Harvest mites on cat

[twiglet123]

Our cat has little orange scabs on her ears that look like harvest mites - anyone know the best way to treat them? She has a monthly flea treatment. She is itching them and they look sore, poor thing.

I think you need a vet to tell you what the problem is for sure and to give you a treatment. There is a flea treatment that also kills mites, but that is prescription only. You will need to go to a vet.

One of my cats, now gone, suffered with harvest mites and I think the flea treatment helped, but i can't really remember. I know I had to take him to the vet.

We had this with one of ours. The vet gave us some powder to be mixed with water and (he was clearly a sadist........) instructions to lower cat gently into the sink and keep her there for a few minutes. This is when i discovered my small cute kitten had about 8 legs - every time I got three paws into the water, another 5 appeared from somewhere and made a frantic bid for freedom. I had lacerations all down my back from where she panicked and springboarded her way across me. The good news, however, is the stuff did indeed get rid of the harvest mites!! Ruined my white shirt with all the blood stains, though :-)
It's worth checking in between the cat's toes, because that's often where the harvest mites will congregate. And good luck with the treatment! (don't make the same mistake I did and wear white............)

OMG MrsArdvark I can’t go down that road!!!!!!!!! I’ve had a read and it looks like Frontline spray does the job. I’ll give the vet a call and find out.

My cat had them. I gave her a bath with flea shampoo and put a drop on flea treatment on. They came off shortly after. They are such horrible things. Poor cats!

@twiglet123
Did you get any advice from your vet ?
I took our cat to the vets last week as she was scratching her ears and shaking her head and she said the ear canals were clean and that it was probably harvest mites.
She didn't suggest any treatment, just to make sure cat didn't hurt herself by scratching too much.

@User5656
The vet gave me a spray that kills the mites - I used it a week ago and they have all gone now

Front line spray works really well. You can spray onto cotton wool and then just wipe over the effected areas. Can get from vets, pet shops and some chemists. May not be compatible with your normal flea treatment, depending on what you use though.

Ok. I think I will get some spray in just in case.