Harvest mites in cat

cmbutterfly45

Hi guys hoping someone has a cure for harvest mites in cats? She gets them every year this time but they seem a lot worse this year poor thing is really out of sorts, I've just been using hibby scrub dabbed on with cotton wool but is there any home/alternative remedy I could use? Thanks

Billiethepup

Go to your vet.
Simple solution is usually a licensed spot-on. Hibbiscrub will do absolutely nothing to stop the larvae hooking onto your cats skin, it will only act as an antimicrobial on any wound left by the mite or selfinflicted by your cat being so irriatated. Generally it's best to also keep the cat indoors if possible to prevent constant re infection until the season passes.
Forget home remedy, this one is easily fixed with an antiparastic from your vet and could prevent a lot of irritation to your cat.

MusicalMelody

I discovered harvest mites on my dog yesterday and so i put a spot on from the vets on her yesterday evening and just dosed the cat as well in case. The cat had it last year and the spot on cleared it up really quickly.

cmbutterfly45

Thanks for replies but the vet have told me that u just hav to wait it out she had the spot on from them a few weeks ago but it dosnt seem to hav any effect, have tried thornit so hoping that will work , but if not might hav to take her bac for an injection in vet

biancab

cmbutterfly45 wrote: »

Thanks for replies but the vet have told me that u just hav to wait it out she had the spot on from them a few weeks ago but it dosnt seem to hav any effect, have tried thornit so hoping that will work , but if not might hav to take her bac for an injection in vet

I don't understand that , the vet told you to wait it out? for what , I don't mean to sound abrupt but I really don't get that.

cmbutterfly45

She said they just die out themselves at certain time of year and there's not much u can do to treat them u just have to wait for them to die off , I've been told that the last 3 yrs from the vet that's why I was looking for an alternative cure

Toulouse

You can get Frontline in a spray version which is what alot of vets recommend for Harvest Mites. You can spray it directly on the affected areas.

Your vet doesn't sound up to much if you don't mind me saying so. I'd be going elsewhere if it were me.

IvySlayer

cmbutterfly45 wrote: »

She said they just die out themselves at certain time of year and there's not much u can do to treat them u just have to wait for them to die off , I've been told that the last 3 yrs from the vet that's why I was looking for an alternative cure

Find another vet, that's shocking advice.

cmbutterfly45

Toulouse wrote: »

You can get Frontline in a spray version which is what alot of vets recommend for Harvest Mites. You can spray it directly on the affected areas.

Your vet doesn't sound up to much if you don't mind me saying so. I'd be going elsewhere if it were me.

Have gotten the spray but dosnt make much of a diff , I do agree about the vet but unfortunately I'm in a small town and there isn't another option so it's her or nobody

vibe666

how many times have you put it on?

you really have to drench them in it and repeat it every day until they start to clear up.

failing that, ask for the advocate spot-on solution.

we use the frontline spray normally, but it's just not getting rid of them this year, they just seem to be around for much longer (maybe the weather?), so our vet has given us the advocate spot-on solution to try and thinks it may help.

Toulouse

Just to check (I woke up this morning thinking about this, go figure!)

You said above that you'd tried the spot-on. There is a spray too, have you also tried that and not found any difference? Have you done as vibe666 says and drenched them and repeated?

muckety

Is it ok to repeat the frontline spray? I have given my cat a 2nd drenching -but left it 3 weeks because I thought it should not be used too frequently? (He's still looking a bit rough!)

vibe666

the vet told us to do spray her every day on the affected areas until it started to clear up and i think we ended up doing it 5 days in a row before she started improving. not a very happy cat!

having said that, that was last year and i ran out of the spray after 2 goes this year and went to the vet to get more (a new vet since we got the spray originally since we've moved house) and they said that if the spray hadn't worked after a couple of goes, to try the Advocate and after one application to her neck she started to clear up the next day and she's now mite free, so i'll definitely be going for the advocate drops from now on if she gets them, as repeatedly applying the spray was like trying to juggle razor blades! :eek:

twomonkeys

Been following this thread as we've had harvest mite problems with cat for the last 3 years. Been using Frontline spray but it only works for a few days and its a nightmare to spray her.

Thanks for the tip on the Advocate spot-on. My vet never mentioned Advocate (I reckon it's because he probably doesnt sell it!). Will certainly try it.

vibe666

also speaking to the vet, what i thought were orangy/red scabs (on the cats belly) etc. from scratching are actually the mites themselves if you look closely.

anyway, you'll know it's getting better when they start to disappear.