wrigglies

[hayleyandjohn]

My pregnant guinea pig has got the wriggly lice, the gorgeous guinea shampoo is great for treating but says do not use on pregnant pigs. Was wondering can she be ivomeced?

 

[starshine]

I would not be giving Ivomec to a pregnant pig personally but I know some people do.

Perhaps you could get in touch with Chrissie at Gorgeous Guineas and I'm sure she will make you up something safe to use.

 

[hayleyandjohn]

ok i wont.
will contact chrissie thnx.
read in the piglopedia that some pigs can live with the wrigglies for years with only a few and be fine. i dont wanna wait until after she had them cos they will get them as well, and then i will have an even bigger problem!
thnx for the advice.

 

[cavykind]

As I understand it Ivomec does not kill lice.

 

[hopperhaven]

It does, that is how it was discovered that it could help guinea pigs. The cattle that were wormed with it had no lice so they tried it on other animals.

I had a group with wrigglers a week or so ago and spotted on some ivomec and the wrigglies definitely died. Poor Gloria went from extremely upset itchy pig to happy old lady again overnight.

 

[cavykind]

It does, that is how it was discovered that it could help guinea pigs. The cattle that were wormed with it had no lice so they tried it on other animals.

Info from the CCT says otherwise ~

"Ivomec is not effective against lice"

"Ivomec is ineffective against either running or static lice. Ivomec will only kill parasites that suck on the blood of the host, and lice feed upon the grease and dead skin cells..."

 

[hopperhaven]

Obviously the wrigglers hadn't read the CCT website! They went all still and stopped wriggling and Gloria felt better and a week later had no lice. I would definitely say it worked.
Actually I knew I had read that somewhere, which made me curious as I knew about the cattle wormer route to discovery, and I made a point of trying the ivomec rather than bathing them immediately to test whether it worked.(That and the fact I had no lean towels : It did work.

But I would agree that it doesn't get rid of the static lice - the brown flecks that live in dark coats, those are really hard to shift

 

[cavykind]

Obviously the wrigglers hadn't read the CCT website!

Or maybe the CCT isn't always right

As long as you guinea is okay that is the main thing

 

[hopperhaven]

I actually wonder if it because I spotted it on rather than gave it orally. I have found them to be persistant in the past. And strangely some guineas seem really prone to them and get them even when they aren't visible on the others. We'll see, I found some on a different group and bathed them and ivomeced them orally. I'll check them to see if they are gone - at least I will when it is light. The oral route gets it into the skin, but possibly not onto the skin where the wee beasties are lurking.