From:
Mary R. Shefferman
Date: 2001-07-27 10:59:00 UTC
Subject: Re: califlower ear: Vet or personal experience
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., Vex@n... wrote:
> I have 3 ferrets, they are currently on ear mite medication but
this
> is not my concern. Skittles is 3 yrs old and has a califlower ear
[snip]
Our Cauliflower has a cauliflower ear (hence the name). He got it
from his mom. The ear is inoperable. When he came here from the UK he
had a very bad case of ear mites. In retrospect, it would have been
better to give him a shot of ivermectin, but we treated it topically.
He does not like getting that ear cleaned at all. I apply ear-
cleaning stuff to a cotton ball & soak the cauliflower part to loosen
the debris. Then I put a drop or two of the stuff into the ear and
massage. This usually brings up more debris, which I remove with a
cotton ball (Cauli tolerates cotton balls better than Q-tips). I then
pinch the cotton at the end of a Q-tip, so only the cotton slips into
the ear & I bring out whatever else I can get to safely. He hasn't
had mites since that first time (thankfully!). We had to work Cauli
up to tolerating this procedure -- much like you work up to brushing
teeth -- a little bit at a time. If he gets upset (some days his ear
is a little more sensitive), we just try another day.
As for the mites... you might want to talk to your vet about doing a
shot of ivermectin for Skittles instead of the drops. It'll
definitely be less wear & tear on him.
Good luck!
--Mary & the Fuzzies