# Got some ivermectin for the rats



## polishrose (Oct 26, 2011)

and some questions for the ratty people here

Where did the lice come from?No new pets in the house and from what I have read, they are species specific so can't have come off any other animal.

Are the lice the reason the fur is patchy?The vet was a bit wishy washy on that.

Should I wash them?The vet said I should as their tails are dirty and it'll get rid of some of the lice too but I thought I'd better ask.

And why is this forum so quiet????


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## WelshYorkieLover (Oct 16, 2011)

polishrose said:


> and some questions for the ratty people here
> 
> Where did the lice come from?No new pets in the house and from what I have read, they are species specific so can't have come off any other animal.
> 
> ...


the amount of wild rats around is unbelievable so we probably pick them up on our shoes maybe just like fleas and bring them into the house. they say we are never more than 10 feet away from a rat.

the lice would probably make them itch and that might contribute to the fur loss.

I'm not sure about the bathing. I dont wash any of my rats if they have a chest infection incase it turns into pneumonia. if you do give them a bath, maybe just dont get their heads wet and wrap them up in a towel and get them dry as soon as possible. as for their tails you could wash that with a baby wipe or a flannel and some soapy water instead of just putting them in the water completely. Just my opinion, i'm not an expert or anything like that i just know that i wouldnt be comfortable giving mine a bath if they were chesty.

I have no idea why its quiet here. I was thinking the exact same thing!!


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## Micky93 (May 15, 2012)

We've had mysterious lice incidents twice in the past. Apparently the vet said it's common in certain bedding brands (carefresh being a big source), and also what WYL said about bringing them in on our shoes. They made Pinky's fur go a bit patchy when he had them, but it soon cleared up after using the invermectin. 

We try and avoid bathing ours. We do however use a baby toothbrush (the very very soft ones), and a mix of water to baby shampoo/rat shampoo etc and scrub their tails gently. It leaves them cleaner without going through the stress of a whole dunking. 

I personally think it's quite as there have been a lot of losses over the past two weeks. Just my opinion though.


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## blade100 (Aug 24, 2009)

Mites and lice

There are two common parasites that affect rats, the rat fur mite and the spined rat louse. Many other parasites may occasionally affect rats but are uncommon. If you are unsure please seek veterinary advice.

The rat fur mite

Microscopic fur mites are probably endemic in the rat population, that is, all rats probably have them most of the time. They are too small to be visible to the naked eye and are only noticeable by the symptoms they cause. It is thought that when a rat is fully fit and unstressed their immune system prevents the mites from getting out of control, and the rat doesn&#65533;t develop symptoms. However, whenever a rat is stressed or ill it is possible for the mites to gain the upper hand and the rat will develop symptoms (excessive scratching leading to small scabs around the chin, neck and shoulders).

The spined rat louse

Lice are just visible to the naked eye. They are tiny, orange, cigar shaped parasites, which can often be seen by parting the rat&#65533;s fur around its rump. It is easy to mistake buck grease for lice &#65533; the difference being that lice will move if you touch them with a fingernail! lice are easily transferred from rat to rat and have a life cycle that involves the louse laying an egg (nit) that it glues to the base of a hair shaft. Even once the young louse has hatched out the egg case will remain visible attached to the hair - moving further away form the skin as the hair grows. Egg cases will often remain until a hair moults out, so a treated rat can have empty egg cases in its fur and be free of the infestation. A rat with lice will scratch excessively.

Untreated infestations can lead to the rat looking out of condition, with a raggy or thin coat, or patches of hair loss.

Treatment

Treatment for both mites and lice is topical Ivermectin which can be obtained from your vet. One drop is placed behind the rat&#65533;s ear, once every 7 to 10 days for three consecutive treatments. Do not let your vet inject Ivermectin as this is unnecessary and in a few sensitive rats been linked to rapid neurological deterioration and death. Some vets will prescribe other &#65533;spot-on&#65533; medications which if prescribed should be suitable. Most over the counter preparations from pet shops are not effective and in many cases are not suitable for animals like rats that groom heavily. However, Beaphar make a small animal Ivermectin preparation that is available from petshops or online shops such as The Rat Warehouse.

It is a good idea to thoroughly clean out your cage when you treat you rats, but lice eggs can only survive off the host for a couple of days at the most, so re-infestation from the cage or furniture is unlikely in a treated rat (the treatment effects are thought to last for a period of weeks).

Your rats will also benefit from having their nails cut as this will prevent them from damaging their skin when scratching.

Unless your rats regularly attend shows it is not necessary to treat them unless they have an infestation. If you only have a few rats and you need to treat one of them it is probably wise to treat them all so as to iradicate the parasites from within your group for a period of time.

Rat mites and lice are species specific and will not live on humans or other pets.


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## blade100 (Aug 24, 2009)

Also I'd scrub everything in there cage too with pet safe cleaner.


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## polishrose (Oct 26, 2011)

Thanks all. I will try the baby toothbrush idea as baby wipes didn't work very well yesterday.I feel guilty for not noticing earlier


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## blade100 (Aug 24, 2009)

I'm not sure if it's the same with lice but rats carry mites on them and they lay dormant. But when a rat is run down,stressed or ill that's when the mites attack.


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## spoiled_rat (Mar 24, 2008)

blade100 said:


> I'm not sure if it's the same with lice but rats carry mites on them and they lay dormant. But when a rat is run down,stressed or ill that's when the mites attack.


Mites don't 'attack', nor do they lay 'dormant'.

Rat fur mites are endemic, and all rats have them, however they only cause problems usually when the rat has got a slightly compromised immune system for whatever reason (be it long term or short term), and having an allergic reaction (and subsequent itching) because of the proteins released by the dead mites, as they go through their life cycle and decompose.

Also, Ivermectin stays in the system for approx 28 days, so if dosed once, correctly, you have no need for further treatments as it covers the life cycle of mites, eggs hatching and so on.


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## polishrose (Oct 26, 2011)

I checked them today and there are almost none on each rat-literally like 1 or 2 on each one.They were definitely lice from looking at google pics.


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## MerlinsMum (Aug 2, 2009)

Frontline spray (not spot-on) works for lice. I'm not sure if Ivermectin works well on lice - correct me if I'm wrong - but it certainly has no effect on fleas in other animals.


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## spoiled_rat (Mar 24, 2008)

Ivermectin is pretty effective on UK lice, not so much on the creepy foreign types mind you. We have it very lucky indeed in the UK really as far as parasites on rats go!


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## polishrose (Oct 26, 2011)

It's worked very well indeed-all the lice are gone


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