Mangy mites

You may know that mange is a skin disease, but did you know it’s caused by mites? Mites are not insects, but are tiny members of the Arachnida class—spiders and their relatives. Some mites are easily seen; others are barely visible to the naked eye.

Female mites lay their eggs in the skin, and the mites that hatch feed on the skin cells. The resulting skin condition is generally called mange, and the symptoms are hair loss, redness, scaling and itching. It is irritating but not dangerous, and the worst thing about the condition is that mites can be transferred from cats to humans, and vice versa.