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Parasites, both external and internal, are one of the main enemies of the welfare and health of our pets in general. But if we stop to think about how annoying it must be to have tiny beings proliferating in our ears or skin, we can understand how important it is to know as much as possible about the mites in cats, their symptoms, treatment and infection.
For this, it offers this content as a general guide, to prevent this annoying infestation, or to stop it if it is already present in our pussycat.
This mite (a species of tiny spiders that seem to have the gift of ubiquity, since they are adapted to all possible environments), lives in the ear of dogs and cats, but it may be along with pulicosis, the most commonly diagnosed external parasitosis in cats. Its life cycle is about three weeks:
They live about 8 weeks, but they are well used for an intense reproduction.
Its color is whitish, and the females reach twice the size of the males, but in no case exceed the 0,5 mm. However, we can not classify them as microscopic, because having a collaborative cat and good eyesight, can be observed with relative ease by using the otoscope.
Although its habitat is the ear canal, in severe infestations it can spread to a wider area of the skin of the ear. head and face of our cat, and sometimes it is possible to detect some specimen lost by other areas of the body, being its finding usually anecdotal in those areas. Especially appears in the upper zone of the tail, by the habit of sleeping curled cats have.
It feeds on the outer surface of the skin of the ear canal (it does not dig galleries) and its saliva gives rise to irritation and itching, causing hypersecretion of the glands of the same.
Otodectes cynotis It is one of the main causes of otitis externa in cats, especially in young specimens. The symptoms are easily recognizable and there does not have to be a massive infestation to see that our cat manifests them. In addition, they can occur cases of hypersensitivity to these parasites (as happens with fleas). The most frequent and characteristic are:
All these symptoms do not always appear, and as mentioned, there is not always a correlation between the degree of parasitization and the intensity of the symptoms.
Because it is one of the parasitosis more frequent In cats, our veterinarian will perform an examination of the ear canal at each visit, being able to see this mite with the naked eye if it has enough time and our cat is calm. They usually introduce the otoscope without light, illuminating once inside, to catch the intruder by surprise, and not having time to hide in the secretions.
However, if secretions appear and mites are not detected, it will take some samples with a swab and in the microscope you can observe both eggs, as hexapod larvae (3 pairs of legs), adults (with 4 pairs of legs). Sometimes a drop of oil is used in order to lubricate the secretions, quite dry, and facilitate the exit of these arthropods from the hiding place.
Although there are no intense secretions, or are not revealed in a first review, if we continue noticing compatible discomfort in our cat, our veterinarian will insist on finding isolated specimens that may be causing a hypersensitivity reaction.
The fact of not being seen in a first revision, does not mean that they are not, and that is why it is very important explore the ear in each visit, especially in the first months of life of our cat.
Addition acaricide treatments, it is vital to cleanse the secretions with a suitable cleanser, at least twice a week at the beginning. These cleaners They are usually oily, so they can help rid the parasites mechanically (chokes them), an extra antiparasitic aid that we should apply to our cat.
A small drawback is the accidental entry into the eye of some drop of these cleaning oils, so it is advisable to be very cautious and also the possible appearance of a Horner syndrome, secondary to a cleaning. However, it is rare, and the benefits of cleaning outweigh the disadvantages.
If there is a fungal infection or bacterial secondary, it must be treated with specific products. There are otic suspensions that combine antifungals and antibiotics. Sometimes they trust that they have acaricidal power but it is not like that. Its effect against mites resides in the ability to drown them. But it is a sometimes short treatment and can survive some, so the use of a selamectin pipette is necessary, combined with the treatment of the infection.
El intimate and direct contact It is the way of contagion. We have all wondered how it is possible that our kitten, with just two months, has mites. Probably their mother suffered them and, in the breeding, she has transmitted them to the whole litter. During that time there is a close contact between kittens and mother, with continuous toilet included and mites, like lice in children, soon reach the ears of all cats.
Although they can survive outside the auditory canal until 10 days, the infection by fomites (objects such as blankets, etc.), is very unlikely, although it is not ruled out. However, it should be a fairly unhygienic environment and a severe infestation.
We usually associate these parasitoses with stray cats, but it is quite common to find cats from excellent hatcheries with a large burden of parasites in their ears, so we should never rule out this problem. Many times they suffer for years, and can be confused with the typical ceruminous secretions of furry cats: Persian, exotic.
If there has been good connection between our cat and our dog and they spend the day together, playing, sleeping and grooming, we should check everyone’s ears our animals. Without forgetting the ferrets!
Some erythematous lesion may appear on the arms by direct contact, but again the environment and the degree of infestation would have to be extreme. It is not ruled out in cases of overcrowded cats, or some person who may have hypersensitivity a Otodectes cynotis and have the misfortune to contact a missing copy.
We briefly summarize the other common mites that can affect our cats, less frequent in proportion, but equally important:
This article is merely informative, in .com we do not have the faculty to prescribe veterinary treatments or make any kind of diagnosis. We invite you to take your pet to the veterinarian in case of any type of condition or discomfort.
If you want to read more articles similar to Mites in cats – Symptoms, treatment and infection, we recommend that you enter in our section of parasitic diseases.
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