fur mites, dandruff, and bald spots!

[mochi_ball]

Mochi started having flaky dandruff skin since about a month and a half ago. it started out as tiny flakes which I thought was just dry skin from the weather change, but then it got progressively larger over the weeks and then I noticed bald spots near her back and behind area. So today we took her to the vet and she said that it was fur mites. She gave us 3 Revolution capsules to use, each 3 weeks apart. How fast does the medication work? It has been a few hours and I still see her scratching her back.

I also have a few questions regarding preventing another fur mite infection and cleaning her areas. We keep the apartment fairly clean, vacuum regularly, and change her litterbox once a day. She has free range of the entire apartment but she does have this couch that she likes to hide and sleep underneath. Is there a product/chemical I should buy to clean the carpet and couch with (other than vacuuming)?? I read online that they said its bad to steam clean the carpet because it makes the environment damp and doesn't kill the mites. Please advise! Thanks..

 

[tonyshuman]

Mites can come in on anything, like your shoes or the hay. I am not sure about what to use to clean the environment if steam is not an option. Most home cleaners for fleas, etc are also harmful to people and pets. You could do a thorough cleaning of the couch with boric acid, as mentioned near the bottom of this Medirabbit page:
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Skin_diseases/Parasitic/furmite/fur_mite.htm

 

[Must_Love_Pets]

So if I steam clean my couch, it could kill mites? I have the Shark Steamer, wonder if that will work.

 

[tonyshuman]

I don't have personal experience with steam, but I do with insecticides and they can be scary bad. We say that steam will kill the mites. I don't know if the steam from the shark would penetrate totally, but it might just do the trick.

 

[Pet_Bunny]

Is there any improvement on Mochi? How is her appetite?

 

[mochi_ball]

Thanks for asking! She seems to be doing better. Isn't scratching as much, but her skin is still very flaky and lots of large dandruff in her fur. Other than that, she's eating and pooping fine.

I was wondering if anyone knew how long it would take for her skin to improve and the flakes to disappear? Hopefully all the mites are dead by now from the first dose of Revolution (its been over 24 hours).