Feline Parasites of the Skin

A primary cause of skin irritation, itching, and hair loss on cats, parasites of the skin can also transmit disease or cause anemia. These pests feed on the blood and skin cells of your cat, causing it discomfort. Usually found outdoors, keep your cat inside and treat it with a topical flea treatment that can also kill ticks, lice or mites to prevent it from becoming infested with these skin parasites.

  1. Fleas

    • One of the most common external parasites that infests cats, the flea can live anywhere from 13 days to 12 months, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. These small, wingless insects jump onto your cat's fur and live on the cat's skin, feeding on blood. Fleas can cause itchy, irritated skin, hair loss, anemia and can even transmit tapeworms to your cat if an infected flea is ingested. To prevent and treat fleas on your cat, apply a topical flea treatment to its skin between the shoulder blades or give the cat an oral medication. After treating your cat for fleas, you need to remove any remaining eggs or larvae (young, developing fleas) from your home by washing pet bedding and vacuuming carpets. Use an insecticide spray or fogger to kill any remaining fleas in the home.

    Mites

    • Ear mites live in your cat's ears and feed on the wax and oils found in the ear canal. These very small, eight-legged parasites invade both the inner and outer ear canal, causing irritation and ear infections. Ear mites cause about 50 percent of all ear infections in cats, resulting in brown waxy secretions from the ears, itching, odor and obstruction of the ear canal, according to the ASPCA. Other types of mites, though less common in cats, can cause mange, including sarcoptic, demodectic and notedric mange. Mange causes itching and patchy hair loss and, like ear mites, is contagious to other cats in your home. Usually malnourished or ill cats become infected with these types of mites due to a compromised immune system. Treat mite infestations with medication from a veterinarian such as ear drops, topical creams or special medicated shampoos.

    Ticks

    • Cats can picks up ticks from the outdoors or from a dog. These arachnid parasites, like mites, have eight legs. Mites bury their heads in your cat's skin and feed ons blood. While visible to the naked eye, you do not usually see these small parasites until they have fed on blood and expanded in size. Inspect your cat's body, especially the ears, head and feet if you suspect it has contracted a tick. Remove a tick by rubbing alcohol on it and gently picking it off of the cat with tweezers, then dropping the tick in a glass filled with alcohol to kill it. Ticks carry diseases that they can transmit to cats similar to Lyme disease in humans, that can cause severe illness or even death, according to the ASPCA.

    Lice

    • Lice, like fleas, are wingless insects that feed on the blood of your cat. Some lice, called mallophaga, chew on the skin and others, called anoplura, suck blood directly. Contact with an infected cat, or a grooming instrument used on an infected cat, will transmit the lice to a new feline host. Lice cause itching of the skin, hair loss, dry skin and coat, and in severe infestations, anemia. These parasites live only on the host animal, with a life cycle of 21 days. Treat cats with lice by bathing them in a medicated shampoo containing pyrethrin for 10 to 14 days to completely eliminate the lice and the hatching eggs.