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Peer-reviewed veterinary case report

Cat with hair loss and mites cleared by ivermectin treatment

By Kano, Rui et al.·Published in Research in veterinary science·2012·Department of Pathobiology, Japan·View original on PubMed

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Original publication title: Feline demodicosis caused by an unnamed species.

Species:
cat

Plain-English summary

A 13-year-old female domestic short hair cat was brought in for hair loss and redness on her nose, around her eyes, and on her chin and belly. The vet found a large number of Demodex mites, which are tiny parasites that can cause skin issues in cats. Initially, the cat was treated with antibiotics and steroids, but when that didn't work, she was given ivermectin, a medication that kills mites. After four weeks of treatment, the cat's skin cleared up, and no mites were found, indicating she had fully recovered.

People also search for: cat hair loss treatment · Demodex mites in cats · ivermectin for cat skin problems

Abstract

A case of feline demodicosis is described in this report. A 13-year-old spayed female domestic short hair cat weighing 4.5 kg was being treated with cefovecin and alternately with prednisone or methylprednisolone. On further physical examination, the cat showed mild erythema and hair loss on the bridge of the nose, around the eyes, on the chin, on the side part of the breast and on the abdomen. A large number of Demodex mites were found in deep skin scrapings from the affected areas. The cat was then treated with ivermectin at 600 μg/kg administered SC daily. After 4 weeks of treatment, the cat was clinically normal with no mites detected in the skin scrapings from the face or breast areas. The mite responsible may represent a previously seen but as yet unnamed new species. This is third report that describes a case of feline demodicosis caused by a different, unnamed mite species that has different morphological characteristics to those of known Demodex mites and may represent a previously seen but as yet unnamed species.

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Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21481429/