Best treatment for lice?

[Leopard_print]

Hi all

My big girl yesterday had a small bald patch on her back and flaky skin. When I parted her fur I saw a couple of white lice! So it looks like she has a lice infestion. I have 3 other piggies too, 2 of them seem fine and the other has flaky skin. Now I have Ivermectin for mites, will this work for lice or do I need to buy some Lice 'n' Easy from Gorgeous Guineas? I presume I should treat the others too?

 

[Wiebke]

Lice'n'Easy is the best way - and a bath for everypig!

 

[Leopard_print]

Is suspected that may well be the case! Ooops they aren't going to like that! Neither am I with the weather being the way it is! I presume they will be okay until it is delivered, I'll order it when I get home tonight.

 

[gizzy]

Lice'n'Easy is the best way - and a bath for everypig!

If they are white and you can see them moving , I would follow Wiebke's good advice advice ,

no need for ivermec.

 

[gizzy]

Is suspected that may well be the case! Ooops they aren't going to like that! Neither am I with the weather being the way it is!

Then you might try xenon 450 costs aprox £16 for 6 individually sealed treatments

http://www.vetuk.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1500

 

[Wiebke]

Ivermectin (or xeno 450) can be given in cases of lice, especially severe ones, but it won't treat the lice on its own.

As what you are reporting is a mild case, I think that Lice'n'Easy will do the job. Lice are not usually getting bad very quickly, so you should be completely Ok if you order today.

 

[Furries]

I use organic Neem oil, after reading Peter Gurney's website on lice, mites and fungal infections. Ours had mites and the Neem oil worked brilliantly (including on babies and a very scabby boy we 'rescued' from a pet shop). http://www.oginet.com/pgurney/skinp.htm

Neem oil is available off eBay for 5 pounds, keeps for 3-years and will probably last you this long too!
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEEM-100-PURE...ural_AlternativeTherapies?hash=item3efa9d0fa8

I bought mine off this seller who was great; I'm sure there are also others.

 

[gizzy]

I use organic Neem oil, after reading Peter Gurney's website on lice, mites and fungal infections. Ours had mites and the Neem oil worked brilliantly (including on babies and a very scabby boy we 'rescued' from a pet shop). http://www.oginet.com/pgurney/skinp.htm

Neem oil is available off eBay for 5 pounds, keeps for 3-years and will probably last you this long too!
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEEM-100-PURE...ural_AlternativeTherapies?hash=item3efa9d0fa8

I bought mine off this seller who was great; I'm sure there are also others.

Neem oil is excellent for mild parasitic infestations and is effective with heavier infestations of "lice" . Just be careful of the eyes (pigs not the licemallethead )

 

[gizzy]

Ivermectin (or xeno 450) but it won't treat the lice on its own.
.

?Do not understand xeno 450 is affective against mild infestations of mange/burrowing mites , bit it is also quite effective against the heaviest infestation of common lice , as are most antiphrastic preparations

<Guinea Pigs: Xeno 450
Mange Mites - Chrodiscoides caviae, Trixacarus caviae, Demodex caviae, Myocoptes musculinus and Sarcoptes scabiei
Lice - Gyropus ovalis and Gliricola porcelli
Ear Mites - Psoroptes cuniculi>

I agree a shampoo would be kinder to the pig in regards to introducing toxins into the system .


But xone 450 is one of the mildest dilutions of ivermec,

and if they are out door pigs shampoos are not always a good idea in this whether

 

[teadragon]

Ivermectin/ivomec/Xeno will NOT treat lice.

If you want a medical treatment for lice you want to use Advantage (Imidacloprid) which you can get from your vet. I'm sure it's often targeted at cats and dogs, but your vet will be able to help you dosing your guinea pigs by their weight.

Similarly, though, Advantage will NOT treat mites.

Be sure you're treating what you're treating.

