Subcutaneous mites in cats - first symptoms, treatment options and real photos of examples of parasite damage (110 photos + video)

What will you learn from the article?

1. The causative agent of demodicosis in cats is the subcutaneous mite. Routes of infection
2. Risk group

Demodectic mange in cats is a parasitic disease that affects the skin and hair of animals. The cause of this disease is the subcutaneous demodex mite. In our article we will tell you which ectoparasites cause pathology, what are the first symptoms of infection, what forms of the disease exist, and how it is treated.

What types of blood-sucking ticks can threaten cats?

All blood-sucking ticks, also called ixodid ticks, or ticks, pose a threat to cats. The most common types of ticks found in Russia are:

• Ixodes ricinus;
• Rhipicephalus sanguineus;
• Dermacentor reticulatus.

A cat can be bitten by any other ixodid tick - there is no fundamental difference in this.

Photo gallery: the most common types of ticks

The Ixodes ricinus tick is the most common type of bloodsucker.

The tick of the species Rhipicephalus sanguineus is the most common representative of this family in Russia

The mite Dermacentor reticalatus is a typical inhabitant of deciduous and mixed forests in Europe and Siberia

All these ticks have common properties: they necessarily feed on blood. Both adult, mature ticks and their larvae - nymphs - attack.

Typically, female ticks are found on animals - they need a lot of blood to reproduce, so they can remain at the site of the bite for up to several days. Nymphs and males need less blood, and often they leave the bite site on their own and unnoticed, thereby infecting the cat.

Ticks usually hide in grass, bushes, and low vegetation. They are found everywhere - from city courtyards and squares to fields and forests. Even if the cat does not leave the house, there remains a risk of being attacked by a tick brought into the apartment by people or other animals (usually a dog), as well as along with mushrooms collected in the forest, a wreath woven in a field, or greens collected at the dacha.

Ticks become active at air temperatures above +8 °C; their peak activity occurs in spring and autumn. But the possibility of a bite cannot be ruled out even in winter, for example, near a heating main or during a thaw on a thawed lawn.

The good news is that not all ticks are contagious. The range and frequency of diseases transmitted by ticks differ in different regions, and the most comprehensive information on a specific area can be obtained from the regional sanitary and epidemiological surveillance service.

Diagnostics

A preliminary diagnosis can be made after an initial examination based on lesions characteristic of notohedrosis. These include scales and crusts on the face and ears, as well as scratching due to severe itching. The diagnosis can be confirmed using scrapings and microscopic examination. The detection of even one living tick is enough to make a diagnosis, although most often quite a lot of them are found; several individuals can be seen in one field of view of the microscope. In rare cases, mites cannot be found in the scrapings, in which case a trial of treatment may be suggested. If there are positive dynamics in response to treatment, the diagnosis can also be considered confirmed.

When is it necessary to perform a thorough examination of the animal?

It is necessary to carefully examine the cat every time it returns from a walk. The tick is easily visible in light or short hair. It is almost impossible to see an unattached tick if the fur is dark, long and thick, so it is recommended to supplement the inspection with combing with a fine-tooth comb.

The difference in size between well-fed and hungry ticks is quite large, so it is not difficult to detect the former on the skin of an animal

What does a tick look like on a cat's body?

Ixodid ticks, regardless of species, have common structural features:

• oblong body with small head;
• there is a shield on the body;
• four pairs of paws;
• length 3–4 mm;
• color - often different shades of black, gray and brown.

Tick ​​nymphs are smaller and have three pairs of legs. The tick is hard to the touch and moves quickly. Under no circumstances should it be crushed, since these arachnids are not only carriers, but also natural reservoirs of diseases dangerous to animals and humans, the causative agents of which are transmitted from one generation of ticks to the next.

