# dog lice... yuck



## Rowdy (Sep 2, 2007)

My dogs were recently diagnosed with dog lice, which I understand is not common in the US. We don't know whether Toby picked them up at the groomers (doubtful) or if they got them when they played with another dog at the local dog park. Either way, both dogs are VERY itchy. We've treated them twice with Frontline and bathed them and I've vacuumed out the house a number of times. I've washed their bedding... twice... in hot water with bleach. Does anyone have any experience with this? How hard is it to kill? How long will they itch? There isn't much that I can find online. If I can still find lice on Monday I'm going back to the vet.

Ick, ick, ick!


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## cshellenberger (Dec 2, 2006)

Oh boy, I've never dealt with lice on a dog, only my daughters YEARS ago! 

Wash ALL bedding in the HOTTEST water possible and BLEACH, if it can't be washed, treat with an insecticide spray and place in a plastic bag for a couple of weeks. 

Treat all carpets with Borax (24 mule team works fine), it dries the eggs and kills the larvea. Leave the Borax IN the carpet for 48 hours, then vaccum, i'd do the same for any furnature they might be on (one of the reasons my dogs aren't allowed on the furnature). 

I don't know that I'd rely on frontline for this, get some LICE SHAMPOO and scrub the dogs down, leave on for several minutes and use a nitcomb to go through their fur, JUST as you would a human. You can also get a special conditioner that loosens the Knits from the hair shaft to make removal more effective. When I was treating my kids, I did this every three days.


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## DJsMom (Jun 6, 2008)

No experience with dog lice at all! 
Was it Dx'd by the vet? I'm just curious as what to look for on my dogs, or especially dogs that come into the grooming shop. Do you have any photos you could post?

Ooops sorry ... reading over your post again, this time more thoroughly . I see they haven't been into a vet yet. So you can actually _see_ the lice? Were there patches on the skin, or something that made you _look_ for lice?


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## deege39 (Dec 29, 2008)

At stores like PetCo and Petsmart I belive they've got Lice treatment for dogs. I know they have Lice treatment for Guinea Pigs because my Guinea Pigs had lice... You can try there. The Lice Treatment I used came in little tubes like Frontline and you applied it just as you would any Flea&Tick medicine.

Good luck! : (


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## briteday (Feb 10, 2007)

We had a cocker spaniel several years ago that acquired what the vet called "wood lice." Since we had many piles of debris around the property I didn't find it ususual that she would pick up something like this. 

She had been itching for a few days. But then I was sitting out on the porch with her, lifted up an ear, and they were almost cheek to jowl on the underside of her ears. 

The vet gave us an Rx shampoo to be used at specific intervals, to kill all forms of the lice. I think it took a few months to get rid of everything. And we were told to bathe the other dogs in the same shampoo. But this was also in the days before meds like Frontline.


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## Rowdy (Sep 2, 2007)

DJsMom said:


> No experience with dog lice at all!
> Was it Dx'd by the vet? I'm just curious as what to look for on my dogs, or especially dogs that come into the grooming shop. Do you have any photos you could post?
> 
> Ooops sorry ... reading over your post again, this time more thoroughly . I see they haven't been into a vet yet. So you can actually _see_ the lice? Were there patches on the skin, or something that made you _look_ for lice?


They were to the vet last week. That's how it was diagnosed. We discovered them when we took off Toby's collar and there was a small bug on it. When we looked closer, we found a bunch more on both dogs. We brought the bug to the vet who looked at it under the microscope and dx'd lice. He was the one who prescribed Frontline. From what I've found online, which isn't much, Frontline is the best med for them.

They're TINY brown bugs that move very slowly, not like human lice that jump around. They were mostly around the dogs' necks and in their belly/groin areas.

Boraxing the carpet sounds like a great idea. I've washed and bleached their bedding, collars, leashes... but I can't bleach the carpet.

I think I'll call the vet Monday no matter what. I want to know how long I should keep my dogs away from any other dogs. I don't want to pass this on.


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## Intuition21 (May 9, 2009)

I wouldn't worry too much about your carpet. If you can keep your dog off of it for 24 hours it should be okay. Dog lice cannot survive longer than 24 hours without its host.


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## agility collie mom (Jan 26, 2008)

I've only seen them once at the clinic. A breeder brought puppies in that had them. Here is some information on their life cycle. 
http://www.petplanet.ca/education_articles/general_canine_biting.html


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## lex_sparks (Nov 12, 2011)

Hi Rowdy,
I know this is an old post, but I was wondering if you could help? Both my dogs have been diagnosed with lice. They were then prescribed revolution treatment which I gave to them on wednesday. On thursday, my cocker was still scratching like crazy and now its saturday and still the same. The vet said its probably an allergy to the lice so she wants to prescribe an antihistamine. I looked on her belly though and it looks like even more "little brown things" are on her belly. They don't look like bugs to me, just little brown things sticking to the hair. How long were your dogs itchy for? I am supposed to give revolution again in 3 weeks but I dont wan't her to be in agony until then! If its normal to be itchy for a while, then maybe I'll just get the antihistamine... I'm just surprised because I thought the revolution would kill them all that day.


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## cshellenberger (Dec 2, 2006)

There are still eggs that will be hatching, so it takes more time. The antihistamine will help her itching so go ahead with it.


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## lex_sparks (Nov 12, 2011)

Ok, thank you - just feel so bad for them! They got them from a dog in their dog walking group, not fun!


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