Hello from a new member

[Guest guest]

Hello to all,

Although I have spent many hours at the birdmites.org site over the

past several weeks, I only noticed the link to this group today, and

am grateful that support and information is being made so freely

available. Thank you.

As others who have/are experiencing an infestation of bird mites, at

first I thought it was just fleas. I have two male cats who never go

outside, and have never had fleas before, but back in May I began to

notice them both scratching and biting at themselves, and began to see

bites on myself as well.

After about a month of following the suggested methods to rid fleas,

despite no longer seeing any, the cats and I were still getting bites.

One of the methods I was following was to drop fur removed from the

cats with a flea comb into a dishpan of hot soapy water. All along I

was seeing these little red dots on the bottom of the pan, but I had

mistakenly assumed those to be " flea dirt. " Wrong! Now that the fleas

were gone, all that I was collecting off the cats were those red dots.

Flashlight and magnifying glass in hand, I saw that the red dots were

insects! That was on August 17th. I immediately called a friend who

began working in the carpentry division of a large and reputable

pest-control outfit a few months earlier, and told him of the

discovery. He advised me to get samples, place them in alcohol, and

bring them to the vet, which I did. On August 18th a vet took a look

at them in the jar--didn't seem to think a microscopic examination was

necessary, said they looked like mites to her, and prescribed a

product called Revolution.

On the 17th and 18th I phoned the landlord and advised of the situation.

Well... here it is the 23rd of September, and my cats and I are still

infested with Dermanyssus Gallinae, despite moving into a new

apartment without carpeting and without much of my belongings. In

fact, I have limited my wardrobe to two changes of synthetic fabrics,

which I steam clean upon removal with Shark's " Super Steamer "

I've been following the strategies outlined at the birdmites.org site

to the best of my ability, although I have refrained from using any of

the toxic pesticides.

It has been and continues to be a nightmare. Medical professionals

have either been unwilling to treat me, or had little awareness or

information as to how to treat these parasites. I do have an

appointment scheduled with an Infectious Disease Center, but that

isn't until 5th October. I am having a colonscopy and endoscopy done

tomorrow, as the parasites are also internal. I lost 15 pounds in

about a month. These mites are in my respiratory system--my sinuses

and lungs, and I don't know where else!

As many have shared, my whole life has been turned upside down and

inside out. I spend several hours a day doing battle against the

mites, which at times seems to be working, but at other times seems as

if I have accomplished nil.

I am exhausted.

I do have some specific questions, which I will post with appropriate

titles.

I look forward to sharing whatever information I can, and offering as

much support to others.

One thing more--the direction I am taking now is to follow the

protocol used by poultry farmers, and look less to human and domestic

pet care providers for answers.

Forgive the long post.

Lorelei