Do dogs have lice?

To begin with, head lice do exist in dogs - this is a scientific fact. And they torment the four-legged friend no less than human lice of people. Like humans, lice in dogs can be of several different species, differing from each other in their biology and body structure:

• The dog louse itself (Linognathus setosus) is a small yellow-gray parasite that causes constant anxiety of the animal, scratching of the skin, and with a strong infection, the emaciation of the pet;
• dog lice (Trichodectes canis) - has approximately the same size as the louse, but when infected causes hair loss, dermatitis and constant itching.

The photos below show the dog louse and eater:

These two parasites are very easy to confuse, but the trouble will not be in this, since the fight against them is about the same. The main thing here is to be able to detect them on a dog before the onset of serious consequences.

In addition to the fact that these parasites cause damage to the coat and dermatitis, lashes, moreover, suffer very dangerous helminths,and occur in dogs quite often. Therefore know what lice look like and lashing dogs, as well as how to quickly bring them to the pet will be useful to the owner of a dog of any breed.

The photo shows typical signs of dermatitis in a dog:

On a note

Infection of a dog with lice is called sifunkulyatoz.

 

Lifestyle and appearance of lice in dogs

Dog lice look like very small insects of yellowish gray or light gray with an elongated body. Lice are different from licefighters with difficulty, and these differences can only be noticed with proper experience and careful consideration of the parasites:

• the louse has a long, elongated and narrow body, the eater has a dense and wide
• a vloseda has a large, half-square head, and in a louse it is much narrower.

These signs are clearly visible if you hold a live adult insect on your hand.

Here, for example, look like dog lice (close-up photo):

And the following photo shows the eaters:

There are differences in lifestyle lice and lashing. Dog lice feed on the blood of an animal - their mouth apparatus is adapted only for piercing the skin and sucking blood. The whalers, on the other hand, feed mainly on flaking skin, hair, and secretions from the skin glands of the animal.

Lice differ from fleas in light body and inability to jump.In addition, the louse is easily crushed between the fingers, while crushing a flea is extremely difficult due to its very durable chitinous shell.

Photo of a flea: this jumping parasite is really difficult to confuse with lice or lashes.

Dog lice can not infect other animals - they are strictly specific to one type of host, and can parasitize only on dogs. This means that a person or a cat cannot get lice from a dog.

Dog lice breed, sticking their eggs to the hairs. The sticky shell of the egg quickly hardens in the air, and it turns out to be very difficult to remove the entire structure from the wool.

The egg with the shell is called a nits - the example of human lice. Nits are very resistant to adverse environmental factors and even tolerate the treatment of animal hair with many modern insecticides.

On a note

When a large number of lice cause sticking hair hair in dogs, resulting in the formation of mats. This is especially true for long-haired breeds: their parasites in the fur may not be noticeable, but the appearance of felled wool is a good diagnostic sign of the presence of insects.

Lice in dogs with a minor infection do not catch the eye, but in pets of dark breeds, even in the initial stages of infection, they are usually easy to see: lice themselves and their nits look brighter against the background of dark fur.

Vlasoids are more common in dogs than lice, but in general both parasites are much less common than fleas.

 

What are dangerous dog lice?

The danger of lice in dogs lies primarily in the fact that they cause constant itching with their bites. The same is true for lashes - although they do not bite directly, they constantly scrape the skin and can gnaw through it to sensitive layers.

The consequences of severe lice infestation in dogs can be:

• hair loss, the appearance of bald patches and overall deterioration of the coat (see photo)
• bite allergy
• dermatitis, developing on the ground of permanent scratching, eczema and neurodermatitis
• anemia with a large number of daily bites
• weight loss and exhaustion of a dog
• helminth infection, in particular, cucumber chain.

Special lice are dangerous in puppies: babies with infection may appear stunted growth, weakening of the immune system, constant depression.That is why if lice have appeared in dogs, they should be removed as soon as possible.

 

How do dogs become infected with lice?

In most cases lice are transmitted from a sick animal to a healthy one with close contact - play, sleep, mating, in a fight.

It is very difficult to avoid such contacts, and even a well-groomed domestic dog can be infected — until its owner noticed the parasites.

Often, the owners themselves infect pets, bringing on their clothes the wool of other animals from the street or from guests. When infected with lice, the dog especially intensively loses individual hairs, and therefore, with high probability, such hairs with insects or their eggs will fall on the clothes of the person stroking the animal.

 

Dog Lice Treatments

Lice in a dog as a whole is easy. Since neither lice nor lashes, unlike fleas, can escape from an animal, they will die when they are treated with any effective insecticidal drug.

Treatment of lice in dogs can be carried out by the following means:

• Insectoacaricidal drops on the withers - these tools are suitable for all breeds of dogs, and some - even for puppies. Especially known drops Stronghold, Frontline, Hartz, Leopard.In the line of each manufacturer there are preparations for dogs of different breeds and ages, so it is not difficult to choose the most suitable drops. Apply them as follows: with a pipette, the liquid is dripped on the withers by the neck of the dog (some preparations are placed in several places along the spine) and thoroughly rubbed into the skin. Thereafter, the insecticide spreads through the body of the hypodermic blood vessels throughout the body and poisons the parasites that suck blood or feed on the animal's skin. Drops - the most simple to use tools, long retain their effect. Only sometimes they can cause allergies in an animal.
• Sprays, many of which are suitable even for puppies. These remedies are good because they rarely cause allergies, but have only a slight residual effect. To remove the lice with their help, spray it is necessary to process the entire coat of the dog as completely as possible, soak the drug for several hours and wash it off. Lice in a puppy can be destroyed with Frontline and Hartz sprays - these drugs, even with some ingestion into the digestive tract, do not lead to side effects. Sprays Bars, Blochnet and Advantage can also be used in adult dogs.
• Insecticidal shampoos - they are most suitable for puppies and dogs of decorative breeds. Best known among dog owners are RolfClub, Phytoelite and Lugovoy. The shampoo is simply applied to the wet coat, foams, aged 15-20 minutes and washed off. Shampoos are mostly non-allergenic, they act quickly, but are rather expensive and difficult to process large dogs.

Sometimes from lice and lashing in dogs recommend the use of flea collars. Indeed, collars will allow for one to two weeks lice out, but they often cause allergies and damage to the coat at the place of wearing. Rationally use collars for dogs who constantly live outdoors as a preventive measure for infestation with lice and fleas.

Photo of flea collar:

After removing the lice from the dog, it is imperative to worm the worms.

 

Safety and Precautions for Lice Removal

When using any means of lice should be aware of the contraindications and possible side effects.

Most of the products cannot be used for pregnant and lactating dogs, puppies under the age of one month and dogs weakened by diseases - infectious or somatic.

In these situations, you should always choose a specialized drug.

However, in any case, pregnant women, puppies, and sick dogs should be eliminated from lice, since these parasites can aggravate any animal health problems. It is reasonable in such situations to seek the advice of a veterinarian.

In order to protect the pet from infection with lice (and other parasites), you should ensure that the dog does not communicate with stray animals. It is useful to put a flea collar on an animal during walks. And the owners themselves, after returning from guests who have animals, or from long walks on the street with their neighbors' pets, should, without entering the house, clean the clothes with a thick brush. Such measures will be quite enough so that your dog will never know what lice and lashes are.

 

Useful video: how to properly treat a dog with an insecticide

 

Comparison of the effectiveness of different types of insect parasite products for animals