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New pigs from a "rescue" have lice

GuineaRanger

GuineaRanger

Junior Guinea Pig
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I adopted 2 lovely 9 month old sows from a local "rescue" near to me not even a week ago. I took my single neutered male along to date some and they got along with him in the pen at the rescue so we brought them home and didn't quarantine them as we trust the rescue to do that before they rehome them.

I had noticed them scratching a lot since I brought them back but I put it down to them living in a shed at the rescue and the cold air/humidity etc but it hadn't got better so I checked them properly today and they have tiny yellowish lice all in their fur close to the skin. Suffice to say they have a vets appointment on Wednesday now!

I'm so annoyed about this, now my boy will catch them no doubt and so will my other pair of sows that live underneath them in a separate cage , and we will have to get enough treatment for 5 pigs no doubt. Its not the cost I'm bothered about at all, its the fact that they're all gonna be irritated and itchy it must be awful having them.

I have some questions about lice if anyone can advise before the vets appointment, can they live on other pets like dogs or birds? Can they live on humans? And how long do they live without feeding , so on a carpet/sofa/clothes etc? I've had experience with cat fleas once when I was staying at a friend's house years ago, they didn't know their cat had fleas and it had been on my bed, on my lap for strokes and everything, I ended up with bites all over my legs, they were in my bed, clothes, sheets and everything it was a nightmare so I just want to know of they're as bad as that haha.

After reading a couple a threads on here I beleive this rescue is a stockist of old breeding stock as she did say "the breeder I got them from..." I just assumed they had gave them up/stopped breeding for whatever reason and they had been rescued by her. She did have loads and loads of baby guinea pigs though and now it makes sense. I know genuine rescues quarrantine their pigs and treat them for things like this before being ready to adopt so I trusted she would too which is why we didn't quarrantine them ourselves, but it wouldn't have mattered anyway as they has been together in a pen at the rescue so he would have caught them anyway. All the other poor pigs in the place that have got these they must irritate them so bad.
We didn't fill in any forms or anything. Which is a red flag!
 
Piggies&buns said:
Sadly anybody can call themselves a rescue by rehoming piggies from their back garden

Lice will only live on a host and they are species specific. The guide below explains further
New Guinea Pig Problems: Sexing & Pregnancy; URI, Ringworm & Parasites; Vet Checks & Customer Rights
Click to expand...
Thanks, yeh I read that before my post to double check they weren't mange mites.

Yeh its a shame, this rescue has thousands of likes on Facebook. Not sure whether to leave a review and text her to tell her about the lice (she's impossible to contact over the phone)
 
In case it was a one off thing that they were missed, I'd text before leaving a bad review. You'd hope she'd offer to help with the problem in some way. You also want to alert her for the protection of the other piggies there. If there isn't a helpful response from her within a few days, then an honest online review would be helpful for others.
 
emmyk89 said:
Thanks, yeh I read that before my post to double check they weren't mange mites.

Yeh its a shame, this rescue has thousands of likes on Facebook. Not sure whether to leave a review and text her to tell her about the lice (she's impossible to contact over the phone)
Click to expand...

There are unfortunately several 'rescues' very active on facebook with a large following but with practices and standards that are well below what we and the RSPCA understand as good welfare. Unfortunately, anybody in this country can call themselves a rescue or a breeder (or both) without licensing and supervision. Lots of likes on social media do not necessarily equal good standards; just that they are good with generating publicity.

You will find that they are much less at home for complaints and that complaint threads and less positive posts have a habit of rather disappearing very quickly... :(

You can however complain to the local council over trading standards if you are not happy. Unlike what many people expect, the RSPCA is unfortunately only allowed to intervene when a vet has declared a life or death emergency or after animals are found to have died from gross neglect or abuse. 'Passed by the RSPCA' doesn't necessarily mean that they are meeting standards, only that the RSPCA cannot intervene.

We cannot name names but there are to my knowledge no good rescues in the Manchester area that we can recommend - and it is not for lack of trying to list as many good standard rescues as possible in this country!
This guide here is trying to explain the complex situation a bit better and what to look out for when you are trying a to adopt from a rescue that is not on our rescue locator: Rescues (Adoption and Dating), Shops, Breeders or Online? - What to consider when getting guinea pigs
 
According to the guide on here, lice are species specific, so these should not infest a cat or a dog.

I'm dealing with lice for the first time, on my new pig. Fortunately she is in strict quarantine so won't have infested my other pig, but it's still a nasty thing to deal with. It makes me itch just thinking about it! I have Xeno spot on from the vet, and she's had her first treatment already. She's been a lot more lively since then. I also have on order some Lice & Easy shampoo from Gorgeous Guineas.
A 60 degree wash should kill off any lice/eggs that have got on to fabrics i.e. your clothes! Or piggy bedding.

Years ago I got a new pony who arrived with lice. He is black so I could actually see them on him. It was most satisfying to see all the lice dropping dead as I applied the anti-louse stuff. My eyes are not so good now, so I can't see this happening on Fifi, but I am hoping the results are the same.
 
Thanks all. Yeh I might send her a text and just let her know, as there were quite a few other pigs in the same cage as them.

Ah thanks I might get some of that Shampoo, I'll see what the vet does or prescribes on weds and then see.

Yeh its not good practise when these places pose as rescues when they probably pay breeders for old stock.
Though I have seen she does take in unwanted animals too on her Facebook page. I once volunteered for a parrot sanctuary/rescue in Australia for a couple of months and they were actually mostly a breeder who did take in unwanteds aswell, but was mostly a breeder and that didn't sit right with me calling themselves a rescue, I stayed that long as I wanted experience working with parrots but yeh its the posing as a rescue that's not right in these situations.
 
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