Gizzy - both Ivermectin and Advantage (apologies, I learned most of my guinea pigs from US sites so I tend to use the American versions of medicine names) are not toxic to guinea pigs unless you overdose them. With all medicines there is a range where that medicine will be helpful and a range where it may be dangerous - this range is different for all animals. If you can verify that your animals have lice or mites then you should defiantly treat them for mites or lice - neither are comfortable and both can lead to severe reactions and discomfort in your guinea pig.

 

[gizzy]

Gizzy - both Ivermectin and Advantage (apologies, I learned most of my guinea pigs from US sites so I tend to use the American versions of medicine names) are not toxic to guinea pigs unless you overdose them. With all medicines there is a range where that medicine will be helpful and a range where it may be dangerous - this range is different for all animals. If you can verify that your animals have lice or mites then you should defiantly treat them for mites or lice - neither are comfortable and both can lead to severe reactions and discomfort in your guinea pig.

Whilst a single dose of whatever your choice of anti parasitic is , would not be conceded harmful I have read on many sights people particularly breeders routinely use preventative medicines , this seams to run in trends and members seam to follow

I read on one such forum, people where routinely using horse paste wormers at the rate of one cotton wool swab size blob(they differ) per pig per 3 monthly treatments ,

I think when you say that ivermec is not toxic I think we must bear in mind that all chemicals have to be processed by the renal system , and the more they have to deal with the greater the lightly hood of long term damage, some vets refuse to give intravenous Pharemec / Ivermec it is not licenced for gp’s ! in UK !

It is my opinion that far to many meds are used on pigs , they seam to get blitzed with allsorts .
I have read so many different potions and preparations being used on these poor animals it is no wonder one of the biggest reported killers in pig is kidney failure

 

[teadragon]

Gizzy - I didn't say that ivermectin was not toxic to guinea pigs, I said
"...are not toxic to guinea pigs unless you overdose them."

If a guinea pig requires treatment for something, that treatment should not be withheld. There's a difference between unnecessary treatment, perhaps as a preventative and legitamate treatment when something is wrong.

Not many pharmaceuticals are licensed for guinea pigs: Metacam is not licensed for guinea pigs, there are no arthritic medications licensed for guinea pigs, there are no heart medications licensed for guinea pigs and, according to my vet, the only antibiotic licensed for guinea pigs is Baytril, which is hardly helpful if said guinea pig has something resistant to that antibiotic.

Keeping this post in context: the Original Poster has a guinea pig who is losing fur. The original poster believes that he or she has found lice in her pigs fur and has decided that lice are in the fur. Would you have her not treat the animal because breeders in another location are giving their animals preventative doses. Treating an animal who has parasites is hardly "blitzing their systems with allsorts" it's treating a problem with a known method of prevention.

Different pharmaceuticals are used on these animals in controlled measures because they have been shown to make the guinea pig more comfortable. They are used on guinea pigs because the guinea pig is unwell and needs to be made comfortable. You are currently discussing medical issues with a group of guinea pig pet owners not a bunch of breeders trying to prevent things from happening but owners who are willing to treat aliments in their pets.

I'd very much like to read whatever research paper you got your statistics on the biggest reported killer of guinea pigs. Keep in mind that not all kidney failure is caused by medicine, but can also be due to a long-term illness where the pig hasn't been drinking enough.

So far I've found illnesses such as malocclusion or annorexia and heart/lung issues to have been the biggest cause of death in guinea pigs in the guinea pig forums I've frequented.

 

[gizzy]

Gizzy -
Keeping this post in context: .

you are right this is a discussion, and the member asked for opinions on treatments for lice, to take this any further would not help, and possibly put the member off posting

 

[Leopard_print]

I've got the shampoo on order. I'll stick to the shampoo first before trying chemicals. A few years ago I took my piggy to the vet for a similar problem and the vet injected her with something and 2 days later she was dead. I really have difficulty trusting vets with their needles around piggies.

 

[teadragon]

As an owner you have a right to know what a vet is doing to your guinea pig and what is going into your guinea pig.

Ivermectin works fine if it's administered topically.
Revolution is also topical.