I took Nikolai to the groomer today and half way through blowing him dry, they discovered that he has lice. '' They tossed him back in the tub, shampooed him again with a flea/tick/lice treatment, then dried him with the blower outside (so as not to contaminate the rest of the shop). They squeezed a tube of some topical gel (red tube?) on him and sent us on our merry way. I stopped off at the store and picked up a bottle of Dr. Harvey's Protection Shampoo and a bottle of their Protection Spray, we also got some "Advantage," but the guy at the store said that if I had a cat, that might make HIM sick due to one of the ingredients... I'm washing all his beds/blankets with the sanitize function (HIGH heat), I've steam cleaned our hard floors, my hubby vacuumed everything... what else can we do to kill these buggers and make sure they never come back!? Also, how long do we need to keep him quarantined and away from other dogs (so THEY don't get lice)? Natural and non-toxic remedies and recommendations welcome.

PS - We also have a cat and box turtle, so "bug bombs" and "fogger" types of insecticidal solutions are out.

Thanks!

oh no! i've never dealt with dogs with lice, hope someone has answers for you.

I have never even thought of dogs getting lice... guess we will not be seeing you tomorrow have you called the vet to see if they have any info for you? Toris fav line is a vet call is always free!

Oh Jen, I'll be there tomorrow... Nikolai won't be though. :-(

I'll give our vet a call today, see what they suggest. Thanks!

I don't have any advice about lice however Advantage is safe to use on and around cats so the person that said it might make your cats sick is mistaken. It is Advantix that contains an ingredient toxic to cats, not Advantage. The names are similar and they are both made by Bayer but they are different products. Advantix kills and repels ticks and mosquitos while Advantage does not. Either way, I've used Advantix in a house with cats and never had any problems with the cats getting ill but I made sure the cats did not come into direct contact with our Advantix treated dogs.

I agree with Jenn on the vet call.

I have never dealt with lice I wish I had advice for you, but good luck and let us know how it goes so that we can all learn from your experiences! Unfortunately, lice is one of those things that, like fleas, you don't need to be the cause for you or your animals to get infected. They are something that are easily passed on from one being to another, so it says nothing about you and could just as easily happen to anyone of us! Without the knowledge of another human or animal being contaminated to take precautions, there's not much you can do to prevent the spread

Good luck!

Ok, so the call to the Vet became a visit, because apparently, lice are pretty rare in dogs. We pulled a few buggers off and they looked at 'em under the microscope, confirming what the groomer said: lice, not fleas. They're the (blood) sucking kind. We called the groomer, found that they had treated him with a dose of Frontline, which also works for lice. The plan of action is to keep brushing him out (and getting little carcasses loose), decontaminating areas he sleeps every couple of days (his kennel, his 3 dog beds), and we'll repeat another flea/tick/lice shampoo bath next weekend. In one month, we'll re-dose him with Revolution and the following week, reassess. He should be lice free and we will have a clean, sparkling home. ;-)

ETA- He should be OK to be around other dogs in another couple of days to a week. The lice are very host specific (can't go from dog to cat, or dog to human) and they don't last long (1-2 days, tops) without a host. They're also pretty easy to kill... so, after his bath next weekend, we'll be having Christmas with DH's uncle's three black labs and no one is worried.

this was very informational!! thanks for sharing and im wishing him the best!

Ginger had doggie head lice too when we first got her. And we didn't notice it until a month later when she started scratching more than usual. If Nikolai came from the rescue yard, it could be where Nikolai caught it. But dog lice, from what I gathered from my vet, is easily managed vs. fleas and ticks. Lice cannot survive for very long off their host, and they don't like humans. Ginger got First Shield (liquid that you apply in one swipe from tail to base of neck) which lasts 30 days and in a few days, it was all gone. It kills 4 species of ticks, all stages of fleas (including larvae), 3 species of mosquitoes, and lice. I was only going to get one treatment, but was advised that I may be interested in buying a 4-pk if we will be taking Ginger out to the woods....so I got the 4-pk...($15/each or $54/4-pk).