Larvae, nynphs, and adult males are generally found on the skin surface. In cats, the resultant condition is known generally as notoedric mange or feline scabies, and begins most frequently at the ear tips.
Main body features are similar to Sarcoptes, but the dorsal surface has less distinctly angular scales. Females have suckers on legs 1 and 2. Like Sarcoptes, the burrowing activity of the female is principally responsible for the dermatitis produced.
A parasite of cats, rats, rabbits, ans occasionally and temporarily of man, Notoedres much resembles Sarcoptes but is smaller and its anus is on the dorsal surface instead of on the posterior margin of the body.
Face mange of cats caused by Notoedres cati starts on the medial edge of the pinna of the ears and then spreads over the ears, face, paws, and hind-quarters by contiguity and contact.
Confirmation of the diagnosis is by finding the mites which are easily demonstrated with superficial skin scrapings.The finding is more readily achieved than in sarcoptic mange, since a single "nest" in a scraping yields many mites.