A skin scraping is a diagnostic test used in almost every skin condition. An important use of this test is to detect mites, which are microscopic in size. Mites are far too small to be seen with the naked eye, and can only be positively diagnosed by a skin scraping and subsequent analysis of the scraped material under the microscope.
Mites burrow into the skin or hair follicles, some burrowing deeper than others.
Sometimes we need to perform several scrapings at various locations in order to find mites. Some mites have a propensity to affect certain areas, so these are the areas we emphasize when we perform the test. A negative skin scraping does not guarantee your pet is free of mites. The first step is to gently scrape the surface of the skin with a scalpel blade. This will yield skin, hair, dander and sometimes the mites if they are present.