Efficacy of oral fluralaner for the treatment of Demodex gatoi in two shelter cats Dear Editor, Demodicosis in cats caused by Demodex gatoi is a contagious skin disorder caused by a short-bodied mite that lives in the superficial keratin layers of the skin. 1-3 Clinical signs may include pruritus, erythema, scaling and alopecia. Intense pruritus may be associated with presumed hypersensitivity to the mite. 1,2 Demodex gatoi can be difficult to detect in skin scrapings due to its small size and translucency, and due to excessive grooming behaviour in affected cats. Faecal flotation can be helpful for identifying the mite. 4 The mite can also be found on asymptomatic cats in contact with an affected cat. 1,2 A therapeutic trial is recommended for suspected cases with negative superficial skin scrapings, before pursuing further diagnostic investigation. 1,2 Previous treatment recommendations for D. gatoi have included weekly dips in 2% lime sulfur for up to six weeks or amitraz (125-250 ppm); these are labour-intensive and require two to three months of treatment. 1,2 Weekly topical treatment with 1% moxidectin and 10% imidacloprid for 8-10 weeks was reported to have good efficacy, but can be cost-prohibitive for multiple-cat households. 3 Fluralaner (Bravectoâ, Merck Animal Health; Madison, NJ, USA) is a long-acting systemic insecticide and acaricide belonging to the isoxazoline class of parasiticides. 5 A case report noted that when D. cati infection was treated once with oral (p.o.) fluralaner at a dose of 28 mg/kg, parasitological cure was achieved in two months with no reported adverse effects. 6 Four cats owned by a shelter organization in Illinois, USA are described here. They included a 2-year-old domestic short hair queen weighing 4.3 kg and her three six-month-old kittens weighing 3.3-4 kg. At the initial examination, only the queen had skin lesions with generalized scaling; there were no skin lesions on the three kittens. Demodex gatoi infection was diagnosed in the queen by faecal flotation and confirmed by a superficial skin scraping.Initial treatment included weekly topical 1% moxidectin and 10% imidacloprid (Advantage Multi, Bayer Animal Health; Mission, KA, USA). After four weeks, Kitten 1 began to show skin lesions, with alopecia of the left and right shoulder areas. Generalized scaling persisted in the queen. Superficial skin scrapings from Kitten 1 and the queen were positive for D. gatoi, and faecal flotation for the queen remained positive for D. gatoi.The shelter organization agreed to change the treatment to 112.5 mg of extra-label fluralaner p.o. per cat (a dose of 26-34 mg/kg). At the one month revisit, superficial skin scrapings of Kitten 1, the two asymptomatic kittens and Source of fundingThis study was self-funded.

Fluralaner given at the label dose for flea and tick prevention is effective for the treatment of canine generalized demodicosis.

This is a case report of feline sporotrichosis in a 3-year-old male intact DSH stray cat in Bangkok, Thailand. Cytology and histopathology revealed Sporothrix yeast-like organisms in ulcerative cutaneous lesions. Fungal culture and sequence analysis of ITS region of rDNA confirmed the diagnosis and the causative agent as Sporothrix schenckii. This is the first case report of feline sporotrichosis in the country. The case report emphasizes the role of stray cats as this zoonotic disease carrier.

This is a case report of concurrent of blastomycosis and pseudomycetoma in a 3 year-old Persian cat from Bangkok, Thailand. Histopathology from antemortem and postmortem samples revealed blastomycosis and dermatophyte pseudomycetoma. The PCR analysis of the formalin-embedded tissue of antemortem sample confirmed that blastomycosis was caused by Blastomyces dermatitidis. Dermatophyte infection was caused by Microsporum canis. According to the author's knowledge, this is the first case of Blastomyces dermatitidis and dermatophyte pseudomycetoma in South-East Asia.

A 2-year-old, neutered female domestic shorthaired cat presented with a history of multiple papules and nodules on pinnae, nodules on the nose, and chronic wound at the lateral surface of left radial area for four months. Skin biopsy demonstrated moderate numbers of small, oval-to-round, single-walled yeasts inside the macrophages. In addition, PCR confirmed the sequence of Histoplasma capsulatum. This is the first case report of feline cutaneous histoplasmosis in Thailand.