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I have had to eradicate ear mites in all three of my cats, most recently this week in a stray that we are caring for. This is the procedure.
1. put on an older shirt or stained undershirt before attempting the procedure. The reason will become apparent in step 4.
2. lay the cat in your lap, and rotate head until one ear opening is pointing skyward.
3. While grasping the cat's head gently, but firmly with the palm of your hand, use your fingers to roll the pinea (outer ear) to get better access to the ear canal.
4. With the other hand, instill two-three drops into the ear canal. Be prepared for a very violent, reflex action to remove the liquid by rapid shaking of the head, followed by rapid centrifugal ejection of most of the ear drops and some ear mite scale (mostly dried blood) onto both yourself and your surroundings.
5. Gently rub the base of the ear to work the eardrops into the ear canal.
6. Repeat for the other ear.
You may have to wear gloves and/or have another individual hold the cat down while you instill the drops. I used to lift weights, and am rather strong, but when our 16 lb. Jasmine has these drops placed in her ears, the reaction is immediate and almost uncontrollable. There is no easy way to do this, as the ejection reflex is involuntary and can't be mitigated.
If you use an OTC preparation that contains rotenone, the instructions ususually specify two applications mimimum, spaced a week apart. If you use a prescription medicine like Tresaderm, the instructions are to instill every day for ten days, and to dip the cat in a pyrethrin compound both at the beginning and end of treatment to kill the ear mites that will actually crawl out of the ear canal to escape the Tresaderm (and presumably the OTC rotenone), reside in the cat's fur, and return to the ear canal when the medicine has dissipated. No kidding! Hope that this helps.
Stuart Spern
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