Calling BG Veterinary

[Pikarya]

Just moved into a new townhouse. Never had a problem in my life with mites (we bathe our animals every 2~4 weeks in conditioning shampoos/etc. Along with manual cleaning of the ears.

So I'm guessing its something related to this new place. (The previous owner had two ferrets). From my understanding mites can still live even after carpets have been steam-washed/shampooed during the egg stage.

Anyways, its been occurring for the past 3-4 days now. At first we thought it was stress (Siamese, etc. tend to have hair loss when experiencing that from my understanding). But now it has advanced to these little pricks of skin, along with some very minor bleeding.

As I mentioned above, never had a problem with ear mites in my life for cats. But every single one of our cats ears are crystal clear 100%, also no odd/disgusting smell of mites in the canal.

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I've only found a little obvious information here. I can't take the cat in question to the vet till Wed. So kinda just throwing it up in the air if our resident vet might know something. I didn't want to run out and grab a bottle of OTC Pyrethrins to find out its not mites, and something more advanced.

Thanks

[sephir]

A lot of my friends are vet students here at OVC so I'll be sure to ask them tomorrow.

[Pikarya]

A lot of my friends are vet students here at OVC so I'll be sure to ask them tomorrow.

Thanks a bunch! I've been cross posting on a few forums in advance, after reading the description for "demodectic mites" It seems that might be likely the cause. Either way, I'll take a Vet's word over hearsay.

[Guitarman]

probably mites, but when it comes to your pets' health, i wouldn't fuck around, go see the vet. You never know.

[kuronosan]

Beautiful cat. I think they are indeed mites but it's hard to tell. Wait to see what the vets say.

[Tekki]

treatment is cheap for this, doesn't hurt if its nothing, and usually taken care of in one does.

Just had this taken care of Friday for my cat

[Wakabo]

I'd go into the vet for it to be treated/looked at. I never messed around with my cats health, just because they can't talk to me and tell me what is bothering them. Poor kitty :c

[Lliandra]

Aww poor little rawr Defo best to get it sorted before she/he starts pulling their fur out. My 18yr old family cat died last week and he had a bad time with his fur for a while. Not sure if it was down to mites, we never really thought it would be, just thought it was his age

I miss him

[Barada]

i guess what youre showing us are the red spots on the brow of your cat? In general ear mites as I've encountered them live within the ear canal and not outside of the ear. Usually they are accompanied by a thick black discharge which is their waste,blood,and ear wax. If i had to guess what those red spots were i would say that its either irratation from your cats scratching in that location or possibly the beginning of some form of mange. Some of the symptoms of mange are: red discoloration, scabs, dry skin, hair loss. There are two main forms of mange, Sarcoptic and Demadex. The sarcoptic is highly contagious to animals as well as humans, also known as scabies when it is on the human body. the demadex isnt as contagious and cannot be picked up by humans. from the pics you provided it doesnt really look like mange but rather irratation from scratching. obiviously the best thing to do is take them to the vet. he will do a skin scraping to confirm the existance of mange or something else. if its mange you can begin to treat it by putting mineral oil on the location of the breakout prior to taking your cat to the vet. the oil suffoates the mites that are feasting on the skin in that location. the vet will give you some shampoo or meds to further treat the condition. good luck!

[Bardlet]

In general ear mites as I've encountered them live within the ear canal and not outside of the ear. Usually they are accompanied by a thick black discharge which is their waste,blood,and ear wax.

This is correct. my cat just recently had a bout of earmites (apparently they didn't bother to clean her ears at the shelter, and me being a bit of a novice cat-owner didnt think to check them). My vet caught them and gave me some drops to give her daily, and it cleared up within two weeks (though she really didn't like getting refrigerated drops in her ears every night).