Chapter V 



EXTERNAL PARASITES AND DIS- 

 EASES OF THE SKIN 



Pediculosis or Lousiness , 



Cats are very subject to infestations of lice, 

 and more especially so if debilitated from dis- 

 ease or old age. The lice belong to the phylum 

 Arthropoda, natural o]:der Rhynchota, which 

 comprise the two main families, the Hemato- 

 pinus and the Trichodectes. 



The Hemotopinus are true bloodsuckers, the 

 Trichodectes surface feeders, puncturing the 

 skin and living on the exuded juices. The cat 

 is more commonly affected by invasions of one 

 of the Trichodectes, viz., the Trichodectes sub- 

 rostratus, but sometimes harbors a Hemato- 

 pinus, common also to the dog, the Hemato- 

 pinus piliferus. 



Symptoms. — Both varieties produce a der- 

 matitis, which is increased by the animal's ef- 

 forts at biting, scratching, and rubbing, in the 

 vain attempt to gain surcease from the contin- 

 ued irritation. 



The irritation produced deprives the animal 

 of rest and it becomes debilitated, and in ex- 

 treme cases emaciated. The hair loses its lus- 

 tre, is stary, becomes full of dandruff, and falls 

 out in patches. The skin becomes the seat of 



excoriations and sores from the animg-l's efforts 



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