Do you believe your cat has some form of cat mange? If you’ve noticed your cat scratching itself a lot, shows small, red bumps along its back or has lost patches of hair, it’s likely that your vet will come to a diagnosis of mange in cats.
How is mange in cats diagnosed?
If your cat has been showing some of the signs of mange you will need to get your cat to your veterinarian for a definitive diagnosis.
The first thing your vet will do is examine the cat. In many cases, he or she will be able to provide a preliminary diagnosis from just this examination. The symptoms of mange are relatively easy to spot just by looking at the cat – patches of lost hair, lesions with necrotic (dead) cells and papules - are all easily seen. You will also be able to tell your vet if the cat has shown pruritus or intense scratching.
Since most of the mites that cause mange in cats are too small to see with the naked eye, your vet will need to do a skin scraping and then examine it under a microscope for a more definitive diagnosis. If he or she finds cigar shaped mites, the diagnosis will be demodectic mange. If the mites are round, the diagnosis will be sarcoptic mange.
Another tool used by vets to diagnose mange in cats is called fecal flotation. This means that the mites can sometimes be seen during a microscopic examination of the cat’s feces as the cat may have swallowed some when chewing on its skin.
Hair, crusts and scales may be collected in a large quantity then digested in potassium hydroxide, centrifuged and examined microscopically for mites and their eggs.
Finally, the vet might do a skin biopsy as mites can occasionally be seen under the microscope this way. The best things to biopsy when trying to diagnose mange are papules.
Diagnosis of otodectic mange in cats
While other forms of mange in cats is diagnosed roughly the same way, diagnosing otodectic mange in cats is a bit different. Otodectic mange is usually called ear mites, as this is where these mites go - deep into your cat’s exterior ear canals. Just a few of ear mites can cause a cat to violently shake and scratch its head.
If your cat is showing the symptoms of otodectic mange, you or your vet will need to take a cotton-tipped swab and remove a specimen of the cat’s earwax and examine it using a magnifying glass. The specimen needs to be held up against a black cloth as these mites are white specs that are about the size of a pinhead. To confirm the diagnosis, your vet may take a sample of skin cells from the cat’s ear and examine them with a microscope – to make sure it really is otodectic cat mange.
50% accuracy
There are two problems with the diagnosis of mange in cats. First, most of the mites that cause mange in cats are very difficult to find, even under a microscope. The vet may have to take several skin scrapings in order to make a good diagnosis.
The second problem is that your cat may have removed the mites through constant scratching so that the only thing left are the toxins that cause the itching.
Given this, your vet will most likely recommend that you treat for mange and then see if the cat gets better.
Treatment for mange in cats
Your vet will most likely recommend that you treat the cat with a lime sulfur dip (Lymdip). If so, you will need to dip the cat at least once weekly for three weeks to cover the mite’s entire life cycle.
As an alternative, your vet may have you treat the cat with a topical solution of diluted Amitraz or Rotenone. Doing an amitraz dip weekly for 6 treatments has been effective for curing mange in dogs and can also work with cats though this is an “off label” use of the amitraz and could make your cat sick.
Some vets have used the drug, Ivermectin, to successfully treat mange in cats. However, Ivermectin has not been approved for use with cats so it must be administered and monitored by a veterinarian. You might also be able to cure the mange with Frontline® Flea Spray, sprayed twice at two-week intervals.
If you use one of these treatments with your cat, of if you have your vet treat the cat, and the cat gets better, then you will know you have a definitive diagnosis of mange in cats. And that it’s relatively easy to treat for the mange, relieve your cat from the constant itching, and restore its lost hair – all at low cost and in just a few weeks.
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