Harvest Mites and your Pets

Martin James

On warm days in late summer until the first frosts of winter, they climb up long grass and bushes waiting for something warm-blooded to pass! When they get the chance they jump on and swarm over the mammal’s body to find an area where the skin is thinnest, before sinking their hooked fangs in. They feed by injecting a fluid into the deeper layers of the skin. This liquefies the surrounding cells and the resulting ‘goo’ is sucked back into the mite. They will feed for 2 – 3 days, enlarging in size from 0.2mm to 0.6mm as they do so. They can just be seen by the naked eye as orange dots. After feeding they drop to the ground where they develop into adults via a nymph stage.

Symptoms

The mites tend to principally affect cats, although humans, rabbits and dogs can also get them. They can cause very few problems, but sadly a lot of animals become allergic to the fluid injected by the mite, resulting in reddening and crusting of the skin. Often the animal will then scratch at the mites, worsening the inflammation and introducing bacterial infection.

The mites tend to attach just in front of the ears, at the base of the ear flap or between the toes. Less frequently the chin, lips, armpits and tummy can suffer.