The Harvest mite was mentioned briefly in a posting below but I wondered if anyone had any experience with either of these little buggers or are they one of the same.

I've just moved to the country and my 2 weims appear to have been bitten by what my vet thinks is Harvest Mites. They are covered in lumps mainly on the legs and ears, my bitch more than my dog, and when I looked at the lumps more closely little orange things have been left behind. Vet said couldn't do anything about them other than give a steriod injection if the dogs were itchy but they don't seem to be too bothered. He mentioned frontline but said that was only for fleas and I thought I had read somewhere that frontline can cause side effects ??

Anyway I've bathed both dogs in Tea Tree Oil Shampoo for Dogs and then rubbed Tea Tree Oil into the lumps. The lumps do seem to be slowly going away but I'm wondering if that's because I'm walking them on the beach rather than in the country.

Ainsworths couldn't recommend anything other than Hepasol which would apparently draw out anything that was still in the bite to stop further infection. I would be grateful if anyone has any experience of this and/or any more ideas for me to try. My dogs health is more important but I do have 2 champ shows next weekend which will involve a lot of travelling and I don't see the point in putting my dog through a long journey if he still has the lumps as I believe the judge will think it is bad coat condition.

Many Thanks.

Hi Claire, it was me that mentioned the harvest mites - a real problem in this part of the country but when we went to Dorset for our hols everything settled down.
You can't miss them, in good light they are bright orange, just big enough to see.After discussion with the vet I used frontline spray, on a cotton wool ball, just where the mites were (mostly between the toes, but also some other spots where the coat was thin, or he'd scracthed an insect bite). It does not last long on areas where the dog gets wet frequently, but vet assures me that it is as safe as one can hope. I came to the conclusion that not all the lumps were flea bites, we both seemed to be bitten by midges in our local woods too!

I also used homoeopathic sulphur (30c daily) which is good for eczema type conditions, but then the main problem was eczema like skin as a result of licking and scratching. If your dogs are just coming up in lumps I'd try Apis Mel, or Urtica Urens.

The mite season seems more or less over, so we have some peace now!

Ruth