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Lice

Potterpig

Potterpig

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
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Location
Carshalton, Surrey
Hi there

Just looking for some advice please as we found lice on hagrid. I've treated him with ivermectin having spoken to the vet (all the pigs have been treated but can only see it on him)... What about all the stuff in the cage? I've disinfected and washed all the fleece on a hot wash, what about their log bridges etc? My logic is lice wouldn't leave the host unless it's onto another host, but I don't want to risk reinfection. Are the log bridges safe to put back in? Ps. I wanted to get lice and easy shampoo but nothing in stock.

Thank you!
 
Potterpig said:
Perfect thank you. I have the f10 stuff. So just wash it down, let it dry and pop or back in?
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If you’ve got wooden items, then I’d leave them to soak in it for a couple of hours, just to be sure?
But yes once dry you can just pop back in
 
Oh that's good to know that you! He's not been itching, I just spotted dandruff whilst having a cuddle and then saw them move. I've got enough left for another dose of ivermectin. How many days/weeks would you advise for another dose?
 
Ivermectin treatment should be 3 doses, 2 weeks apart, to ensure the problem is completely treated. Did the vet prescribe Xeno450? That is the most effective ivermectin treatment for piggies weighing over 1kg.
 
Lice are usually indicative of a health and well-being issue. So alongside full strength ivermectin at regular intervals I would actually recommend boosting the immune system with Vitamin C and perhaps some fibreplex to balance the guts to ensure gut wellbeing for optimal vitamin and mineral absorption.
Has he been unwell?
 
Yes it's xeno 450 😊 I have to go back Tuesday so I can get another three vials. I've got fibreplex from one my other pig had an operation I can give him. He's not been unwell, he's about 15 months old, but he's the stressiest pig ever. He hates our existence, chatters his teeth when we walk in the room! He is very testosteroney if you can describe a pig that way! He's 1050g in weight, he's quite small in stature but it's a little brick. We've had him since he was 7 weeks old. He's heavily reliant on his cage mate even though he gives it all the bravado!
 
This pig has bitten me and everything, he is nothing like my other pigs. If its a wellbeing issue I can only assume its because he's so stressy because they are very well looked after and I do take them to the vets.
 
Potterpig said:
This pig has bitten me and everything, he is nothing like my other pigs. If its a wellbeing issue I can only assume its because he's so stressy because they are very well looked after and I do take them to the vets.
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The loss of his cage mate Woody recently wont have helped him 😪😪
 
😂 😂 😂 😂 Noooo you just got cross threaded. Buzz is in hiding but he's not got the lice. He's had the drops anyway. Only stressy hagrid with the lice. X
 
Potterpig said:
Hi there

Just looking for some advice please as we found lice on hagrid. I've treated him with ivermectin having spoken to the vet (all the pigs have been treated but can only see it on him)... What about all the stuff in the cage? I've disinfected and washed all the fleece on a hot wash, what about their log bridges etc? My logic is lice wouldn't leave the host unless it's onto another host, but I don't want to risk reinfection. Are the log bridges safe to put back in? Ps. I wanted to get lice and easy shampoo but nothing in stock.

Thank you!
Click to expand...

Hi!

A normal good scrub and run in the washing machine should do the trick as lice can't survive off their host species body for long.

I usually dunk the tunnels into a basin with F10 concentrate solution and let them dry outside if possible during a deep clean, but any other disinfectant should also do with anything but ringworm.
 
Thank you everyone! So the tunnels went in the f10 and are now suspended on the washing line, I've binned the cardboard tunnels, and everything went in a hot wash. Cage wiped down with the f10. Thank you @artcasper for sending some f10! Should I be worried he's ill? He doesn't seem to be and we've been to the vet a lot in the last few weeks. Is it probably because he lives his life like an angry man 😔🙈 I checked his cage mate again and I can't see anything on him (Ron's white and ginger and hagrid is black and brown so it's probably harder to see on Ron) and I can't see anything on buzz who's my recently bereaved bestie boar who's currently a single. They all had the drops. X
 
Potterpig said:
Thank you everyone! So the tunnels went in the f10 and are now suspended on the washing line, I've binned the cardboard tunnels, and everything went in a hot wash. Cage wiped down with the f10. Thank you @artcasper for sending some f10! Should I be worried he's ill? He doesn't seem to be and we've been to the vet a lot in the last few weeks. Is it probably because he lives his life like an angry man 😔🙈 I checked his cage mate again and I can't see anything on him (Ron's white and ginger and hagrid is black and brown so it's probably harder to see on Ron) and I can't see anything on buzz who's my recently bereaved bestie boar who's currently a single. They all had the drops. X
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Hi!

