White egg things on outside of cats ear.

[toxicated]

Sure they weren't there yesterday. Very small white things stuck on the outside of his ears. They look a little like eggs but some are pink so I wonder if they're mites that are drinking blood but I thought mites were on the inside?

Answers before my kids wake up so I look knowledgeable please

[Ilikebeaver]

Its flea season so could be flea eggs.

Flea eggs are tiny and White.

I have never seen this type of thing myself though.

Fleas drink cats blood and then the flea Poop gets caught in cats fur and it is red and if you get it wet it will look like blood droplets.

[bexVN]

Hmm. Not sure. Any chance of a pic.

Possibly very tiny ticks. They do vary a lot in size and colour but I'm really not sure.

[toxicated]

Every time I take a photo, the damn thing moves.

eta: when we got the cat, many years ago, it had been shaved ready for spaying but the vet took one last look and found the smallest pair he'd ever seen on a cat

Edited by toxicated on Sunday 28th August 23:07

[bexVN]

Seriously though I'm a bit stumped. Can they be removed quite easily? Or do they seen to be embedded in the skin.

They almost look like maggot eggs but they should brush off easily. If they are ticks then they will be harder to remove and there should be a head attached.

[toxicated]

Embedded in the skin. Ticks? I had one of those once after a shag in the woods.

[bexVN]

More info than I needed to know!

Assuming they weren't there a day ago and going through the various possibilities this would have to be my most likely conclusion.

What flea tx do you use. Some will kill off ticks as well.

[toxicated]

Frontline. Their blurb says it kills fleas fast but omits that info for ticks. Says it interrupts their life-cycle, just hopefully quickly.

He got annoyed at me taking flash photos so I'll treat him when he's back in as it's five weeks since the last.

Thanks for your help - on this thread and others - much appreciated.

[bexVN]

No probs. Always happy to try and help. I'm still not completely convinced but hopefully they should start dropping off 24-48hrs after the application of frontline if they are ticks!

Meant to add, if they are not fallling off in a couple of days a vet visit may be needed. Or if there is any sign of infection.

Edited by bexVN on Monday 29th August 00:18

Edited by bexVN on Monday 29th August 00:20

[R TOY]

Look like fly eggs, If a cat lays out in the sun flys can lay eggs as they would on a carcase. We had this with an old cat (nearing its life end). It was covered in them and had to be continually cleaned up.
I would suggest a good wash/brush and some fly repellent.
And tell the cat to keep twitching its ears.

[bexVN]

Mentioned earlier as I thought that may be a possibility but if they are they should just brush off. Fly eggs don't get embedded in the skin as op described (Unless laid in a wound)

[Mr Gearchange]

Are you sure they aren't some kind if grass or plant seed? My two are always having to have seeds brushed out if their fur after tramping about in the undergrowth.

[baker77]

bexVN said:

Mentioned earlier as I thought that may be a possibility but if they are they should just brush off. Fly eggs don't get embedded in the skin as op described (Unless laid in a wound)

Could they be bot fly eggs? Horses tend to get them and they are a pain in the backside to remove.

[Lippitt]

Definitely looks like bot fly eggs to me. You'll want to get them treated sharpish if it is!

[S1_RS]

If they are ticks use a cotton bud dipped in strong alcohol, this will make them give up their grip. If you just try to pull them off they leave their jaws embedded in the skin and you will end up with an abcess

[bexVN]

baker77 said:

bexVN said:

Mentioned earlier as I thought that may be a possibility but if they are they should just brush off. Fly eggs don't get embedded in the skin as op described (Unless laid in a wound)

Could they be bot fly eggs? Horses tend to get them and they are a pain in the backside to remove.

Unusual for them to land on a cat but I'm sure not impossible, however they wouldn't be embedded in the skin unless they hatched would they? and I understood that horse bot eggs have to be ingested for them to become larval. So even if they were any type of fly egg they should still brush/ comb out relatively easily. However I'm no expert in horse bot eggs only normal fly eggs! and they do brush off fairly easily.

[bexVN]

OP, how are the ears looking today? Are there still eggs/ ticks attached.

If there is a chance of them being bot fly eggs then it may be worth concentrating on combing them out carefully with a flea/nit comb (wear gloves) but at the same time have a really good look first to see if you can see mouth parts embedding into the skin in which case it's more likely to be ticks and it will still be better to give frontline chance to do its job.

[SmokinV8]

i would say fly eggs which if not removed will turn into maggots, and you dont want those going up the cats bum(should they migrate that way on the cat).
i`ve seen rabbits with maggots up the bum and its really not that pleasant.

[Granville]

If they are bot fly eggs then you can easily scrape them off, usually the edge of a blunt blade or something along those lines will surfice. Make sure it's blunt though to avoid any unplanned trips to the vets

In the horse world, we use a special knife for removing bot flys, some people use a disposable razor. You can also get grooming stones (similar to pummice stones) which also remove them very well.

Bot fly eggs are generally yellowish in colour.

[toxicated]

I'm pretty sure they're ticks, they're getting bigger and more 'tick-like'. Some are white but some are definitely red now - none are yellowish and I'm sure they're not bot flys.

I've dosed him with frontline - anybody know how long it takes to kill ticks? And are they likely to drop off?

Convincing him to sit still whilst I pull things off his ears with tweezers really sounds like we'll both end up bleeding.