Does Cat Mites Spread On us?

Question

Does Cat/Kiten Mites spread on our hair

Answer 1

Here is a website and question/answer where people ask a vet questions about their pets. According to this vet, it is possible.
Cheyletiella species mites

Question: Dear Dr. Richards,

I will be very happy if you can help me,.One of my female brings me after she has been covered mites, if I am not wrong they are "cheletelya parasiti vorax" as we say in French.
A few year ago one my female had these mites and my friend of Canada send my a shampoo in two wasking it dessapeared.But now He stops breeding, I am unable to get the name of these shampoo.
Now I have myself about 60 bites all ower my body except in the face, but arms, shoulders, legs have small bottoms
I get mad with theses itches.
Please could you help me telling what I can make to avoid these little mites.
Thank you.
Kind regards from Switzerland.
M.


Answer: M.-

Cheyletiella species mites are usually pretty easy to kill using products that will kill fleas. It is necessary to use a shampoo or topical product several times at weekly intervals to be sure that the mites are killed. Since Cheyletiella mites can live in the environment for up to ten days, it is necessary to treat the house to keep the mites from returning. Standard flea control treatments for the house will usually work to kill the mites. It may be necessary to treat the house more than once in some
cases. If this approach doesn't work, giving ivermectin orally at a dose rate of 200 to 300ug/kg three times at 14 day intervals will usually control the infestation.

If this is a dog, you might be dealing with sarcoptic mange. This will respond to topical medications in many cases, too. People can be affected by this mite and it does cause very severe itchiness in humans. We usually use ivermectin for this disease at the present time, because it is easier for the clients and because it works well. Your vet can probably provide this medication after confirming the diagnosis.

I don't treat people, but it is my understanding that the itching can be relieved with medications, if you have contracted this mite. The infection is self-limiting in humans and will go away two or three weeks after you successfully rid the dogs of the infection and are not picking up more mites from them.

Hope this helps some.

Mike Richards, DVM
8/7/2000

Here is another where it says it is contagious to people if you read it in the answer. Mites in Cats

Q: Dear Dr. Mike,

We need help. Our beloved Gator (a Cat but like a son to us) has a bad case
of mites. The vet has Lime dipped him twice and the second one really made
him sick, the vet didn't understand why the dip would make him sick. He has
lost a lot of his coat. Our thinking is that given the fact that his coat is
almost gone possibly the lime dip seeped through his skin and made him sick.
In any event, we need help.

Currently he is taking Clavamox and the vet is thinking about oral cortisone?

Do you think milbemycin (Interceptor Rx) could be used for Gator??

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.


A: Rick-

There are four species of mites that are known to affect cats, that I am
aware of. The two most common are Cheyletiella blakei and Notoedres cati.
Over the last few years more and more cases of Demodex sp. (there appear to
be two species of Demodex that infect cats) have been recognized. Finally,
there is a mite, Lynxacarus radovski, that is seen commonly in Hawaii and
Australia and occasionally in Florida, according to Dr. Sousa in the
Veterinary Clinics of North America, Feline Dermatology, July 1995.

I think we can safely rule out Lynxacarus based on your location.

That leaves Notoedres, Cheyletiella and Demodex mites. From your
description, I am most suspicious of the notoedric mange but can not be sure
so it is probably best just to cover all three here.

Notoedric mange is an itchy infection that often has a lot of scabbiness or
crustiness associated with it. It usually starts on the cat's head but can
spread elsewhere, especially around the paws. Usually, the mites are easy to
find on a skin scraping. It is contagious to cats, dogs and people. When
treating for notedric mange it is important to treat all pets in the
household since an early infection in another pet may go unnoticed and lead
to reinfection of the whole household. Lime sulfer (LymDyp Rx) is usually
effective if affected cats are dipped weekly for 6 to 8 weeks and is
considered to be among the safest treatments. Ivermectin (Ivomec Rx) is used
frequently, although it is not approved for use in cats, and is often
effective if two doses are given two weeks apart. It seems to be pretty
safe, as well. Amitraz (Mitaban Rx) has been used in cats at a lower dose
(0.025% solution) than is used in dogs. It is also reported to be effective
but is probably not as safe as either lime sulfer dip or ivermectin.
Fipronil (Frontline Topspot Rx) has been reported anecdotally to be
effective against these mites but I do not know how effective. Treatment for
secondary bacterial infections with antibiotics may be necessary and it
seems to be OK to use cortisones to control itching without seriously
affecting the effectiveness of the mite medications.

Cheyletiella mites are large mites that are sometimes referred to as
"walking dandruff" as they can be seen by many people without magnification.
Cats are efficient at removing these mites and it may take a persistent
effort to find them in some cases, though. They can be found on skin
scrapings and sometimes show up in fecal samples from affected cats who have
ingested them. Infection with Cheyletiella mites produces variable
itchiness, dander flakes that are white or cream colored and sometimes
scabbiness. These mites are easy to kill but getting rid of an infestation
can be difficult because these mites can live in the environment for a while
and commonly affect all the cats in a household. Treating the house with
flea control products will usually kill the mites in the environment. Lime
sulfer dips, most flea control products, ivermectin and amitraz will all
kill these mites. Ivermectin should be given three times at two week
intervals for cheyletilliosis.

