Q: My ferret has “the worst case of ear mites” my mother has ever seen. She has brown red spots in her ears. In her ears there are several dark brown / black wax build-ups, mainly small balls in the ear folds. Was it just ear wax? The ear cleaner was a brown kind of yellow. However, the spot like I said was brown. We have ear mite medicine, but it’s for cats. Will cat medicine hurt her? Help me!
Answer: When my ferrets had ear mites, my vet prescribed Revolution (ear drops). Our medication says the following:
Revolution (Slamectin)
Topical Parasiticide for Cats
5.1-15 lbs.
45 mg
.75 mL (60 mg/mL)
Some vets will use Tresaderm ear drops (applied twice a day for 14 days), or injectable Ivermectin (once every 3 weeks, until there are no mites). Ivermectin can also be used directly in the ear canal. None of those can be purchased at the store, you need to get them from the veterinarian.
If you take your ferret to a veterinarian for an ear mite problem, it will not be that expensive (as long as the veterinarian does not charge an arm and a leg for an office visit, it certainly is less than $ 100).
Ear Mite Oil Treatment
Because it is heavy oil, please do not use olive oil. You can buy simple and cheap ear mite treatment at any pet shop (for less than $5). Please follow the package instructions, but basically it is a light oil cleanser. Usually, you just put a few drops in the opening of the ear of the ferret and gently wipe it off with a little toilet paper or cotton ball.
Do not use a Q tip because the ear of the ferret moves quickly, and you do not want to accidentally pierce and damage the inner ear. When you wipe your ferret’s ear, you will notice that residue will remain on your swab – probably darkish or brownish yellow. This is an ear mite and larva. Please wipe it as clean as possible.
Do not worry about the things you may miss because the oil is a carrier and kills the mites. Repeat the process daily until the swab is clean (probably read the instructions). After that, repeat every week so the ear mites don’t return.
Vet Treatment
Most ferret ear mites respond to common antibiotics, steroid creams and ointments. However, some mite eggs are resistant to treatment. Treatment should be done with this in mind. One treatment kills only mature mites. A few days later, a new generation will hatch from the egg and surrounding eggs.
Medications used in the ears are effective in a few days and rarely kill 100% of mature mites in a single treatment. Therefore, in order to truly eliminate mites in the ferret’s ear, at least two treatments are required, usually at intervals of 1 to 3 weeks. Shortening the treatment interval kills adults more quickly and alleviates symptoms of infestation.
What Happens If Mites Are Left Untreated?
Leaving ear mites untreated will result in pain, infection of the inner ear, and inflammation. Inner ear infections require further treatment.
Certainly your ferret can be uncomfortable and unhappy. Several ferrets with untreated ear mites and inner ear infections had irreversible inner ear damage including hearing loss.
If you do not treat early, long-term infection may permanently change the shape of the ear canal. The faster the infection is discovered, the shorter the time it takes to completely treat it.
Cleaning Bedding
You also need to clean all of the bedding and clean the carpet periodically, at least twice a week at least once a week until the mites are gone. If you do not thoroughly clean up with treatment, it will be a never-ending fight with mites (eggs are released from your ferret’s ears, hatched on the carpet, bedding etc.) Your Ferrets or other pets in your home.
Can You See Ear Mites?
Sometimes you can see ear mites, take a q-tip and scoop out some ear wax, look closely (they are tiny) and see if you can see white mites walking around on the wax on the q-tip.
I always had a ferret scratching her ears, and eventually I took her to the vet and cleaned her ears. He showed me later that he was causing the problem. He showed me her ear mites with a microscope. You can not see them with your eyes. What he showed me was still crawling around.
Symptoms
A ferret may get an infection in one ear, but it will most likely be in both ears. A ferret’s ears will appear sore and red, and the ferret may scratch them regularly. It is also possible that your ferret will have a strong body-odor-like smell that does not go away with washing.
Signs of Ear Mites
Ferrets usually have reddish brown or golden brown earwax and some ferrets produce it considerably. If your buddy has mites, of course you can not see them, but they leave certain signs. If there is a change in the amount, color, or consistency of the wax in your ferret’s ear, please call out the veterinarian’s attention.
Red flags for ear mites are:
- Coffee-grind appearance of earwax
- Smelly ear wax
- Head tilting
- Scratching at ears
- Shaking the head
- Excessive ear discharge
If you notice any of these symptoms, it’s a good idea to have your veterinarian take a look at your ferret’s ears. Mites can also cause an ear infection in ferrets; however, the mites may leave once the ear is infected because it will longer be a hospitable environment for them.