Cat with skin mites, lice or fleas? What are they?

Question

A stray kitten showed up at my door, she has been outside all of her life. I plan on adopting her as a housecat. She is still somewhat fearful of people, I can gently pet her for a minute then she gets a little skiddish- it's just taking some time to build up some trust.
I haven't taken her to the vet yet, but soon as I get some cash I am going to get her checked for worms, get rabies shots, etc, but in the mean time, I noticed some small bugs on her fur next to her skins, they don't look like the typical fleas, these little bugs are tiny, shaped like a tick or a flea, but are like a pale tan color. I am not sure if they are lice or some type of mite. There are tiny white dots on the end of her fur that she sheds, almost like these would be eggs or nits or something. I've seen fleas before but these don't look like that, but I've never seen lice or mites before and wondering what these "bugs" are and what can be done over the counter until I can take her to the vet.

Answer 1

If Money is the issue right Now go to wal mart and get the flea meds it's about 6.00 cheep but it is not as good as the frontline stuff.they also see a shampoo to to get the flea thick and so on off her.to bath a cat don't let them hear the water running that spooks them good just fill up a bucket with warm water and you can dunk her in it with the shampoo dry her good and comb her coat you will have to do this a few times to get her realy cleaned up but hold off on the fle meds till after you bath her.if the cats coat looks like she has little egg like things on her fur it's a form of lice fleas you can see plus when you comb her use soapy water to knock the flea off the water will turn red but don't be afraid thats the flea poop remember they drink blood to live. if you can look at her gums too make sure they are pale thats a good sign but if white you got to get them fleas off her they are killing her blood straight.but untill you get some cash use a cheep flea killer Hartz I think they only last 1 mo. but wash her you can also use a little seven dust not much just alittle this will kill them too

Answer 2

Mites live under the skin so you wouldn't see them, except for ear mites which look like black goo in the ears (you see the results of the mites in the ears, not the mites themselves). That leave fleas or lice. Fleas can come in other colors so don't go by the dark brown as the only type. Lice usually are soft bodied. Fleas are hard bodied. When you squish them, you should be able to determine which it is.

Both can be treated by a vet, no problem. A $10 dose of Advantage will take care of all the external parasites in 2-3 days.

Answer 3

This would be lice. You cannot see mites enough to be able to describe them like that and they do their work under the skin. Mites will look like specs of dirt that move. You would have to scrape them off of the cat and place them on a table to see them move. Most of them are microscopic though. Cats are well-known for carrying lice. The legs of the lice will look almost clear. They are small about the size of small fleas. If you come into contact with her, then you could catch lice as well. Take her to the vet and get her treated. There isn't much you can do about it right now though bc she is too skiddish.

Answer 4

RE:
Cat with skin mites, lice or fleas? What are they?
A stray kitten showed up at my door, she has been outside all of her life. I plan on adopting her as a housecat. She is still somewhat fearful of people, I can gently pet her for a minute then she gets a little skiddish- it's just taking some time to build up some trust.
I haven't taken...

Answer 5

cat skin mites lice fleas

Answer 6

Well, cat's fur has a white root. Fleas are black, and cat blood isn't suitable for lice bugs. Good luck with kitty!

Answer 7

You could give her a bath in Dawn dishwashing detergent to see if that takes care of it - or you can use Frontline to see if that takes care of it - either of these will not hurt the kitten - just call the vet to see how much Frontline to use.

Answer 8

well ya those r lice if they r like little white and a little c through then like ya those would be lice anyway i would wash everything that she has been on cuz chances is that u have them 2 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!and human lice care could damage her skin so u need 2 get her 2 the vet as fast as u can cuz she could loose all of her hair and stuff llike that well anyway i hope she gets better!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!=}=}=}