Guinea Pig Lice - Advice Needed!

[badger2503]

We spotted some fur loss on our rex's back on Sunday and got him and his cagemate to see the vet this morning. Sure enough, she thinks both piggies have lice!
She's given them the first lot of treatment and we need to give it them again in two weeks time.
I have no idea where they would have got these from? They are the only guinea pigs in the house and we don't interact with other piggies at all. We recently got some new hay and that's the only thing I can think of, but I'm not sure if that's a myth or not.
I'm getting flashbacks to when my old dog had fleas years ago and we had to treat the house from top to bottom! Do we need to worry about treating furnishings, as they run around on our rug a lot, and I'd don't want them to get re-infected.
I guess my questions are:
1) Aside from treating the pigs, do we need to treat anywhere else? I've already instructed the OH to change their fleece and get it on a hot wash. Does the living room rug need anything?
2) Where would these be from if neither them nor us have interacted with another piggy (closest we got was checking out a guinea pig/rabbit boarding place the other week, although we didn't touch any)
3) Should I be worried about the hay?
4) How can we prevent this happening again?

Advice would be greatly appreciated! I feel really terrible that they've got these and could have had them for a while without us noticing

 

[Wiebke]

We spotted some fur loss on our rex's back on Sunday and got him and his cagemate to see the vet this morning. Sure enough, she thinks both piggies have lice!
She's given them the first lot of treatment and we need to give it them again in two weeks time.
I have no idea where they would have got these from? They are the only guinea pigs in the house and we don't interact with other piggies at all. We recently got some new hay and that's the only thing I can think of, but I'm not sure if that's a myth or not.
I'm getting flashbacks to when my old dog had fleas years ago and we had to treat the house from top to bottom! Do we need to worry about treating furnishings, as they run around on our rug a lot, and I'd don't want them to get re-infected.
I guess my questions are:
1) Aside from treating the pigs, do we need to treat anywhere else? I've already instructed the OH to change their fleece and get it on a hot wash. Does the living room rug need anything?
2) Where would these be from if neither them nor us have interacted with another piggy (closest we got was checking out a guinea pig/rabbit boarding place the other week, although we didn't touch any)
3) Should I be worried about the hay?
4) How can we prevent this happening again?

Advice would be greatly appreciated! I feel really terrible that they've got these and could have had them for a while without us noticing

Hi!

I would recommend to invest in some vet strength F10 disinfectant; it is antifungal as well and great for any occasional deep clean and widely available online.

With the rug, just hoover it. When I had my piggies in a carpeted room, I would steam clean as well after an outbreak of fungal and mites on top of the twice year regular steam clean.

Your lice have most likely come with hay if both piggies are affected by them. I would recommend to throw it away and switch to another brand for a few weeks so you do not get more from the same batch.

I assume that you have been given ivermectin for treatment? Sometimes this is not enough to get rid of lice (depending on how resistent they are and in view of the fact that blood sucking lice absorb less of it than skin burrowing mange mites ). If that is the case with yours, please discuss with your vet whether you want additionally use a twice weekly medicated bath like lice'n'easy from Gorgeous Guineas etc. A two-pronged treatment will hopefully do the trick if ivermectin on its own is not enough.

Healthy guinea pigs have usually got an immune system that is helping to keep lice under control and to get over them. You have done absolutely thing to see a vet as soon as you noticed. That is all you can do.

Skin parasites are species specific, so you do not have worry about them jumping on you. But they are a fact of life when you have pets. Don't get upset if they make a turn up; it is not a reflection of your bad care! Just concentrate on getting rid of them as quickly and as completely as you can whenever you are faced with them.

 

[badger2503]

Hi!

I would recommend to invest in some vet strength F10 disinfectant; it is antifungal as well and great for any occasional deep clean and widely available online.

With the rug, just hoover it. When I had my piggies in a carpeted room, I would steam clean as well after an outbreak of fungal and mites on top of the twice year regular steam clean.

Your lice have most likely come with hay if both piggies are affected by them. I would recommend to throw it away and switch to another brand for a few weeks so you do not get more from the same batch.

I assume that you have been given ivermectin for treatment? Sometimes this is not enough to get rid of lice (depending on how resistent they are and in view of the fact that blood sucking lice absorb less of it than skin burrowing mange mites ). If that is the case with yours, please discuss with your vet whether you want additionally use a twice weekly medicated bath like lice'n'easy from Gorgeous Guineas etc. A two-pronged treatment will hopefully do the trick if ivermectin on its own is not enough.

Healthy guinea pigs have usually got an immune system that is helping to keep lice under control and to get over them. You have done absolutely thing to see a vet as soon as you noticed. That is all you can do.

Skin parasites are species specific, so you do not have worry about them jumping on you. But they are a fact of life when you have pets. Don't get upset if they make a turn up; it is not a reflection of your bad care! Just concentrate on getting rid of them as quickly and as completely as you can whenever you are faced with them.

Thanks for the advice! I'm glad that lice aren't as stubborn as dog fleas.

I bought the hay from the lady who runs the boarding place....is it worth contacting her to let her know what's gone on? I don't want to accuse her of having contaminated hay or that she's at fault, but surely it's right thing to warn her that mine have picked up lice after we introduced the hay. She has a guinea pig herd of her own and numerous rabbits. I'm just worried about coming across as blaming her when really I just want to inform her that she may need to check her piggies/hay.

 

[Janice C]

Thanks for the advice! I'm glad that lice aren't as stubborn as dog fleas.

I bought the hay from the lady who runs the boarding place....is it worth contacting her to let her know what's gone on? I don't want to accuse her of having contaminated hay or that she's at fault, but surely it's right thing to warn her that mine have picked up lice after we introduced the hay. She has a guinea pig herd of her own and numerous rabbits. I'm just worried about coming across as blaming her when really I just want to inform her that she may need to check her piggies/hay.

I’m sure if she’s a responsible person that she won’t mind in the least if you just mention that yours have picked up lice! It’s worth letting her know!

 

[Swissgreys]

Thanks for the advice! I'm glad that lice aren't as stubborn as dog fleas.

I bought the hay from the lady who runs the boarding place....is it worth contacting her to let her know what's gone on? I don't want to accuse her of having contaminated hay or that she's at fault, but surely it's right thing to warn her that mine have picked up lice after we introduced the hay. She has a guinea pig herd of her own and numerous rabbits. I'm just worried about coming across as blaming her when really I just want to inform her that she may need to check her piggies/hay.

I agree that it would be a good idea to let her know, but I would also do it very tactfully (particularly if this is someone who you want to remain friends with because she boards your guinea pigs).
I would let her know what has happened, but also say you use several types of hay so can't say for sure which batch it came from, but you wanted to let her know so she can check her own herd.
This might come across as less accusing, and more as friendly concern for the welfare of her animals.