I Might Have A Cure For The Cat’s Ear Mites

Walter Mitty has not been a happy camper.

That has made at least two of us. I believe I may have told y’all that I am the domestic servant for five “fe-lions.” Walter (aka “Wyatt” because he “erps” hairballs all the time) is the neurotic one. Let me amend that, he is the obnoxiously neurotic one. Walter has been suffering with earmites. Not a few — a lot. Ick.

Taking any of my cats to the veterinarian is an ordeal. First they have to be captured and crammed into the pet carrier. They have a sixth sense that warns them when I am going to the garage to get that. It’s true. By the time I walk back inside with that cage, there isn’t a cat to be found.

Walter is more difficult than the others, just because he frightens so easily. When I get him in the carrier to take him anywhere, he cries such a forlorn wail that it breaks my heart—and makes me want to break his neck! Especially since our veterinarian is located twenty minutes away in the town of Ponder. I don’t even like to think about driving to Ponder with a yowling cat in my car.

On top of that, my veterinarian takes great glee in putting a camera down the cats ears and making me look at ear mites wiggling on a television screen! It’s disgusting! And, to top it off, poor Walter is allergic to any kind of “pest medication.” The last time he went to the vet, even though he did not have fleas, the veterinarian insisted I apply one of those capsules of expensive flea repellent (the ones you put on the cat’s shoulder blades) just in case. ALL my cats are indoor cats. We didn’t have fleas, but I foolishly obeyed the doctor’s orders.

Poor Walter had an allergic reaction; his little belly turned red and must have burned like fire! That poor cat licked all his underbelly hair off. On his back he had that wonderful, long, soft angora hair and underneath he was as nekkid as a baby’s bottom. He must have known how goofy he looked, because he hid under the bed for six months until it grew back.

So, I decided to try over the counter medication first. Here’s the drill: Spread a towel on the bed, get a flashlight, a soft cloth, the ear wash, and the ear mite medication. Put on safety glasses so that when the cat shakes his head you don’t get that gunk in your own eyes.

Try to coax the kitty out from under the bed (because by now he has figured out that something is up), using that ooey-gooey voice, call out “C’mone, sweet boy, that’s Mama’s baby. It’s alright.” The cat doesn’t buy that for a minute. He bolts for the door. The husband runs interference and slams the door while the cat dashes back under the bed. With husband on one side of the bed and me on the other, we reach and stretch until we grab one hind leg of the cat and finally drag him out from under the bed. Find the flashlight, the ear wash, and the mite medicine which were knocked from the bed in the struggle. Search for the safety glasses which I flung from my head when I was trying to reach under the bed.

Dear husband grapples the cat under his arm, while I first wash the cats ear with the cleanser. It must sting like crazy as I massage it into his poor raw ears. With the cat trying to struggle free, I wipe out his ears, then apply three drops of the ear mite medicine in each ear. Husband releases Walter and that cat bounds from the bed like a spring and darts out of the room quicker’n greased lightnin’.

Perhaps you can see why neither Walter nor I have been happy. My dear husband hasn’t been very amused either. This went on for many days and there wasn’t much improvement. The cat was beginning to mistrust my every move. If I even looked sideways at him, he jumped. A few nights ago, I was ready to give up and just take the cat to the doggone vet. But, then I got an e-mail from a friend.

It was one of those forwarded things that I usually delete immediately, just because my inbox is so full. But, I opened it, and found my salvation! The subject was “Good Remedies,” and the first thing on the list was this:
“Eliminate ear mites. All it takes is a few drops of Wesson corn oil in your cat’s ear…Massage it in, then clean with a cotton ball. Repeat daily for 3 days. The oil soothes the cat’s skin, smothers the mites, and accelerates healing.”

As I thought about it, this made sense to me. As kids, when our dogs got ticks, we smeared Vaseline on the ticks to suffocate the little suckers and make ‘em fall off. Splendid! But—I didn’t have any Wesson oil. My first thought, which you may have guessed if you have read any of my posts, is “I can use bacon grease instead!” That would have made for some happy cats, but it was a shame to waste good bacon grease when there is so much okra to fry. So, I got another brand of vegetable oil, and gave it a try.

Now, catching the cat was the same ordeal, but amazingly when I put that oil in his ears and massaged them, Walter quit struggling. In fact, he even began to purr. For good measure, since ear mites are contagious, we dosed all the cats that night. It was the first night in a long time that we didn’t have them draped all over us the entire night. They were all in the other room busily grooming each other and licking that yummy oil. The next day, I dosed Walter again.

Last night, I examined Walter’s ears, and they are pink and clean for the first time in months. He doesn’t jump when I walk in the room. In fact, I caught him in the kitchen looking up at the cabinet where I keep the oil with a wistful expression on his face.

Other posts you might enjoy:

1. I Can’t Even Cat Nap
2. What’s So Good About Having Cats?
3. Only The Good. Relax, Cat.
4. The Joys of Home Ownership Are Highly Over-rated
5. A “Lady” Does Not Swear, Unless

Tagged as: cats, Critters, humor, pets