My cat got too much ear mite medicine and is shaking her head. Is she okay?

Hello. Use a cotton ball to gently remove any excess oil. I would guess that she is shaking her head because she has all these desperate dying ear mites in her ears. Once the ear mites have all died in a few days, she will be fine. But right now her ears are itching & this will get better pretty soon. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hi there. Poor Chloe! Even adult cats with a high ear mite load often respond similarly-there is intense itch with the mite die off as well as the ear itself often have some open wounds from them-the medication will burn. If Chloe is having any true neurological signs like seizures, intense shaking, strange looking pupils, etc-best to get her to an emergency room right away for treatment. If you see nothing of this matter the side effects should subside soon. Hope this helps, my best to you and Chloe.

Olive oil isn’t recommended to put in your pets ears unfortunately. It shouldn’t cause any major issues unless Callie has a ruptured ear drum, which your vet can check for with a proper ear exam. If it looks dirty and she is shaking, then she could still have mites (true are quite small and often cause black crusty debris in the ears) or even a yeast or bacterial infection. It’s best to take her in to your vet soon for a proper ear exam, testing to determine what kind of infection is there and pet friendly ear medication and cleaner. If you can’t get her in today, then it’s best to purchase a dewaxing pet ear cleaner from your local pet store right now to help remove some of the residue olive oil from her ear. She likely doesn’t like the feel of having this in her ear so it’s also a good idea to place an e-collar on her to prevent her from scratching at her ears and causing further irritation. I hope Callie’s ear infection clears up soon. Best wishes and take care.

This would depend on the medication. Many treatments for ear mites are topical medications that should be given in the ear. If she is on a topical flea and tick medication like Revolution for ear mites you could contact the company to see if there are any concerns about accidental exposure to the ear. Most topical medications shouldn't be too much of a concern either.

Because all of them are affected, ear mites would still be my first suspicion, even though your vet did not find any under the microscope (the fact that you just cleaned the ear before that might have something to do with that indeed). it can take 4-7 days for the cats to stop scratching their ears after the treatment has been started. other reasons for these symptoms include fungal or bacterial ear infections.

Ear mites is possible but in an indoor only kitty it is less likely and the more likely cause would be a bacterial or yeast infection of the ear, or a foreign body stuck in the ear. I would recommend a vet visit. The vet can look in the ear with an otoscope and can take a swab from the ear to check under the microscope for mites, bacteria or yeast and prescribe medications to treat this.

No, this isn't normal behavior. When you initially put drops in the ears of a cat, it is normal to see some head shaking and itching for a short period of time, but it should not continue for 20 minutes. This suggests that the Johnsons ear drops are irritating their ears, and I would not use it again. I would take them both into the vet. Cats naturally produce a little bit of ear wax, but a build up of it indicates an ear infection. Ear infections in cats are caused by ear mites, bacteria, or yeast, so the cause needs to be diagnosed in order for the cat to be treated correctly. I would take both of them into the vet on Monday. Good luck, I hope this helps!