Vaseline
★★★★★
(Springfield, Va)
09/09/2009
Wow, that's a great idea; since Vaseline IS essentially mineral oil, only in a jelly form and thus would seem to stay in better than a liquid oil. I wonder why I have not heard this before? The only thing is that an oil would probably go down into the canal -where the mites hide- better. Once they get way down in the inner ear, they are impossible to treat. I have tried Acarexx, yellowdock, mineral oil and none are working. Strangely, my oldest cat, who is isolated in one room by himself, has the worst case. He has no contact with other cats or the outdoors, so clearly he got it from me (my clothing or hands-- yuck!!). He has renal disease and is not reacting well to the Acarexx- will not eat and balance is way off (likely from the mites being pushed deeper into the ear). If no improvement tomorrow, I will have to take him to the vet. I am on my way to the store for tuna and/or chicken in the hopes that he will eat that. Anyone else have a cat who reacts this way to Acarexx?? All my other cats are fine and ears seem to be improving.
Vegetable Oil
★★★★★
Vegetable Oil and Iodine
★★★★☆
Vicks Vapor Rub
★★★★★
Vinegar, Oil
★★★★★
First we irrigated the ears with vinegar, which changes the pH and kills adult mites. Then we put 5 drops of heavy oil (olive would have been okay but we used jojoba) in each ear and gently massaged the base of the ear before allowing her to shake it out again. The jojoba really did wonders to stop itching and speed up healing.
The vinegar changes the pH in the ear, killing the eggs and the oil drowns live mites and soothes the ear. We irrigated and bathed weekly and oiled every other day.
Irrigations took place in the tub to restrict mess and so I could immediately bathe her in a pyrethium-based flea/tick soap; treating only the ears and not the entire body allows mites to flee the ear during treatment, then move back in. Our other dogs had their ears swabbed with hydrogen peroxide daily to prevent transmission.
We continued treatment for 5 weeks to be extra safe, but things noticably improved after the first treatment.
(Brightwood)
08/04/2016
(Tennessee)
08/05/2016
Dear Liz,
Always dilute vinegar for use on a dogs fur or in his ears. No more than 50% vinegar. If the skin is broken, dilute it more. I wouldn't use more than 1 tablespoon of vinegar in a cup of water if skin is broken.
~Mama to Many~
(Sydney, Australia)
08/05/2016
Vitamin E, Hand Sanitizer
★★★★★
(Tucson, Arizona)
04/21/2010
★★★★★
We recently adopted a heeler puppy, he is 3 1/2 years old, at first I thought he had a ear infection, I came to your site, and started reading up on things, come to find out, he had ear mites. First I tried the hand sanitizer-rubbing that and massaging it into his ears, he cried bad from that, I waited a bit, then put pure vitamin E oil in next, massaged his ears, and now he is doing WAY better. I think I will have to add the vitamin E oil at least 1 more time, but he is not crying, relaxed, playful, etc. now, thank you! I LOVE your site.
Warm Water and Q-Tip
★★★★★
Yellow Dock
★★★★★
Yellow Dock
(Mpls., Mn)
09/05/2014
Hey Bill!
You can use the mixture for the ears on the skin, however if your cats lick it there could be complications if they have an undiagnosed underlying liver or kidney disease.
It doesn't sound right for the ear mites to be migrating all over your cat's body; it it just affecting the back of his ears?
(Copenhagen)
01/18/2015
I used Black Walnut Hull Tincture mixed with Pau D'arco tincture, just twice splashed into the ears three days or so inbetween - gone a week after.
Yellow Dock
Thank You.
(Jessieville, Ar)
07/16/2015
I am just starting to treat all my dogs for ear mites and am using yellow dock for their treatment. I am a little confused w/the directions though. Do I mix the 1tblspn of water w/9 drops of yellow dock and use this whole solution per dog or just use the mix and fill a dropper and put it in each of their ears? Any advice is appreciated.
(Mpls., Mn)
07/17/2015
Hey Leeniemud!
1 tablespoon of water with 9 drops of yellow dock is the dilution- mix up as many batches as you need to treat the ears. Maybe you only need 1 batch per ear, maybe you need 2 batches per ear to really get the solution worked down deep - and it needs to get worked down deep to reach all the mites.
IMHO it will be helpful to clean the ears of gunk before you do the yellow dock treatment.
Yellow Dock
Yellow Dock
★★★★★
"In order to actually kill the mites, there are a couple of natural remedies that you can make at home.
The first one is a mixture of 9 drops of Yellow Dock Root Extract and 1 tablespoon of water.
Use an eyedropper to insert the treatment into the pet's ear, being sure to massage it well prior to the animal having the opportunity to shake it out. Administer the treatment once every three days for a period of six weeks.
The second treatment mixes 1/2 an ounce of Almond Oil with 400 IU's of Vitamin E. Warm up the mixture to body temperature and apply 1/2 an eyedropper into each affected ear. Massage the mixture around in the ear and remove the excess with cotton balls. Administer the treatment for a period of six days, leave it for three days and then repeat."
However, according to http://www.healthynewage.com/ear-mites.htm (which claims to have gathered their information from William Pollak D.V.M. and the Fairfield Animal Hospital), the treatment regimen listed above is inaccurate in some ways: It explains these treatments as two separate remedies (whereas the following info describes them as two steps of the same remedy), and the administration differs slightly.
I am not sure which is more or less accurate, but seeing as the following information was provided by medical professionals, I personally trust it a bit more. The following info is also more specific and gives reason for each application of treatment. Of course, you have the final say in what you end up using for your pet, so I can only recommend that you do extensive research and become educated on anything you may be considering before deciding on any one remedy.
www.healthynewage.com's remedy is as follows:
Step 1: Make a mixture of 1/2 ounce of almond or olive oil and 400 IU vitamin E in a dropper bottle. Warm to body temperature and put about 1/2 dropperful in the ear, massaging the ear canal well for a minute or so. Let your pet shake its head and then gently clean out the opening with cotton swabs. Q-tip type applicators many times compact material already in the ear canal. Apply the oil every other day for six days. Then let the ears rest for 3 days. (The oil mixture will smother many of the mites and start a healing process.)
Step 2: Using Yellow Dock Root Extract, dilute it with water, 9 drops to 1 Tbsp of water. Treat the ears with this mixture once every 3 days for 6 weeks. Ear mite eggs are quite resistant to just about anything after they have already hardened, that is why a 6 week period of treatment is recommended. The eggs will continue to hatch out in cycles and if medicine is present for 6 continuous weeks (medicine administered will last for four days) there will be no more eggs present.
I also found this tip very helpful: Instead of trying to place the drops directly in the ear, lay the dropper across the entrance of the ear so that the liquid first goes onto the outside and then drains in.
Zoonosis
★★★★★
