Running Lice

[Kerry Wileman]

So I have 2 Farm bred pigs and 2 breeder pigs. My older 2 farm pigs were treated with Ivermectin before introducing the babies as they had tiny white running lice.
All 4 now have them, 6 weeks on.
They live on fleece and have not yet been outside.
Today I'm looking at bathing them all with GG Lice N Easy, taking out all current hides and fleece and putting them on newspaper with temporary cardboard hides for a few weeks whilst I continue to wash with Lice N Easy on a weekly basis. I'm also going to trim back my fluffy babies as they are very fluffy.
Does this all sound appropriate for the treatment of running lice or is there anything else I need to do?

 

[Adelle]

Hi!

You will now need to go about treating all 4, but I'm not sure if the shampoo would be enough on its own.

@Wiebke

 

[Wiebke]

So I have 2 Farm bred pigs and 2 breeder pigs. My older 2 farm pigs were treated with Ivermectin before introducing the babies as they had tiny white running lice.
All 4 now have them, 6 weeks on.
They live on fleece and have not yet been outside.
Today I'm looking at bathing them all with GG Lice N Easy, taking out all current hides and fleece and putting them on newspaper with temporary cardboard hides for a few weeks whilst I continue to wash with Lice N Easy on a weekly basis. I'm also going to trim back my fluffy babies as they are very fluffy.
Does this all sound appropriate for the treatment of running lice or is there anything else I need to do?

Please have your girls seen by a vet and discuss a two-pronged approach with him with a full course (i.e. 3 rounds) of high-dosed ivermectin (not the low-dosed shop stuff!) and a course of bathing seeing that the lice have dug in now.

Please be aware that you cannot apply any new skin treatment for 48 hours afterwards, or you render it ineffective. You also always need to treat all guinea pigs in contact with a guinea pig with skin parasites.

NEVER treat on spec unless you really know what you are about and have experience with treating that particular parasite!

I am very sorry, but ringworm or skin parasites are unfortunately anything but rare in backyard breeders; there is not licensing system or standard control for breeders or rescues, so it is a buyers beware minefield. However, if they sell to the public, you can report them to your local council over trading standards.

We have a recommended good standard UK rescue locator on the top bar with a list of those rescues that you can rehome from without experiencing any nasty surprises, as the conduct a full quarantine, medical care and pregnancy watch and also separate any rescue born babies at the correct age.

 

[Kerry Wileman]

Please have your girls seen by a vet and discuss a two-pronged approach with him with a full course (i.e. 3 rounds) of high-dosed ivermectin (not the low-dosed shop stuff!) and a course of bathing seeing that the lice have dug in now.

Please be aware that you cannot apply any new skin treatment for 48 hours afterwards, or you render it ineffective. You also always need to treat all guinea pigs in contact with a guinea pig with skin parasites.

NEVER treat on spec unless you really know what you are about and have experience with treating that particular parasite!

I am very sorry, but ringworm or skin parasites are unfortunately anything but rare in backyard breeders; there is not licensing system or standard control for breeders or rescues, so it is a buyers beware minefield. However, if they sell to the public, you can report them to your local council over trading standards.

We have a recommended good standard UK rescue locator on the top bar with a list of those rescues that you can rehome from without experiencing any nasty surprises, as the conduct a full quarantine, medical care and pregnancy watch and also separate any rescue born babies at the correct age.

But from what I have seen from my pigs Ivermectin doesn't treat running lice. The vet has already treated them with Xeno and they still have them. That's why I was going down the Lice N Easy route minus all the luxury bedding for eggs etc to hide in.

 

[Kerry Wileman]

We have a recommended good standard UK rescue locator on the top bar with a list of those rescues that you can rehome from without experiencing any nasty surprises, as the conduct a full quarantine, medical care and pregnancy watch and also separate any rescue born babies at the correct age.

And I have had these 4 for a few months now, I have no interest in rehoming or getting anymore. All my pigs were quarantined and have been cared for appropriately!

 

[Kerry Wileman]

This was on the Guinea Lynx site:
"Lice and hair mites which do not ingest the blood of the host are not affected by ivermectin"

 

[Poppy'sMum]

You will need to throw away anything that can't be hot washed, ie chubes, carboard boxes, wooden tunnels etc. Hot soapy wash all plastic hidies, rinse then air dry. Clean all their cages thoroughly with F10 or appropriate pet safe cleaner (Not bleach). As long as it is more than 48 hours after Ivermectin you can bathe them. You need to bath them all in the same day, leave the shampoo on for the time stated. I use Flea or Die shampoo, you can buy it in Pet's Corner shops or online. Leave a week then bath them all again. You may have to do a third week, I would if they all have them. Hot wash fleece etc at 60 degrees to kill any eggs.

 

[Kerry Wileman]

any

Is it right to keep them on paper? otherwise I will fret about washing and washing the fleece lol
Does the shampooing actually rid them of the lice? I was going to do 4 consecutive weeks of lice n easy.

 

[eileen]

using a paper bedding such as fitch is a good idea if you do not want to wash fleece,ensure you clean cage throughly.washing piggies all on the same day ,each week for 3 weeks is ok. with the above comments you need to take your piggies to the vet to get the correct treatment,to ensure you get the correct dose,and parasite treatment.

 

[Poppy'sMum]

You can keep them on Fitch, or newspaper & hay, although hay can contain hay mites which are black specks in their fur, rather than the white/grey running lice. Are you 100% sure they are lice & not hay mites (static lice) ? I use Alfalfa King Timothy hay or Oxbow Western Timothy hay, both of which are sterile imported hays from the US so don't contain any hay mites or running lice. I have never had any hay mites/lice on my piggies since using it. You need to find the source of where they are coming from. If they are in your hay, you will simply be re-infecting them each time, so you will need to bin all the hay as well & start again.

 

[Kerry Wileman]

You can keep them on Fitch, or newspaper & hay, although hay can contain hay mites which are black specks in their fur, rather than the white/grey running lice. Are you 100% sure they are lice & not hay mites (static lice) ? I use Alfalfa King Timothy hay or Oxbow Western Timothy hay, both of which are sterile imported hays from the US so don't contain any hay mites or running lice. I have never had any hay mites/lice on my piggies since using it. You need to find the source of where they are coming from. If they are in your hay, you will simply be re-infecting them each time, so you will need to bin all the hay as well & start again.

Just got some new Timothy Hay today. I think they are from the farm pigs, they were always a little scratchy. Gonna bathe and clean c&c today and give the tex girls a hair cut. Have appt at new vets next Monday
They are little whitish cream lice, tiny but when they move you can see them. They slender looking. Almost like a thin small head lice.

 

[eileen]

thats good @Kerry Wileman it is distressing when our piggies get parasites,mites and lice happen to clean pigs.you are doing all you can.ive noticed my outside piggies have hay mites,ive taken two to the vet,and ive to bath them in shampoo once,and the vet also stated to give ivermectin two doses on all pigs 7 days apart.i am having to bath13 piggies in total!you are doing all that you can.