Demodex mites are being reported more commonly now than in the past in cats.
It is unclear why there is an increase in cases. Demodecosis in cats may be
associated with persistent accumulation of waxiness or liquid consistency
exudate in the ears, hair loss, scabby skin lesions, and secondary skin
infections. In our practice we have seen this primarily as hair loss with
itchiness but not much other sign of skin disease or as persistent ear
infections. There doesn't seem to be a clear consensus as to the best method
of treating demodecosis in cats. We have used ivermectin at two week
intervals for several injections and seemed to have success with this as far
as eliminating mites from skin scrapings but we had one cat that still
exhibited pruritis and hairloss in the same pattern despite the fact that we
couldn't find mites anymore. Skin biopsies of this cat were not diagnostic
of any other skin condition nor of demodecosis but we had treated the cat
prior to the biopsy. I would probably try amitraz as a second choice for
treatment and this is another mite that may be susceptible to fipronil based
strictly on anecdotal reports. I suspect that milbemycin would be effective
but have not seen any reports of anyone actually trying it. It would be a
very good idea to contact the manufacturer to make sure that there is not a
known adverse reaction in cats prior to using this product. I am not aware
of one but the pharmaceutical companies often receive reports of problems
when their products are used in unapproved species.

That covers the mites.

I can not explain the reaction to lime sulfer dip that your cat experienced
as it is reported to be very safe in cats. There are occasional reports of
problems with lime sulfer dip in rabbits and I have seen at least one
reference to a problem in a cat on a veterinary bulletin board on the
Veterinary Information Network. Since ivermectin is pretty safe and probably
effective for all three types of mites it seems like a reasonable
alternative to me. If it isn't effective, then I'd probably try fipronil and
amitraz, in that order. If all of that didn't work, I'd call Novartis and
see if there was any problem with using milbemycin that they were aware of
and give it a try if it seemed reasonable to do so after talking to them.

Persistent mite infections may be associated with feline leukemia virus
infection or feline immunodeficiency virus infection. If treatment is not
successful it may be worth checking for these viruses. It is pretty easy to
confuse several other diseases with mite infestation, including atopy,
phemphigus, food allergies, ringworm, bacterial skin infections and flea
allergy dermatitis. If the mites clear up but the problem doesn't it would
be a good idea to consider the possibility that there is a secondary infection.

Lastly, when we have real difficulty with a skin case we refer the patient
to a veterinary dermatologist. We are fortunate enough to have one within a
reasonable driving distance from our hospital. If this is possible in your
area it is also something to consider if the response to treatment continues
to be disappointing.

Good luck with this.

Mike Richards, DVM

Answer 2

I assume you mean cat fleas. If your cat gets fleas unfortunately they will spread in the house and you may feel them biting you, although they will not live on you like head lice. Prevention is better than cure and you can treat your cat with Frontline so fleas never become a problem. You will get this from your vet. If your kitten is only 8 weeks, it's likely he hasn't had his injections yet in which case you can ask your vet about flea prevention and worming when you take him for his jabs. You shouldn't let your cat outside until he's 6 months old anyway so fleas won't be an issue until then.

Answer 3

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Answer 4

Lots of tiny insects are called mites. If you mean ear mites, the answer is no. If your cat has somehow contracted scabies, the answer is yes. There are also types of mange that are communicable to humans. I would consult my vet. Vets usually have full calendars and, if you have used them regularly, they will usually answer the question over the phone, rather than have to squeeze in an emergency visit that can be handled without seeing the pet.

Answer 5

Ticks are round and hard, you can pick them up with a tweezers and they do not move very fast. Once they find a spot that they like, they dig in and swell up. If the cat has ticks, there will be small round ones crawling and big grey things stuck to the cat. Ticks can be removed with alcohol or carefully using a rat-tooth tweezers to get underneath the body of the tick. What you saw sounds like fleas. They usually are not seen hopping, they prefer to quickly move in the fur. They are small, similar to lice, and they are very difficult to grab without a comb. The best way to get rid of fleas is to use a flea spray, and get the cat on flea medications. Also spray the area that the cat is in.

Answer 6

Yes, you can get ear mites from your cat or dog. But it is rare. You should take care of your pet if it does have ear mites. Call a vet. Check out the link below too.

Answer 7

No, mites are species specific, like cat lice ONLY eats off cats, human lice ONLY eats off humans. Make sure you use a vet prescribed treatment, since tonnes of the store products can do more harm then good!

Answer 8

Is this why you asked about bathing your kitten? Cat mites do not live on humans. If your kitten has fleas, however, they can live on us. They can also survive in the floorboards, furnishings, etc., for two years or more.
I suggest you take your kitten to the vet and get your kitten checked over. The vet will advise you on treatments and future care.

Answer 9

There have been reports of earmite infestation in people. This seems to occur only after very close contact with a heavily infested cat. The signs are reported to be intense itching and a soft sound similar to paper being scrunched up in the affected ear. The infection should clear up without treatment in a few weeks if it is present but it would be best to seek medical attention if you think that this is a possible problem.

Answer 10

If your kitten has fleas then take it to the vet to get it treated as it may have worms too. A vet will give you the best advice as you can't give a kitten flea treatment until it's a certain age as it could be harmful. Also bathing your cat (as you've asked in your previous question) will not get rid of fleas but will upset it and they can clean themselves perfectly. Take him to a vet and good luck as if you do the best for it they are such loving pets.

Answer 11

If your kitten appears to have mites, take it to a vet who will diagnose correctly and offer the right medication. Do not EVER self;medicate any animal.