# Ear Mites...?



## Fibi's Mommy (Nov 28, 2005)

We are keeping a friend's dog for the next few days and I think he has ear mites. I've heard that ear mites are extremely contagious, but I've heard that using Frontline can kill them. All of my pets are on Frontline (just reapplied last week actually)...would they still be succeptible to getting the ear mites? What else can I do to keep my pets from getting ear mites from this visiting dog?

Also, on a different note, how do I break it to my friend that her dog has ear mites? I don't want her to think that he got it from my pets! She and I actually talked about it before he came over...we were talking about how his ears are extremely senstive and how he shakes his head alot, etc. However, she said "his ears are clean", so she just guessed that he has sensitive ears. WELL, the second day he was here, I took notice of how often he was rubbing his ears on the floor and also how often he randomly shakes his head. So, I decided to look in his ear and sure enough, he has an extreme amount of dark brown/black spotted discharge. I wiped it with a q-tip-not even in his ear at all-i swabbed it just on the outer part of his ear opening. Just one swipe filled up the whole q-tip. I'm not sure she knew to look at the actual opening of his ear and he also has black fur, so she may have just overlooked it when she checked it out before. His ear flaps are clean, so that may have been what she was looking at. Anyway, I don't want to offend her, but I need to find a way to tactfully let her know that she needs to take him to the vet. Any suggestions?

Thanks for any info on this!


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## tinalicious (Aug 7, 2004)

There may be no easy way of going about it. Either way, I don't think it's rude to mention your observations and suggesting that she have a look. I wish I could give you the perfect line to break the news, but I don't necessarily have one other than to come out and say what you've noticed! I sure does sound like ear mites. Inu used to have them and that's exactly how she acted (shaking her head randomly, scratching her ears and rubbing them on the carpet, black stuff in the ears). Best of luck!


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## foxywench (Feb 7, 2005)

i think id say somehting along the lines of
"oh i want you to know that hes been realy rubbing his head and having ear issues, so i checked his ears and their realy bad in there and i pretty sure its earmites...i know its a pain in the butt but they can do some serious damage if left untreated so its probably a good idea to get him to the vets for some ointment."
if your calm and non condesending about it i cant see it causing any problems.

ive heard too that frontline CAN help but i dunt know how great that is, id give your vet a quick call tell him youv got a dog staying with you that has earmites and you want to know how to keep your dogs safe AND what to watch for to make sure your dogs havent got any...

you can also ask your vet on the phone what the treatment is for earmites and if theres anything over the counter...if so it might be worth calling your frined and saying " i checked your dogs ears and its got earmites, theres an ointment i can get from the petstore but its gonna cost $..... and i want to know if you would like me to treat him, you can pay me back when you get home...i just dunt want it getting any worse since they can cause some serious issues..."

i know id want notifying if my dogs had something like that, and if there was a safe over the counter id ask them to treat and id pay them back when i returned and if not id ask them if they would be willing to take them to the vet for me and that id pay them back the moment i got home...


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## Fibi's Mommy (Nov 28, 2005)

Thanks for your replies. Foxy, thanx for the suggesting the otc by asking my vet. That's something I'll probably do.

My friend suspected that he had ear mites actually about 5 or 6 months ago. She let him stay with another friend while they were away and when he came back, she began noticing the itchy ears and such. So, the fact that she suspected it before makes it more likely for her to be less offended. She is the type of person to sometimes get offended if not approached in the right way, so I'll just have to suck it up and hope for the best in breaking the news to her. I'm just praying that she doesn't get upset that I checked his ears, even after she told me they were clean. I guess it goes past offense and into a trust issue...that I didn't trust her enough to believe what she said...I had to check for myself. She also claims to know alot about dogs, so it's one of those types of things. I just want to make sure he's treated and doesn't continue to suffer from them.


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## peanutlover (Oct 8, 2005)

the over the counter stuff doesnt work as well as the prescription from what i have heard. they are extremely contagious, so your vet will prob recommend you treat your dogs as well, as a precaution. rascal had ear mites when i got him. and they are the hardest thing to get rid of. it seriously took us a month to be clear of them. the amazing thing is peanut never got them. and they do most everything together. 
btw its the revolution that supposably prevents ear mites, not frontline, but my vet said they think its a load of crap that revolution does that, he said he sees dogs on revolution come in with earmites just as often.


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## Skoochi (Feb 9, 2006)

All you guys are so smart. What good advice you give. I have a real problem breaking bad news to people. I usually tell hubby to do it. I know, that's not fair but he is really good at those things.


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## *Tiffany* (Sep 27, 2005)

my cat had ear mites once and when he went to the vet they gave us drops and it cleared up really quickly. before we took him to the vet we tried the OTC meds and they dont work....at all. the vet said its a waste of money b/c they dont work. you should def get a Rx for ear mites.


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