Lice

[larnanoomia]

Hi
I had a vet apt yesterday, a preop to get my guinea pigs castrated and during their health check i discovered they had lice!
I can only imagine its came from hay, as they are 15 months old and been with me 4 months and they are showing no signs of an advanced case or anything. The vet treated them with topical treatment and we need to repeat it.
I've throughly cleaned their cage, put brand new fleece down & new hay.
I've put all their bedding outside for now, I've got noodle mats that I can do on a hot wash - what temp would u recommend?
I've got 4x fleece liners though that wouldn't do well with a hot wash i think they'll shrink. Is there any other way to kill the lice or get rid of the eggs? Outside they won't have a host so I was thinking if I left them outside at couple of weeks the eggs will hatch and the lice will die on their own with no host. Could this work, does anyone else have any recommendations to try and break the cycle? Natural bedding isn't really an option for now as their enclosure is really big and would cost a fortune to line with shavings etc . Any ideas? Thanks

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m sorry to hear that.

Is it lice or mites?
Lice are visible to the human eye as pale crawling creatures. Mites are not visible.

If it’s lice then we recommend a two week course or vitamin c to help boost the immune system.

New Guinea Pig Problems: Sexing & Pregnancy; URI, Ringworm & Parasites; Vet Checks & Customer Rights

 

[larnanoomia]

I’m sorry to hear that.

Is it lice or mites?
Lice are visible to the human eye as pale crawling creatures. Mites are not visible.

If it’s lice then we recommend a two week course or vitamin c to help boost the immune system.

New Guinea Pig Problems: Sexing & Pregnancy; URI, Ringworm & Parasites; Vet Checks & Customer Rights

It was lice, when pointed out I could see them on the ends of their fur on the bum area. Do you know how long the infected bedding will take to die off without boiling them or have u had any experience? Its hard to know what's correct on google

 

[Mrs Tiggy Winkle]

If you have a proper freezer (as opposed to a tiny compartment in the fridge), maybe bung the bedding in there (well wrapped in thick plastic bag)? I don't know if that works for lice, it supposedly does for moths in woolen sweaters. You'd need to google that though.