Having attacked the victim, the tick spends some time (from half an hour to two hours) looking for the most convenient place to bite. Its saliva contains an anesthetic substance, so the bite goes unnoticed by the victim. Having bitten, the tick begins to suck blood and increases in size to 1.5 cm, acquiring a reddish tint and the shape of a bean.

Photo gallery: what a bloodsucker looks like on a cat

The tick selects a place to bite within 0.5–2 hours

A recently embedded tick is difficult to detect on the skin of long-haired cats.

A sucked tick increases in size to 1–1.5 cm

Safety precautions when examining a cat

The cat must be examined on a smooth, preferably light-colored surface in order to notice the fleeing tick in time. Good lighting should be provided. You should not touch the tick with unprotected hands; all manipulations must be done with rubber gloves.

You need to wear rubber gloves when examining your cat.

You should not examine the cat on the sofa, carpet, or any other place where an escaped tick can easily hide and attack again. In case of detection of a bloodsucker, a small sealed glass container should be ready.

All ticks pose a danger to both humans and other animals in the house.

How to remove a tick if it has not yet attached itself

When removing a tick, be sure to wear gloves; you can also put a plastic bag on your hand. The tick cannot be crushed; it must be placed in a bottle. Touching a bloodsucker in itself is not dangerous, but there is no guarantee that when caught, the tick will not be crushed, and the causative agents of dangerous infections will not end up on the human skin and mucous membranes.

Any tick that has not attached itself must be burned . You should not throw it in the trash or down the drain - this will not destroy it.

How to tell if a tick has bitten your pet

If the tick moved freely, there is a high probability that it chose a place to bite and did not have time to penetrate the skin. Signs of a tick bite do not have typical differences - the site of penetration will look like a small tubercle of swelling or inflammation with a small pinpoint wound from which bloody fluid may ooze, since the tick's saliva contains substances that prevent blood clotting. The cat may scratch the bite site.

A tick can dig in absolutely anywhere, but more often it is found in secluded places where the skin is thin, the capillaries are close and where it will be difficult to scratch it off with a paw. Therefore, bloodsuckers are most often found:

• in the armpit and groin areas;
• on the stomach;
• behind the ears;
• at the withers;
• on the front of the neck;
• in the area under the tail.

If the tick has burrowed in for a long time, then its head and front legs may already be in the thickness of the skin. The head of this arachnid is fixed very firmly. To the touch, a sucked tick is a soft elastic tubercle located where it was not there before.

You should be careful not to mistake your cat’s nipples for ticks; Cats also have rudimentary (weakly expressed) nipples.

Preventive measures

Scabies in cats can be prevented by regularly examining the animal yourself or taking it to the veterinarian once every 3 months. There are other preventive measures that will help avoid the disease:

• do not let the cat out of the apartment;
• if the animal cannot live without walks, then regularly use special products against fleas, ticks and worms;
• include vitamins in the cat’s diet if the animal does not eat special food;
• strengthen immunity;
• wash your cat's dishes thoroughly;
• follow the rules of caring for your pet, regularly bathe the animal using special shampoos, even if it does not go outside, because fleas and ticks can be carried into a person’s house on shoes and clothes.

If the cat has already been diagnosed with this disease, then in order to prevent relapse, injections of Immunoparasitan are recommended every 3-6 months. The action of this drug allows you to increase the body’s protective functions and prevent re-infection.

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How to remove a stuck tick

The longer the embedded tick remains on the cat, the higher the likelihood of transmitting to it an infectious dose of the pathogen sufficient to initiate the disease. The bloodsucker needs to be removed as quickly as possible, and the half hour to hour spent traveling to the vet can be critical. It is best to remove the tick yourself. It is advisable that someone hold the cat during manipulations.

The tick can be removed:

• using a special device;
• using improvised means - a clamp, tweezers, thread;
• by carefully unscrewing it with a gloved hand.

There are now a lot of special devices, but not all of them are suitable, since many of them do not involve twisting the tick, but only this ensures complete removal of the parasite. In addition, the tool must be reliable, convenient, and not put pressure on the bloodsucker’s abdomen.

