By Dr. I Elizabeth Borgmann. In the introductory article on skin problems in pets, we mentioned ruling out the presence of parasites that may be primary or secondary problems. You may be wondering what those bugs could be. After all, the thought that the pet that is sharing your bed may be loaded with critters is kind of disenchanting (ok, it’s downright creepy)!

Of course, by parasites, I mean insects and arachnids (no…not spiders…mites!). Fleas, ear mites, sarcoptic mites, demodex mite, lice, walking dandruff. All are incredibly amazing and fascinating creatures.

How will your vet diagnose these creepy crawlies? Firstly, they look at your pet. There are certain patterns that provide the hint of their presence. Some of these critters are obvious. The fancy “acetate test” is a huge help! Here we take pieces of scotch tape and stick it on your pet’s fur & skin to capture critters and look at them under a microscope. Some of these bugs burrow into the skin and we need to do a deep skin scrape (sorry…down to bleeding skin) to find them. Even after that, we may not find some of them. Diagnostics in any field is not 100% – ever!

Let’s start with fleas. Most people know about these but there are some huge misconceptions about their life cycle and control. If it was easy, there wouldn’t be so much ongoing research and product development to deal with these creatures. Many people are under the impression that we don’t have a flea problem in the Fraser Valley. Sorry. Fleas do exist here. Hate to burst that bubble! The numbers have certainly decreased from what they were in the past due to the plethora of new products available, but the flea has not been eliminated.

Where will you find fleas? Anywhere that other animals go and spend time. To understand the flea problem, you need to understand a bit about the flea life cycle. Eggs and larvae fall off an infested pet and settle in the environment. They survive best in dark, cool, not too wet, areas. That means places like carpets, furniture, under the patio, under the hedges and other favourite resting areas. Once the flea larva or pupae senses an animal it speeds through its cycle, turning into a flea and jumping onto the host. There it will remain for its entire life – on the host. It then drops its eggs and larvae into the pet’s environment (and onto your clothes which you will wear to your friend’s house…does your friend happen to have pets?).

How many fleas does it take to make a pet uncomfortable? Depends. One to thousands.

How should you handle this problem? Again, it depends. By the time you have noticed your pet has fleas, there has been an infestation in your house for 6-8 weeks. Do you prefer to prevent the issue or do you prefer to put out fires? Use a growth inhibitor to prevent the problem. Use a growth inhibitor combined with an adulticide to put out the fire. Your vet can help you choose the products best suited to your lifestyle risk and attitude.

Mites are a big category of parasites that pester our pets. There are ear mites, sarcoptic mites, demodex mites and the walking dandruff mite.
Ear mites, of which there are several species, can infect cats, dogs, ferrets and rabbits. The pets get crusty ears and the bugs are easy to identify. New products have made these incredibly easy to treat. Gone are the days of ‘seven days of topical, 10 days off, seven days of topical’. No more mess. No more clawed up hands. Ahhh…the good life!

There are two types of mange mites – sarcoptic and demodex. Sarcoptic mites are transmissible to people. They can be difficult to find on a skin scrape because even one mite causes intense pruritus (itchiness). The location of the itch will make your vet suspicious of this mite. It likes the elbows and hocks. And if you rub the ear, the hind leg might start that classic scratching motion. Sarcoptic mites are often seen in the farm dogs that protect sheep from coyotes. If you have wildlife traipsing across your property, the suspicion of sacrcoptic mange goes up! Again, treatment has become easy thanks to all that great research into parasite control.

Demodex lives on all of us (we carry a different species than dogs or cats). It can get out of control in immune-compromised animals. By immune-compromised I mean young or ill pets. It’s not very itchy but can be unsightly. Most animals only end up with patchy hair loss, often on the face and especially around the eyes. Others pets end up with hair loss over the entire body! Demodex is easy to find with skin scrapings – that is if the pet let’s your vet get a decent skin scrape! It’s a rather cute bug – it looks like a cigar with stubby legs. Most of the time Demodex clears up on its own but sometimes it needs a bit of help from your veterinarian. (In the Fraser Valley it would be rare to see a cat with Demodex, but it is more common in the warmer climates.)

Cheylettiella, or walking dandruff, is another type of mite that your pet may have. Your pet may not show any signs, which can make diagnosis tricky! And unfortunately, you can get it too. Again, with the new products, it is easy to treat.

Lice are less frequently seen in the Fraser Valley but are still present. Lice tend to be species specific, meaning you won’t get lice from your dog or cat (Phew!). It’s also easy to treat. For example, Advantage can be used (off label) every two weeks and it’s gone. (No, don’t try using Advantage on your kids to treat the lice….hmmmm…but I wonder…would it work?) Lice come from other dogs or contaminated combs. The same transmission routes as seen in people!

All these critters are fairly easy to get rid of. Why do they come back? With the exception of Demodex, it is because your pet is associating with, or hanging out in the same area, as another infected pet. If it keeps coming back, look for a possible infection source.

As far as skin things go, parasites are easy to treat. Next week we’ll talk about those annoying infections caused by bacteria and yeast.

Dr. I Elizabeth Borgmann

Dr. Borgmann has been practicing in the Fraser Valley for over 11 years and can be reached at the Whatcom Road Veterinary Clinic