You Are Reading
Symptoms of Demodex Cat
The clinical symptoms of cat Demodex infection mainly consist of two types: local and systemic. In the local type, red patches often appear around the eye socket, nose, mouth, corners of the mouth, head, or claws, accompanied by hair loss, pustules, thickened skin, pigmentation, and a small amount of dandruff. If the infection is severe or not treated in time, it can lead to systemic infection, including but not limited to the head, neck, limbs, back, and abdomen. The characteristic manifestations include symmetrical hair loss, possibly accompanied by scales, crusts, plaques, pigmentation, etc., as well as external ear inflammation caused by earwax and secondary pyoderma.
- Early Symptoms
The early stage of Demodex infection is mainly local, and the affected areas often occur around the eyelids and eyes, head, and neck. Symptoms include red patches, dandruff, crusts, and hair loss, covered with silver-white sticky scales resembling cornflour. Itching is rare, and a small number of cases may have blackheads, papules, and small red protrusions.
- Late Symptoms
The hair loss lesions in the late stage of Demodex infection are widespread and can cover the entire body. Symptoms include blackheads, papules, red protrusions, and bleeding at the lesion sites. The surface of the crust usually has secondary infections, which then develop into folliculitis, pyoderma, etc., causing skin itching. In severe secondary bacterial infections, the skin turns pale blue or bronze and has a unpleasant smell.