pyrethrins, pyrethrins, pyrethrins, pyrethrins, selamectin, enzymes, and a mixed botanical.

pyrethrins can be deadly to cats. Don’t minimize that risk.

so then we have three, and of these, the enzyme one isn’t for mites. No enzyme treatment without chitinase will be really effective for mites, and most don’t include chitinase.

so now we have two, and one doesn’t work fast OR reliably, and the other one comes with a two hundred dollar surcharge for one vet visit with its inescapable bill padding, and of course the drug is overpriced because the company can gouge all it likes.

what would be nice would be an article about the fact that vet medicine has a gaping hole in it where effective mite treatments should be.

Hi Charles, it’s hard to know exactly what’s going on in a cat’s ears without consulting a vet, but I would consider using Zymox’s otic ear solution, which is a great over-the-counter medication that can help with ear infections and soothe inflammation. 
I would advise seeing a vet if you can to find out if this cat has any other issues that need to be addressed; it would be a good opportunity to check for a microchip as well.
Hope this helps!

Hi Eddie! This would be a great question for your vet! I don’t have the expertise to answer this question myself but I did find an article published in 2017 which suggests that an oral medication called fluralaner is effective against ear mites in cats and dogs. Check it out here:
https://parasitesandvectors.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13071-016-1954-y#:~:text=Topical%20administration%20of%20fluralaner%20was,dogs%2028%20days%20after%20treatment

Thank you for this article. I found it very helpful. Not sure which one I will be going with but I got a lot of great advice. As for the ppl complaining about what was recommended. They also gave diy and those contain nothing that is going to hurt your cat, but you also have to wonder it they are going to help with ear mites. When it comes to fleas,ticks and ear mites we either deal with it and make out furbabies miserable or we look into the safest option that involves chemicals. So either furbaby miserable with ear mites and fleas or ticks or the use of a safe chemical for a sec of their life to make them health and happy. I don’t like the use of chemicals either but I don’t want my furbabies to suffer either. Best of luck on your personal choice.

Hi there. You may appreciate this illuminating article on the differences between permethrin and pyrethrins. The short story is that there is a difference between natural pyrethrins and synthetic pyrethroids, including the permethrin common in dog flea and tick medications. The concentration of permethrin in these products is harmful to cats, but cat-oriented products containing pyrethrins are generally quite safe.

Hi Jodi, we’ve updated this article, so if you’re still in need of ear mite medication recommendations, you may find the updated version helpful. Thanks for pointing this out.

Hi Jodi, thank you. I’ve contacted one of our writers, and we’ve bumped the update to the top of our content calendar, so we should see this article revamped within the next week or two.