• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Lice advice please

Status
Not open for further replies.
B

bishpiggies

Joined
Jun 19, 2007
Messages
25
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Hello, we've had a run of bad luck recently with 2 sick guinea pigs, one who got better and one who sadly died this week. In both cases, when they were sick they had these tiny white creatures (they look a bit like microscopic maggots) crawling around their fur near their eyes. When Lucy got better, they disappeared. After Lily died, they seemed to multiply out of nowhere, all over her.
The vet prescribed some lice drops for Lucy when we mentioned it to her but she wasn't convinced it was lice at the time and was more concerned about getting her chest infection cleared up (rightly so). But now that she's well, Lucy is scratching more than normal. Are these white creatures lice? Should we treat Lucy now as if she has lice? (the treatment is the drops on the back of the neck) Also, should we treat our other 2 girls who live with Lucy? They show no sign of scratching or of these white things but should we do it to be on the safe side? I don't want to lose more pigs so I'm really worried about whether to treat or not!
Advice gratefully received... Thanks
 
My piggies recently had lice - they are creamy white thin things.
http://www.guinealynx.info/lice.html

I ordered some Lice and Easy shampoo from Gorgeous Guineas, and it cleared them up after one wash. Although it is recommended you do a further two washes at weekly intervals.

I would recommend treating all of the piggies as a precautionary measure.
 
Last edited:
Personally, I would treat for both lice and mites - parasites can really crop up when piggies have been ill or are very stressed like your poor little girl is right now after the loss of her friend.

http://www.guinealynx.info/lice.html
http://www.guinealynx.info/furmites.html
http://www.guinealynx.info/mites.html

I can recommend lice'n'easy shampoo from gorgeous guineas. Please follow the intructions that come with it.
http://www.gorgeousguineas.com/shampoos.html

For mites, you want get hold of ivermectin. You have treat three times with a gap of 10 days in between. Here is a link to where to get some over the internet.
http://www.vetuk.co.uk/index.php?ma...d=u7p1gkfe5117548ts6d05i6s21&keyword=xeno+450

I hope that Lucy will feel a lot better soon and that you can find her a new friend to cheer her up!
 
I can sympathise, it does sound like lice. I made this post elsewhere on the internet only yesterday and I hope it helps answer some of your questions:

It would appear every pig of mine has tiny brown specks on their hair, some seem covered, others seem to have much fewer. I can only assume they are lice as the specks are brown even on the white pigs and if I look very closely, I'll see one move a tiny bit every so often. (Later identified as static lice, and the brown specks are the egg cases.)

I do believe a couple of my pigs have mites as well, thinning hair and scurfy skin, not fungal, so all will be treated for mites as well.

Plan of action is to be as thorough as I can:

Thu 2 Sept - First Ivermectin dose
Sat 4 Sept - Shampoo
Thu 9 Sept - Second Ivermectin dose
Sat 11 Sept - Shampoo
Thu 16 Sept - Third Ivermectin dose
Sat 18 Sept - Shampoo

For the shampoo, I am using "Flea or Die", but Lice n Easy could be used. There are other options but none that I have experience with.

When shampooing the pigs, just to keep things as clean as possible, I intend to:

Remove pigs from the cage.
Disinfect the cage.
Put fresh bedding in.
Shampoo the pigs before placing back into clean cages.

Do look at your hay and bedding also, lice can come from both of these depending on what hay and bedding you use. My pigs are on Oxbow hays, Just Grass, and fleece.
 
Just to add, a photo I got this afternoon of the lice on my pigs.

Lice.jpg


Treatment is straight forward enough, weekly baths. Shampooing can be followed up with a conditioner and nit comb, which can be helpful, I should have added that to my previous post.

And lice can come in a few colours, black, brown and a creamy yellow colour have all been found. Ivermectin can't be relied on to kill lice as ivermectin is targeted towards parasites that feed off the blood; guinea pig lice don't.
 
Last edited:
Hair loss!

Laura, your picture above is exactly what I have found on one of my pigs today but only in a smallish patch on his rump end. It was after shampooing with a lice shampoo that I found them (I do a lice shampoo every few months to ward of the nasties). Anyway it was when I was lathering him up that clumps of hair came out and I was baffled as to why and on closer inspection I found these brown flecks both at the bottom of the hair shaft and half way down but none were moving as I had already done the shampoo. Can static lice cause hairloss? He is distressed when I brush that area and if I gently pull on any of his hair anywhere on his body it breaks clean off but there are no dry flakes or debris attached to the end and his skin looks fine.

Surely a fungal infection would show up as dry patches of bald skin? Do you think this could be the start of mange mites? I have Ivormectin in the house but as I have only just shampooed is it worth treating now? I've checked his cage mate and she looks fine with no brown spots but the same clean breakage of hair seems to be happening.
 
I've had another thorough look at all my pigs and have found that they are all loosing hair which I am thinking must be them molting ... the hair comes away clean with no debris attached from all over their body if I run my fingers through it. All the other pigs have no sign of any lice its just the one pig and the brown specs are only in one area on his rump so I think I must have caught it early. I still don't understand the few clumps of hair that came out when washing him but he has no bald spots ... he is a sheltie with an unbelievably thick coat.

I will keep a close eye on things and Ivomec in 48 hours.
 
Hi Anita, it does sound like normal shedding that you are describing with regards to the light hair loss on stroking them, and some piggies shed more than others - it is something more than shedding if there is enough hair being lost to cause thinning or bald patches.

Static lice can't cause hair loss that I am aware of - they can make piggies itchy but not lead to hair loss in the same sense that mites and fungal infections can.

I think dosing them with Ivomec in a couple of days is a wise idea, repeat the dose again 7-14 days later just in case of an active mite problem. Weekly bathing as well for the lice.

One 'warning' though - the brown specks that don't move tend to be the egg cases rather than lice themselves, and can be very difficult to remove. After shampooing (and letting it soak in for the required length of time), it may be worth using a conditioner and nit comb to try and get as many off as possible.

If all the eggs aren't removed the lice can continually reinfest the piggie; regular shampooing will help to control the numbers, but the only way to get rid of them for good, in some cases, may be to cut the affected hair off. Not a nice prospect but at least hair grows back! (It looks like many of my lot will be "trimmed", unfortunately, no photo shoots here for September/October. :)))
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top