Photo gallery: tick extraction devices and their use

The Tick Twister hook allows you to grab the tick at the base of its proboscis and easily remove it whole with a twisting motion, without putting pressure on the abdomen

Trix Tix Lasso also allows you to remove the tick completely and without putting pressure on it

The Tick Twister hook is simply rotated in one direction without changing the direction of rotation

You should not buy devices of this type - they involve capturing and pulling out the tick, while its head will remain in the skin and cause suppuration

The principle of operation of truly suitable tools is the same:

1. The loop or clamp is placed as close as possible to the cat’s skin, to the base of the tick’s proboscis;
2. The tick is fixed and removed using rotational movements.
3. You can rotate it in any convenient direction. There is no pressure on the tick.

A Tick Twister hook costs 200–250 rubles, there are similar devices with a price of around 100 rubles. The cost of Trix Tix Lasso is 300–400 rubles.

Whatever device is offered in the store, it is important to understand exactly how it involves removing the tick.

If there is no device, you will have to use tweezers or a clamp. Do not grab the tick vertically or at an angle. The tips of the clamp or tweezers should be positioned strictly parallel to the cat's skin, as close to it as possible. Then the clamp or tweezers are rotated around the axis.

If you don’t have anything at hand, you can put on a glove, grab the tick with your fingers and, without putting pressure on the abdomen, turn it to one side. The method is suitable for those with thin fingers.

An even less convenient option is to remove the tick using a thread. A loop of thread is placed at the base of the proboscis as close to the skin as possible, and the tick is removed using a twisting motion. The method is suitable for calm cats with short hair.

What not to do when removing a tick

There is no need to fill the tick with vegetable oil, as well as aggressive liquids - alcohol, acetone and others. The tick will not leave and is unlikely to loosen its grip. In most cases, it will die, the tone of the proboscis will decrease, and its infected gastrointestinal contents will end up in the cat's bloodstream, significantly increasing the likelihood of infection.

Errors in gripping when removing a tick:

• jerking and pulling movements are unacceptable - the head will definitely come off;
• Do not grab it by the abdomen; the infected contents of the tick can enter the cat’s blood vessels.

  The tick should be grabbed only at the base of the proboscis, without pressing on the abdomen

Video: how to properly remove a tick from an animal

What to do after removing a tick

After removing the tick, you need to ensure its integrity. The wound must be treated with hydrogen peroxide, dried and spot-cauterized with iodine or brilliant green. If the cat is allergic, give the antihistamine prescribed by the veterinarian.

If the head of the tick still remains under the skin, then if the cat is calm, you can remove it like a splinter using a sterile syringe needle. If the attempt is unsuccessful, you will have to contact a veterinarian. The head of the tick must be removed, otherwise a focus of purulent inflammation will form.

With a tick

The tick must be placed in a glass container with a secure lid and sent to the laboratory for examination. The tick should wait in the refrigerator for shipment; it is better to place a piece of cotton wool soaked in water in a bottle. The tick must be delivered to the laboratory alive and as soon as possible. If it is not possible to examine the tick, it must be burned.

After removal, the tick is placed in a glass container and taken to the laboratory for examination.

If the veterinary laboratory does not accept a tick for examination (and this happens), I contact a regular medical laboratory and order a test for a number of pathogens that interest me, including tularemia, since I live next to a natural outbreak. The fact that the tick was removed from the animal need not be disclosed. The downside is that the study is truncated compared to a veterinary laboratory, since the danger to people and animals is not the same for all pathogens. The advantages are convenience and speed; After 1–2 days, the results are sent by email. In case of a positive response from the laboratory, I would gain time both in the form of early treatment of the animal before the development of clinical manifestations, and for the prevention of the disease in myself by taking an antibiotic.

