Demodex Cati Research Articles

Disseminated Mycobacterium genavense infection in a FIV-positive cat

An 8-year-old FIV-positive Australian cat was presented with coughing, periocular alopecia, pyrexia and inappetence. Skin scrapings demonstrated Demodex cati mites. Antibiotics were administered and it was treated successfully for periocular demodectic mange, but the cat continued to exhibit respiratory signs and lose weight. Further investigation revealed an ascarid infection and active chronic inflammation of undetected cause affecting the lower airways. Repetitive treatment with pyrantel failed to eradicate the ascarid infection. The cat became cachectic and developed moist ulcerative dermatitis of the neck, severe non-regenerative anaemia, leucopenia and thrombocytopenia. Necropsy and histopathology revealed mycobacteriosis affecting skin, lungs, spleen, lymph nodes, liver and kidney. Attempted culture of frozen tissues at a mycobacteria reference laboratory was unsuccessful. Paraffin-embedded, formalin-fixed tissue was retrieved and examined using PCR to amplify part of the 16S rRNA gene. A diagnosis of disseminated Mycobacterium genavense infection was made based on the presence of acid fast bacteria in many tissues and partial sequence of the 16S rRNA gene. Although M genavense has been identified previously as a cause of disseminated disease in AIDS patients, this is the first report of infection in a cat. It was suspected that the demodecosis, recurrent ascarid infections and disseminated M genavense infection resulted from an immune deficiency syndrome consequent to longstanding FIV infection.

A new species of hair follicle mite (Acari: Demodecidae) from the snow leopard,Panthera uncia(Schreber, 1775) (Felidae)

Abstract A new species of Demodex is described, in all instars, from the rare and endangered snow leopard, Panthern uncia. This represents only the second demodecid from the family Felidae and the first from a wild cat species. The mite specimens were taken from juvenile hosts raised in captivity. Demodex uncii sp. nov. closely resembles Demodex cati.

PREVALENCE AND PATHOLOGY OF ARTHROPOD INFESTATION IN DOMESTIC AND STRAY CATS IN BANGLADESH

This study was designed to determine the prevalence and pathology of potential arthropods of the domestic and stray cats (Felis catus) that had not received veterinary care and had no known exposure to insecticide application and other form of medication. In doing so, 36 domestic and stray cats were taken from Mymensingh district, Bangladesh. The research work was carried out during the period of July 2006 to June 2007 in Mymensingh district, Bangladesh. In the 36 examined cats, overall 32 (88.89 %) cats had arthropod infestation. The rate of infestation was Ctenocephalides felis felis, 86% (31 out of 36), Demodex cati, 11% (4 out of 36) and Linguatula serrata, 14 % (5 out of 36). Slightly higher rate of Ct. felis felis infestation was found in kittens (90%) followed by adults (84.61%). There was similar age prevalence of D. cati and L. serrata infection in kittens and adults. Females (90%) were 2.07 times more susceptible to Ct. felis felis infestation than males (81.25%). The rate of arthropod infection did not vary greatly over seasons. But in L. serrata infection, there was higher prevalence in summer (27.27%) than rainy (11.11%) and winter (6.25%) seasons. Grossly, demodectic mange was characterized by alopecia, epidermal scaling, scab formation and denudation of the skin mostly found in the ear and the neck. The legs and the abdomen were also affected. At histopathology, sections of mite were found in the hair follicles of the skin along with folliculitis (two cases). Pneumonia was found both grossly and microscopically in lungs of five cats but it was very difficult to correlate with the presence of small number of L. serrata organisms.