Cat has black spots inside ears - fleas or ticks?

[teenyweenytadpole]

Hi - my cat has these black droplet type things inside his ear flaps, they look like small specks or grains of something. Do you think they could be ticks? If so any idea how to treat them, does the old vaseline jelly trick work? Or are they something to do with fleas?

I had a tick on my back once

maybe mites? (my rabbit had that was flakey)

try google images, I diagnosed my rabbit from that but had to go to vets anyway to get meds.

ear mites?? maybe

ticks attatch then turm blue when they fill up with the bood??

If they are tick you can buy tick removers from the pet shop/vets - just spray them with frontline spray - or surgical spirit and gently tug them - be v careful though if your unsure cos if you leave the head in they'll get infected

Probably not fleas....fleas tend to be found in armpits (if cats have such a thing) or at the base of the tail and nape of the neck, and leave lots of black flecks in the actual fur.

Ear mites can cause a build up of black gunk in the ear. Could it be this?

If it's ticks you can usually see their legs and they will wiggle if you touch them

euch mamaG; I've had some teeny tiny ones on my upper arms from lying in the heather on a lovely Scottich hillside; they could have been in a MUCH worse place though

If just ear mites and no infection you can get stuff from the pet shop that does work without paying vet fees!! (am a vet nurse - that ended up working in a pet shop after my kids) seven sea one is pretty good as is the denes one.

Trick for diagnosing fleas - stand them on a white sheet and groom them/shake their fur??
get a bit of water and dab it on the muck that falls off - if that muck turns red its flea dirt

Sounds like earmites to me. One of our cats used to get them all the time. We starting using Stronghold which controls fleas, ear mites etc, and she never got them again

Hi and thanks all for your replies, they don't look like they have legs, they are black and look more like the size of a small seed. I have gooogled ear mites and not sure if it is those as they are more on the earflaps, not the ear canal. I have used flea stuff, but it is only for fleas, maybe I need to get something stronger. Thanks for input anyway - and ouch MamaG sounds yucky!

you can't actually see ear mites, though. They are too small.

Do they move?

maybe it is wax, does it come off with a damp pice of cotton woool?

If it's earmites, your cat will be scratching it's ears a lot, as well as holding it's ears at a funny angle (kinda 90 degrees to the body). Fleas are about 2mm in length and you can see legs, they also won't stay there! Ticks are small and hard and won't be wiped away. Ear wax looks like small black spots and using your finger should just wipe off with minor pressure.