What are mite parasites

Mite parasites are parasitic mites that are difficult to see with the naked eye. Unlike ectoparasites that feed on blood outside the body, they live inside the host's skin. Mite parasites can cause great distress to dogs but pose little threat to humans.

Scabies mites

Scabies mites are parasitic in the skin. They burrow into the host's epidermis and dig tunnels, lay eggs in the tunnels, and hatch into larvae. When the larvae grow up, they burrow out of the body surface and continue to burrow. The burrows evolve into nymphs; the nymphs excavate shallow tunnels in the skin, metamorphose into adults, and then continue to reproduce. It can be said that they spend their lives digging holes. The epidermis of pets infected with scabies mites is naturally riddled with holes. There are many types of scabies mites. Dogs are infected with canine scabies mites. When infected, they will suffer from severe hair loss due to severe itching and friction. Scabies mites are highly contagious and can temporarily attack humans, causing itchy skin and papular dermatitis.

Symptoms:

It causes severe itching in dogs. It usually occurs first on the head, face, elbows, ears, and chest, and then spreads throughout the body. The skin of the parasitic area becomes red and has rash-like nodules. Thickening and yellowing of scabs.

Demodex mites

Demodex mites live in hair follicles and sebaceous glands. They are often infected due to contact between sick dogs and healthy dogs. Normal dogs often have a small amount of Demodex mites on their skin, but they do not develop the disease. When dogs are malnourished, have weakened immunity, or are in a state of stress, it may lead to massive reproduction and disease. Demodex mites are mainly found in dogs, but can also occasionally cause disease in cats. Demodex mites in dogs are generally not contagious to humans.

Symptoms:

In the early stage, there are small red protrusions around the hair follicles. In the later stage, bacterial infection will produce small abscesses, leading to hair loss, sebaceous overflow, and silvery white sticky skin flakes falling off. stench.

Ear mites

Ear mites often live in the ear canal and are contagious, mostly in young children. Cats are more likely to be infected than dogs. If not treated in time, ear mites can damage the inner auditory canal. Rare cases may also occur on the head, neck, and tail. Ear mites are highly contagious among pets. If a dog or cat in your home is infected with ear mites, all cats and dogs will need treatment. In rare cases, people may develop reddened skin due to ear mites. Overall, ear mites have very little impact on people.

Symptoms:

Dogs often scratch their ears, and the ear canals are dirty, with dark brown or reddish brown secretions.