Lice

[luvmybunnys]

Can rabbits get lice? If they do how do you treat them.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Yes. Are your rabbits losing hair or scratching excessively?

I would dust them with food grade Diatomaceous earth. It is available at feed stores.

 

[luvmybunnys]

ok thank you mamasheepdog

 

[Miss M]

If the infestation is bad, you may need to treat with Ivermectin, but I'd definitely try the DE first.

Perhaps they have fur mites? Treatment would be the same.

 

[luvmybunnys]

I havent seen any I was just wondering because my daughter and I got lice. I work at a day care I probly caught it from there. Hopfully I havent over looked any on my rabbits tho.

 

[Dood]

Lice are very species specific. Your rabbit (or dog or cat or birds) cannot catch human head lice.

More info of species of lice found on pets.
http://books.google.ca/books?id=SFSXqsW ... CD8Q6AEwCA

 

[luvmybunnys]

Thats awsome! Good news. Thanks Dood!

 

[Cottie]

Kind of what Dood said.

Your animals can't "catch" them insofar as they won't become infested as we can, but they can harbor them in that they will live on the animal until they die or find a new host. We had lice run through the house after my girls picked it up from their friends. We passed them back and forth for two months until we gave the dogs Dawn baths.

For you guys, whatever you do, don't buy Rid. It doesn't work. A big bottle of olive oil from Walmart works much better, IMO.

 

[Frecs]

For you guys, whatever you do, don't buy Rid. It doesn't work. A big bottle of olive oil from Walmart works much better, IMO.

Used to work in a group home and then in an emergency shelter for abused/neglected kids. Lice is something I'm familiar with. :shock:

1. Don't just treat the infected person. Treat everything in their environment -- wash linens in the brown lysol laundry disinfectant; spray mattress, curtains, furniture with lice spray; anything non-washable (stuff animals) should be put in a plastic trash bag, sealed, and stored for 1 month. Frankly, if one member of the household has it -- treat everyone at the same time...
2. Nit pick. Not fun. Especially if the head you are picking is a girl from a UPC family with a very thick head of hair...just sayin'....but very important to do.
3. Lice do seem to develop an immunity to RID. I treated my own head with vegetable oil and a plastic head wrap. Drinch the hair in oil, wrap in plastic, and keep on over night. "They" say it won't work. It does.

 

[avdpas77]

With a thing like lice, I prefer 5% Sevin (carbaryl) dust. I have nothing against Ivomec, it is a great solution for a some things, but I don't like to treat animals with something that works internally (even if you apply it externally), unless it is necessary with something like burrowing mites or worms.

If you decide on Sevin, dust them once a week for several weeks, because it doesn't always kill the eggs. While Sevin is quite non toxic (keep it away from bees), I like to set the rabbits on a table with a scrap of carpet, and keep them away from their food and water when I dust. Permethrin is also supposed to be a good remedy, but I haven't used it. Absolutely don't use Malathion, or any nicotine based spray. These are good products between the DE and the Ivomec, when the former is not effective enough and the latter isn't needed.

Both of these products can also be used on cats, which are also quite sensitive to chemicals.

 

[AnnClaire]

You can also use Poultry Lice/Mite powder ... dose once per week for 3 weeks.