What do lice eggs on cats look like? - briefly
Cat lice eggs are tiny, oval-shaped, roughly 0.5 mm long, and appear white to light gray. They are firmly glued to the base of each hair near the skin, often in clusters along the neck, back, or tail.
What do lice eggs on cats look like? - in detail
Cat lice (Felicola subrostratus) lay oval‑shaped eggs that are firmly attached to the hair shaft. Each egg measures approximately 0.5 mm in length and 0.3 mm in width, making it visible to the naked eye as a tiny speck.
The shell is smooth, slightly glossy, and ranges from pale yellow to light brown. The color deepens as the embryo develops, often turning a darker amber near hatching. Eggs are positioned close to the scalp, especially along the base of the ears, neck, and tail region, where the hair is dense.
Attachment is achieved with a short, sticky stalk called a pedicel that inserts the egg into the hair cuticle. This anchorage prevents the egg from being dislodged during grooming.
Key visual cues:
- Oval form, not spherical like flea eggs.
- Size: about half a millimeter, larger than most flea eggs (≈0.2 mm).
- Color progression: pale yellow → amber → darker brown.
- Presence of a tiny pedicel at one end.
- Clustered arrangement near the skin, often in groups of 5–10.
When examined under a magnifying glass, the egg’s surface appears uniformly smooth, lacking the ribbed texture seen in flea egg shells. The embryo can sometimes be seen as a faint dark spot inside the translucent shell. Recognizing these characteristics enables accurate identification of cat lice ova.