A litter of kittens was recently born in the basement of one
of the local paper mills in town . I am not quite clear how the pregnant mom got
inside the building , probably a kind-hearted soul that brought her in from the Wisconsin winter. One of the kittens from the litter, now a 12 week old kitten called Mittens, a fluffy black
and white girl, was adopted by a New London family with two adult indoor cats,
Cyrus and Grizz. Here is where the story begins. Cyrus and Grizz are pampered indoor family
pets. They live in a safe, healthy,
controlled environment until now. Enter
Mittens…. an itchy stray kitten…
“Mittens” came in for her first wellness
visit this week.
Mittens, although cute,
had a checkered past. Born
to a mom of questionable health, Mittens had acquired a highly contagious,
although microscopic, skin parasite from her mama. This parasite is called Demodex Gatoi. (see picture for graphic depiction). This skin parasite is smaller than the tip of
a needle. Demodex Gatoi is considered a fairly recent bug,
having been first discovered and documented in 1981 in Finland. Since then it has gradually become more
prevalent in other countries, and is now considered a common cause of feline
skin disease in the Southern United States, and I have seen several cases in my practice .
It is not easily found on the skin or fur,
because it lives and burrows deep into the keratin layer of the epidermis, causing itchy skin, and leading to severe inflammation
and ulcerations. And it is very
contagious to other cats.
Luckily for Mittens, the owners brought a fresh stool sample
in for analysis at their first appointment. Now a stool sample is
usually evaluated for parasites that live in the gastrointestinal tract,
right? So how did the skin mite end up
in the stool, you ask??? (this is the
cool part). Remember that Mittens had
been itchy. Itchy cats chew at their
skin. Chewed hair (including the mite that is hanging around under the skin) gets swallowed when cats chew their skin. A skin mite that is swallowed has entered the GI tract, and
is waiting for the eyes of my skilled technician Kim to identify it (as she did in Mitten's case) in a stool analysis.
The spotlight is on Mittens and Demodex Gatoi , but this story is really about the
importance of a stool sample examination.
Preventative testing like a fecal analysis can be an invaluable
diagnostic test, one that we strongly recommend for all cats on an annual basis. Without the foresight and concern of Mitten’s owner
this contagious parasite would have gone
undiagnosed and Mittens, Grizz and Cyrus’s health would have been put at risk. The take away lesson is that important health information can be found in that smelly, not-to-fun to collect stool sample. Bring one along on your cat's next wellness visit.
If you are interested, here is more information about this
fascinating feline specific skin parasite:
FELINE DEMODEX INFORMATION
As always, thanks for listening.
Dr. Maureen Flatley
Fox Valley Cat Clinic
www.foxvalleycatclinic.com
