Hi -- it has been a while since I posted (back when I had Seldon, Dors,
Dantes -- my first post was in October 93, not quite as early as some),
but I wanted to pass on again this tip to some of you who may be unaware
of the ease of this.  Radio shack used to sell a 30x hand held
illuminated microscope.  They may still sell that model; I think they
sell something like it if not that one.  The 100x one is not necessary.
 
You can diagnose for yourself ear mites with this thing.  Warning: not
for the faint of heart.  Take a swab of your pet's ear with a qtip, look
at it under the microscope, and if they have ear mites you can *quite*
clearly see the wiggling little fat white bodies of ear mites, legs and
all.  I almost went permanently insane when I saw them the first time,
but I have become slightly desensitized.  I just looked at one of my
current pets' samples, and the poor little guy had about 3 of them just
on that one small, not very thorough sample.  It's no wonder the poor
little devil was going mad scratching.
 
[MW]
[Posted in FML issue 5347]