Dandruff or lice? Interspecies?

[krystia]

Well, it just seems like now's the time for perhaps piggy sickness in my house. Today, I was letting out our black-colored piggy for floor time, and I noticed he had a lot of dandruff on his back (it doens't seem to move from what I've seen). This has been a problem of his for the last week or so. This time, however, I got curious. Do piggies really get dandruff? He's only had one bath in over a year, and that was almost a month ago.

So I put my finger in his fur to look at his skin. And what do you know, I found something. There are more little pieces of "dandruff" lined on each of his hair follicles, like they're just sitting there on each one. They're cylindrical in tiny shape, and there are a few on almost every follicle on his shoulders and his rump, but not many on his back. I'm going to schedule a vet appointment on Monday just in case it's lice or something similar.

My question is: can guinea pig lice be transferred to humans? Can it be transferred to cats? We have two pure white kittens, so I wouldn't be able to see lice if it spread to them. And certainly I would like to know if I could have lice. Thanks for the help!

[piggyluv]

No, lice can't be transferred from one species to another.

[krystia]

Thanks a lot! That's a relief. Both boys will be going to the vet Monday or Tuesday, whenever's the first time the clinic can squeeze us in. I'm still new to the whole pig sickness thing (our first piggie has never been sick before) so sorry if I have a lot of questions!