Lice on rat?!

The Rat Shack Forum

Help Support The Rat Shack Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

RatDad2017

New Member
Joined
Apr 10, 2019
Messages
1
Location
Ohio
Hi guys,

I’m freaking out! I went to pick up my pet rat out of her cage to clean it (she has a vet appointment tonight) and she literally has brown bugs crawling all over her. They’re so tiny! I looked it up and I’m pretty sure it’s lice. She also is constipated I believe. I originally thought she was pregnant but it turns out I can pretty sure she’s constipated. Thank god i’m Taking her to the vet tonight, but I just wanted to know if anyone’s had this happen before? I know it’s not the bedding because I used the same bedding in my other rat cage and none of them have these bugs. I’m just panicking and freaking out because on top of the constipation and lice issue, this is going to be expensive.
 
Is it possible that she has late onset megacolon?
Please read this, as well as the links on the page, treatment and Woody's diet
http://ratguide.com/health/digestive/megacolon.php

So the vet gave us ivermectin to give her orally for a week. He took a stool sample and he believes that she may have an internal parasite. How often should I clean her cage do you think? Would it be beneficial at all to give her a bath?
 
I think revolution is way better to treat with, and safer. Plus, just a one week dose isn't going to be enough to get rid of the lice. You are also going to need to treat any other rats in the house. Just like in humans (humans can't get rat lice) it can spread like wild fire, and be hard to get rid of. Your best bet would be to treat ALL the rats at the same time. That way the lice can't go from host to host. Besides, a tube of kitten revolution is enough to do almost 6 rats, I believe, if each rat gets just one drop (it's based on weight, so you'd need to weigh each rat on a gram scale, with tare function). Freeze all wood items, and bedding like SQ Asaid, and wash all plastic, and metal items (it's easiest in the dishwasher and set it to pots and pans, and a sanitize cycle if you have it). Bathing them can stress them. I don't know if you want to. But if you feel better doing it, then make sure you use a dye free, hypoallergenic, organic baby shampoo. I'll post a pic of mine. Be prepared that you probably won't get most of the bugs out of their fur. The ivermectin, or salemectin if you use revolution, will start killing the bugs right away. But I think you have to retreat with ivermectin, since it's shorter acting, and lice have a life cycle you have to go through. I think it's 12 or 21 days.

Don't be ashamed about this. Most of us have dealt with lice, or mites at least once.

Also, the revolution is topical and you only need to do it once a month I think. Www.ratguide.com has more info on it, so check it out! Good luck!
 
Ok stop with the invermectin we need to figure out what exactly you were told to do. Ivermectin can be very dangerous if given improperly? Your vet gave your rat ONE oral dose only? Ivermectin is given 3 times once a week to be effective. If given more than once in a week you could hurt or even kill your rat. Did he weigh your rat or just give you paste and told you to give a piece the size of an UNCOOKED grain of rice?
 
Back
Top