Advantage for good measure?

[niftyality]

If you aren't sure if your guinea pig has lice, is it okay to use Advantage in a regular dose just to be safe?

 

[Ly&Pigs]

You will be able to see lice if your pig has them. They will be crawling around on the skin. You will also have to thoroughly clean and disinfect the cage after treating for lice. I don't think it would hurt them to be dosed in case, but you should see www.guinealynx.info/hairloss.html#lice and https://www.guinealynx.info/medications.html#advantage

 

[critterlover]

I can see that cats and dogs need a monthly dose because they run around outside. I don't see why guinea pigs who are indoors would need to be dosed regularly once the lice is gone. It seems like an unecessary use of time and money to me.

 

[suzy_99]

I am actually considering using Advantage on my guineas because we have 6 other animals (3 cats and 3 dogs) who are all on Advantage and they have regular contact with the piggies. I see no harm in insuring that they do not get lice. I just didn't know that it was safe for them. Plus, as soon as the weather warms up, I do plan to take my piggies outside for their "floor time", so I would need some type of protection for them and I know that Advantage is also a little effective against ticks, which tends to be a concern around this area.

 

[Katie]

You don't have too. Guinea pigs can't get fleas from dogs and cats, and dogs and cats rarely get lice, if at all. We have 11 other animals, 7 cats and 4 dogs that are around our pigs and we have never had any problems. We also take our pigs out during the summer and we only had one case of lice, and that was 4 years ago.

 

[suzy_99]

I am very concerned about our outdoor environment, not the other animals (as they are all treated). We actually live in the middle of the woods and they are tons of fleas, lice, ticks and so on. I really want to bring the guineas outside during the summer, but I don't know how I will protect them from all of these. We also have lots of ants (mostly red and flying ones) and I was wondering if those would be a problem for the guinea pigs???
Either way, even if I decide to use the advantage, it will not be for at least another 3 months, so I plan to research this as much as I can and talk to my vet about it. The reason that I am so open to this is because we have a pretty large supply of Advantage, so it would not cost me anything extra to protect our piggies, but I do want to learn more about it first.

 

[Ly&Pigs]

Guinea pigs can get lice from cats but usually not from dogs. I lost the bookmark I had to a page about parasites in piggies but I will look for it again. Mites are species specific.