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I know there are ear cleaners around but what other remedies are there? And where can I find them? Any help would be great, thanks.

mites need air.  
go to the dollar store and get a bunch of cheap vaseline. Put alot of it on and in the ears. continue this until the ears are clean and soft again....bite free. It works on horses, dogs, cats and pretty much anything with ears.  
 
USE LOTS!

Thanks I will do that

You need to consider the consequences of all that vaseline, you are going to give your pet an ear infection.  
 
Is this a cat? Are you sure its mites? (100%, pulled out my handy dandy microscope sure?) Maybe your pet doesn't have mites, maybe your pet already has an ear infection and that is what you are seeing. Piling vaseline on is just going to make it worse. Go to your VET and get the proper treatment. If it is indeed a mite problem, those ears needs cleaned out with a pet safe ear cleaner and an anti-parasitic applied.  
 

Growing up, my mom used to use Dawn dish soap on a cotton ball to gently wipe out the ears of our dogs and cats. Then another damp cotton ball to wipe away any soap residue. Which kind of makes sense. If they can safely remove crude oil from wildlife with Dawn, it should be gentle enough for your household pets.  
 
Edited by AndreaD., 2016-01-05 16:55:46

Simplest treatment is with ivermectin, ask a vet. If you get ivermectin from a livestock producer be sure it is diluted to the proper rate, once again, ask a vet.

I've yet to find a vet who will just sell you ear mite treatment without a checkup to confirm that they are mites.  
 
If it isn't your first rodeo with them try olive oil. Clean the ears out with cotton dipped in the oil, then add a drop in each ear. Repeat every 3 days. The oil loosens the poop, and smothers the mites. It takes a bit longer than chemicals, but is way safer for a pet!

Best to see the vet! Mites aren't the only thing that can cause similar symptoms in cats and dogs.  
Vaseline and oil can cause more problems than help. And cotton balls or Kleenex or paper towels can leave small bits of fluff that can again cause problems.

don brown said "Simplest treatment is with ivermectin, ask a vet. If you get ivermectin from a livestock producer be sure it is diluted to the proper rate, once again, ask a vet. "

be very careful using Ivomec on cats as they can/will have a neurological reaction to it. I use garlic oil made by putting 5 or 6 cloves of garlic in about 1/2 cup olive oil. let this sit for a day or two and then carefully swab out the ears using cotton balls not Qtips. you may have to do this several times but it does work! and your cat will smell deicious,lol here is a link to a great site.://thenerdyfarmwife.com/garlic-ear-oil-for-humans-their-pets/  
 
Edited by thirsty, 2016-01-08 13:40:39

I'll provide a link from a vet for the use of ivermectin in treating cats, I've not really read much about reactions in cat, especially when using the right strength of product, but it should only be used on healthy cats. Use of it on dogs is also recommended but there are some breeds where there can fatal effects, it is a gene specific disorder so it only affects a few breeds. We've used it at the recommended strength with excellent results. Like I said ask a vet.  
 
http://vetmedicine.about.com/od/diseasesandconditions/a/CW-Ivermectin.htm  
 
https://www.vetinfo.com/ivermectin-for-cats.html  
 
Second link is a better link  
 
Edited by don brown, 2016-01-08 16:45:16

just rubbing alcohol on a Qtip to get rid of my cats' mites. Not sure if that was the right thing to do or not, but it did not seem to hurt her and it worked. After that there was a special ear liquid the vet sold us that you put a few drops in the ears and rub it in once a week. Something to do with balancing the PH of the ears or something.  
 
Took a couple of weeks of daily cleaning but it did work.

Go to the vet. That's the only way to really get rid of ear mites. There are several good products you can just squeeze onto the back of their neck that will get rid of them. They actually work better if you don't clean the ear either. The newly hatched mites eat on previous dead ones and it kills them. Gross eh? Lol  
 
Treating existing mites with drops or other things wont stop the next generations of mites and it can turn into a long and frustrating exercise. If you use the vet's products, and don't let your cat out to mingle with other cats you will never have to deal with ear mites again.