the animal's ear. Try to grab as much of the mixture as possible, but take the smear in one motion.

• Holding the stick over the black surface, gently tap on its base - you need to “shake out” the ticks from total mass discharge.

• Place the stick in the bag, shine a bright light on the surface and look carefully. If you have vision problems, use a magnifying glass.

• Your task is to detect white dots, which, after lying down for a while, will begin to move. Found it? – you have confirmed the diagnosis, the cat has ear mites.

Read also: Respiratory system cats: possible violations and their reasons

Treatment for ear mites in cats

Even in complex, advanced cases, treatment skin diseases carried out at home, ear mites are no exception. Sexually mature individuals lay 5 eggs per day, and their full development cycle takes 21 days. Get ready and be patient; in the most “rosy” prospects, we can talk about complete relief from ear mites no earlier than in a month.

To remove ear mites as quickly as possible, you need to follow a number of rules:

• Hygiene – isolate a sick pet from other animals and people. Wash your hands hot water after contact, use gloves, a medical cape or gown.

• Treatment at home involves the use of specialized medications, following the instructions or prescriptions of the doctor.

• Regardless of treatment tactics, it is necessary to thoroughly clean the ears of plaque every day. A cotton swab is soaked in hydrogen peroxide or a special disinfectant lotion.

• Keeping an eye on the animal or using a collar to prevent the cat from scratching its ears will reduce the risk of wound infections.

• Use in parallel with the main treatment antihistamines, they will ease the itching.

• A tick attack is an indicator of decreased immunity or metabolic disorders. To restore strength, the animal needs rest, care and proper nutrition.

Important! Continue the course of medication according to the instructions and hygiene procedures, even if the cat does not show signs of illness. Young mites and eggs do not cause as much itching as adults.

Selecting a drug for ear mites

Read also: Probiotics for cats: talking about ways to normalize microflora

At an early stage you will only need ear drops narrow spectrum, cotton swabs and patience. If pus is found in the ear, the animal experiences pain when palpating the lower part of the ear, the pulp has a wet consistency, you will need:

• Remedy for ear mites in cats wide range action, it is optimal to use drops that eliminate fungi and bacteria - Oricin or analogues.

• If you choose narrow spectrum drops, you will need additional antifungal drug– Otanazole or analogue. Veterinarians often recommend using an antifungal ointment - it stays on the surface of the ear longer, for example, Oridermil.

• Lotion or spray for cleaning and disinfection - used warm. Apply the product to the inside of the ears, massage, let the animal shake its head and begin cleaning.

• Immunostimulants – subcutaneous injections, drugs like Gamavit, Tetravit.

Important! To treat and prevent ear mites in cats, you should not use medications containing alcohol! You also risk the life of your pet if you use “dog” drugs.

The instructions for the drug clearly state how to treat the animal - doses and timing. Do not exceed the recommendations, do not instill double volume of the drug if you missed procedures, do not shorten the treatment period.