You always need to treat all guinea pigs in contact with an affected piggy. Lice are one of these opportunists that can make an appearance whenever the immune system is lowered, but a healthy companion should be able to fend them off pretty easily with a little help.

Please be aware that we do not support home care on spec and treating with low dosed broad spectrum pet shop brands.
New piggy problems: URI - ringworm - skin parasites
 
Of what? I haven't done that? I spoke to the vet and was prescribed xeno 450 to return on Tuesday? I was given 6 vials... 2 per pig. Buzz doesn't have contact but they told me to treat every pig.
 
To be clear we saw the vet last Wednesday, Thursday, yesterday morning and are going on Tuesday! I wouldn't self medicate a pig! They gave me the drops last week, I didn't put them on the pigs til the offending pig went this morning. They only had a slot for one pig, so I could only take him. I wanted to then get the lice shampoo but it was out of stock, only because I didn't know how they would actually get off him once dead and make him more comfortable. I have never previously bathed any of my pigs. We are not allowed in our vets at the moment, the animals are being collected from us and then we are being phoned by the vet from outside and the pig brought back out to me. I have never treated a pig for ANYTHING without seeing the vet and either being prescribed it or being told to buy something. I have spent about £1000 at the vet on my pigs in the last year. I only have three pigs, four a few weeks back. This was a genuine request to ascertain what I should do with the cage items as I had not asked the vet during my phonecall. It was then mentioned how lice are often attributed to wellbeing and poor health, neither that have been apparently an issue to me or my vet. So I worried if I should be worried about him. I'm very confused as the meaning of this comment.
 
Potterpig said:
To be clear we saw the vet last Wednesday, Thursday, yesterday morning and are going on Tuesday! I wouldn't self medicate a pig! They gave me the drops last week, I didn't put them on the pigs til the offending pig went this morning. They only had a slot for one pig, so I could only take him. I wanted to then get the lice shampoo but it was out of stock, only because I didn't know how they would actually get off him once dead and make him more comfortable. I have never previously bathed any of my pigs. We are not allowed in our vets at the moment, the animals are being collected from us and then we are being phoned by the vet from outside and the pig brought back out to me. I have never treated a pig for ANYTHING without seeing the vet and either being prescribed it or being told to buy something. I have spent about £1000 at the vet on my pigs in the last year. I only have three pigs, four a few weeks back. This was a genuine request to ascertain what I should do with the cage items as I had not asked the vet during my phonecall. It was then mentioned how lice are often attributed to wellbeing and poor health, neither that have been apparently an issue to me or my vet. So I worried if I should be worried about him. I'm very confused as the meaning of this comment.
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Please don’t take offence. There are so many posts about similar issues and we are all volunteers so it’s not always possible to read every post in every thread before replying.
It is a fact that lice are often associated with an underlying health and well-being issue usually when the immune system is compromised in some way. And they are treated with full strength ivermectin (Xeno or similar) for the full course and usually supplements to boost the immune system (vitamin c and some fibreplex to ensue the gut health is at its optimum for vitamin absorption).
From my own experience of lice, Felix was the only piggy from one big rescue who had lice. As we later found out, (but not for several months) he had a major underlying health issue that ultimately took his life.
Appreciate your piggy has been seen at the vets so hopefully he hasn’t any underlying health issue and it’s just stress that has caused this problem.
 
Thank you, I thought you guys thought I'd guessed it and tried to treat him at home with the shampoo which isn't the case. In fact I told the vet it was mites, she was like umm no you can't see mites they're lice! We've owned him for over a year and there's nothing we can see wrong with him other than he hates people 😂 he's the only pig who doesn't stand upright at the bars but I think it's a defensive thing as he can stand upright to look over the log tunnels. He doesn't appear to have any other issues other than attitude ones 🙈😂 we got given the xeno by the nurse as the pigs had seen the vet the previous week and she approved it, and then the offending pig went in two days later. I didn't give the drops til after we saw the vet and I knew what to do with the tunnels etc in case the drops ended up being useless because of cage hygiene. I am expecting them to tell me Tuesday when to give the next lot but in the past when I've had a sick piggy the advice on here has been helpful when discussing care with the vets. Which is why I asked how long after to give another dose is best. Thanks for the help 😀
 
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