RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Lynxacarus radovskyi is a fur mite of cats. Several classes of ectoparasiticides have shown success for treatment, including an isoxazoline. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the efficacy of a single oral dose of sarolaner for the treatment of L. radovskyi mites in naturally infested cats. ANIMALS: Fourteen adult cats (six males and eight females), naturally infested with L. radovskyi. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Animals were randomized according to sex and average pretreatment mite count. The cats were assigned to two groups of seven cats each. The treated group received one 10 mg sarolaner tablet, corresponding to a dose of 2-4 mg/kg body weight, and the control group received no treatment. From each cat, three trichograms consisting of approximately 50 hairs each were collected from the dorsal neck, lateral thigh and perineum/tail region (total of nine samples per cat). The severity of infestation was scored on a scale of 0 (no parasites) to 4 (>50 mites) at baseline and days 7, 15, 30, 45 and 60 post-treatment. Efficacy was compared between the treatment and control groups using the arithmetic mean reduction of the mite score; results were analysed using the Kruskal-Wallis test followed by the Student-Newtman-Keuls test, with significance set at P < 5%. RESULTS: The efficacy of oral sarolaner was >95% at Day 30 post-treatment. Statistical differences were first observed between the means of the control and treated groups 15 days post-treatment. CONCLUSION: A single oral dose of sarolaner effectively eliminated L. radovskyi in most cats.