With cat

It is necessary to warn your cat's veterinarian about a tick bite. The pet should be monitored for 2–3 weeks, since this is the period of incubation periods for most tick-borne infections.

You should immediately contact your veterinarian if:

• behavioral changes: avoidance of contact;
• drowsiness;
• lethargy, apathy;

There are only a few hours to provide timely assistance, so the owner must not waste time.

Symptoms

Clinical signs of pathology in cats appear gradually, and the sooner you seek help from a doctor, the higher the chances of your pet’s recovery.

• skin redness;
• the appearance of rashes in the form of nodules or small pustules;
• deterioration in the appearance of fur;
• such a characteristic symptom appears as “demodicosis glasses” - hair loss and peeling of the skin around the eyes;
• hair loss and peeling of the skin on the head, ears, neck (localized form), as well as on the legs and torso (generalized form);
• skin pigmentation disorder;
• acne;
• itching;
• bleeding wounds.

In the generalized form, damage to the internal organs is noted, which affects the general condition of the animal - weakness, apathy, decreased appetite, etc.

Diagnostics

To identify subcutaneous mites, scrapings are taken from the affected areas of the cat’s body (at least 4-5 samples) for further examination under a microscope.

The detection of at least one Demodex gatoi mite in a scraping gives the veterinarian the right to diagnose demodicosis. In the case of the subcutaneous mite Demodex cati, the situation is different. This mite lives on every cat. The diagnosis is made if more than 2-3 individuals are found in one scraping.

Additional research:

• biopsy;
• trichogram (hair examination).

Why is a tick bite dangerous for a cat?

A tick bite for a cat is dangerous due to the following developments:

• tularemia;
• hemobartonellosis;
• piroplasmosis;
• theileriosis;
• anemia (in case of massive tick infestation).

Cats and dogs have species-specific resistance to the causative agent of tick-borne encephalitis and do not get sick from it.

Tularemia

Tularemia is an infection that is dangerous for both cats and humans, as well as other domestic animals, including rodents and birds. This is a natural focal disease, the causative agent is the bacterium Francisella tularensis. Foci of tularemia are dispersed throughout our country.

Tularemia is highly contagious; 10–50 bacteria are enough for a person to develop the disease. Human infection is possible through airborne, nutritional and contact routes. Transmission of bacteria through intact skin and mucous membranes, as well as intrauterine infection, is possible. Wild animals serve as natural reservoirs.

The incubation period in humans ranges from several hours to 3–7 days; in a cat 4–12 days. Tularemia is transmitted from cats to humans; no cases of human-to-human transmission have been reported. A cat can also become infected by eating infected rodents.

The disease can occur in acute or mild form; Symptoms are similar in cats and humans. Emergency preventive measures have been developed for humans: this is vaccination (before it, a test is taken to confirm that the person is not sick with tularemia at the time of vaccination) or prophylaxis with antibiotics. There is no specific prevention for animals.

Tularemia manifests itself:

• fever;
• inflammation of the lymph nodes with subsequent suppuration;
• damage to the spleen, liver, lungs with the formation of ulcers;
• general weakness;
• ulceration of the oral mucosa;
• exhaustion.

Without treatment, the cat will die. It can be treated well if diagnosed early. During therapy, it is necessary to isolate the sick animal.

Hemobartonellosis

Hemobartonellosis in cats is caused by Haemobartonella felis, which attacks red blood cells. The incubation period is 10–14 days. Clinical manifestations consist of:

• anemia;
• loss of appetite and weight;
• lethargy.

There may be attacks of fever. Noteworthy is the change in urine color - it becomes darker.

Cats can also become infected with this disease not only from ticks, but also during a fight with another cat. Unlike tularemia, hemobartonellosis is safe for humans. A sick cat easily develops associated infectious diseases. Without treatment, mortality can reach 30%; in treated cats, the mortality rate is 1%.

