Bird mites???

[boskelli1571]

Hi there,
My OH is been bitten at night, mainly on the trunk and arms, small raised bumps which itch intensely. She convinced it's bird mites. I have not been bitten at all and I'm the one who mainly deals with the chickens. The cat does crawl under the covers with her

cat is treated for flea/ticks with a monthly topical.
I have seen a few lice on the birds and have dusted accordingly - no sign of mites that I can see.
We live in a log cabin,so 'they' could be hiding between the logs, we have not found any bugs after vacuuming, changing/washing bedding. Any thoughts or suggestions?? Anyone had similar?
Thanks.

 

[Judy]

Personally, I've never heard of chicken lice or mites inflicting that kind of damage on humans. They do occasionally jump on a person, but I don't even know that they bite. I do know cat or dog fleas can, though. I wonder whether the cat may have developed resistance to its flea medicine; that does happen. Or perhaps there are that many living and hatching in your home. I have fogged my own home more than once for fleas. She might want to talk to your vet.

 

[boskelli1571]

Thanks for the response Judy! We did talk to the vet who recommended we try Seresto flea collar on this one particular cat. we are a bit ambiguous about it because we actually have never seen a flea on him!
Is it possible he has caught and killed a wild bird and has it secreted under the porch with mites on the body?
Come the warmer weather (-7F right now), we will be fogging the house & dipping all animals & birds!

 

[Judy]

If you have carpeting, you might want to try what I did once, pretty well successfully. (I had trouble with fleas for a few years til the newer type of flea meds came out; I believe it was Frontline that cured our problems.) I bought a box of lain old 20 mile team borax and springkled it all over the carpet, walked it in for a day or so, then vacuumed it up. You don't get all the Borax, which is a good thing. These days you can buy more finely powdered borax for bugs, "Roach Prufe" if I recall correctly, but that's all that was around then. Fleas will definitely infest a house, especially if the cat or dog is gone. I once visited my mother for a week or two with my cat. She had to call in a pro a few weeks later.

 

[boskelli1571]

Thank you so much! We will definitely give it a whirl.

 

[johnderosa1]

Dont discout northern fowl mites. They can and WILL bite humans. They are nearly microscopic and can live off of birds for an extended period of time. Once they get into you house they can be very persistant and difficult to get rid of . They can and will take up shop in your car/truck if they are on you when you get in. They will also bite some people while seemingly leaving others alone. You should assume that it is possible that this is the problem and take precautions . If you birds are twitching and or have pale combs and wattles it is very likely they have mites. Treat the birds , clean and treat the coop regularly, take you clothes off after leaving the coop EVERY time and treat them. Shower as well. Dont forget to treat linens cusions , etc regularly by washing and or putting them in the dryer regularly. You also should treat your car. If you park it in full sun on a hot day the heat should kill them . Good luck. They are tough to beat. But it can be done if you are consistant with your approach.

 

[boskelli1571]

Thanks for the heads up on these little critters, hadn't even thought of those