Video: feline infectious anemia

Piroplasmosis

Feline piroplasmosis is caused by Babesia Felis. It is diagnosed in Russia so far in isolated cases, mainly in animals aged 1–3 years, more often in the Siamese breed. This pathogen attacks red blood cells, causing their hemolysis (destruction), which leads to:

• development of anemia;
• darkening of urine;
• jaundice;
• weaknesses;
• loss of weight and appetite;
• fever.

Without treatment, the cat will die. The disease is safe for humans.

Massive breakdown of affected red blood cells is manifested by jaundice

Babesia Felis was discovered in 1937 by American researchers Dunning and Jackson, although it received its name a little later. At that time, the pathogen was found in Zimbabwe and South Africa. Even then, its danger to domestic cats was proven. Large wild cats are the reservoir of infection.

Theileriosis

Theileriosis occurs in the southern regions of Russia:

• Grozny region;
• Rostov region;
• south of the Stavropol Territory.

In other regions, cases are rare. It is caused by Theileria Felis, which affects the bone marrow, leukocytes, liver, kidneys, and lungs.

The disease manifests itself:

• general oppression;
• weight loss;
• severe dehydration;
• fever;
• enlargement of the spleen and lymph nodes;
• pallor of the mucous membranes;
• difficulty breathing.

In the absence of therapy, coma and death occur. Mortality reaches 90%. The disease has been little studied, and experience with its treatment is limited. The disease is safe for humans.

Features for pregnant cats and kittens

The peculiarities of pregnant cats and kittens include the special vulnerability of this category, since both of them have reduced immunity. Therefore, we should expect an earlier onset of the disease and a more aggressive course in them. Antibacterial therapy is indicated for pregnant cats for health reasons, and the life of an adult will be placed higher than the successful outcome of her pregnancy. Antibacterial and supportive therapy is also indicated for kittens. The tactics for managing each specific case are chosen individually by the attending veterinarian.

Prevention of tick attacks on pregnant cats and kittens is of great importance.

Feline mange (notohedral mange)

Notoedres cati mite infestation is a rare and highly contagious skin disease of healthy cats. For the development of the disease, just one individual is enough. The insect is transmitted through contact through blankets, clothing or care items, from a sick mother to kittens during feeding, through human hands during stroking or any touch.

Contagious to cats, dogs and people who come into contact with it.

Symptoms

• constant itching;
• scalp lesions;
• lesions of the limbs, perineum;
• papules, crusts;
• weakness, lethargy;
• alopecia of the affected areas;

How to protect your cat from ixodid ticks

Since favorable treatment outcomes for tick-borne infections are not always guaranteed, a particularly important role is played by protecting the cat from attacks by bloodsuckers. For this purpose, collars, sprays, and drops on the withers are used. It should be noted that not all manufacturers include in their formulations substances that are harmful specifically to ticks, so you should always carefully read the instructions for the product.

Typically, tick repellents contain the following substances:

• fipronil;
• etofenprox;
• permethrin;
• selamectin;
• ivermectin;
• pyriproxyfen.

There are many products available for protection against ticks, with different application methods and in different price categories. Reliable manufacturers are considered:

• "Merial";
• "Leopard";
• "Hartz"
• Bayer.

Frontline spray deserves special attention; it can be used both in pregnant and lactating cats, and in kittens from 2 days of age.

Frontline spray is suitable for pregnant cats and kittens

Disease prevention

Preventing scabies is easier than dealing with it and its consequences. The following actions are taken as preventive measures:

• regularly treat the fur of cats and cats against ticks, fleas and other parasites (once every six months);
• clean toys, wash bedding and bed covers;
• bathe the cat after a walk or wipe it with a damp cloth;
• before being released outside, put on an insecticidal collar;
• Periodically bring the cat to the veterinarian for examination.

If an animal becomes infected, it is isolated from other pets and family members. Household items that the sick cat has come into contact with are burned or frozen, and all surfaces are disinfected.