# How can I get rid of my horse's lice??



## crackrider

There are shampoos you can get to prevent lice. It could take a while to get rid of them but just keep treating them regularly and you'll get them!!


----------



## First time horse owner

i can't bath him right now but i plan to as soon as it gets warmer.. thank you for the info do you know how far apart to keep another horse so he doesn't get it too??


----------



## meggymoo

There's a powder too, which you could use for now as you cant bath him. Might stop them from getting worse. 
Poor boy, and poor you.


----------



## First time horse owner

how do horses get lice. he was by himself when i went to get him in jan. But he did have the spots then and I was told it was from rubbing..... But then again he wasn't taken care at all..


----------



## meggymoo

They can catch lice from any kind of animal, be it birds etc 
The eggs are layed on the coat and usually hatch out within 10 days.
Apparently they like the comfort of long hair, and during the winter months their numbers build up, so they are at their highest in the early spring.
Its recommended that coats are clipped and to break the two week cycle that lice have you should wash the coat with a insecticidal shampoo or thoroughly dust with lice powder.
You can also buy some wormers that have "ivermectin" in these have a useful side action of killing lice.
Check with your vet first though, before using the wormer.


----------



## huntress

a friend of mine had a horse that was alive with lice she got some switch from the vet and the lice all died within 3 days and so far no more have been seen


----------



## First time horse owner

Thank you all for the info . That is great about the wormer because i just wormed him with a wormer that had ivermectin (sp?) in it. So I'm hoping that will help. Also can dogs get lice from a horse. My dog is around him but i don't think they have ever touched .. The product that your friend got was called switch??? again thanks to everyone ... :lol:


----------



## WildFeathers

eeeeeehhh, I started itching and tingling just when I read the title. One of our ponies got lice/mites/whatever, and it was a nightmare (no so much the getting rid of them, just him having them at all). I couldn't hardly walk past him without them getting on me, my mom and sister didn't have a problem, they could lead him and pet him and treat him. I have _realllyy_ long hair, and I am fine with bugs and spiders and stuff, but I _HATE_ lice-type things, and would get on me so fast. Ugh, I'm glad that's over.

Sorry, not very helpful, just reminiscing .


----------



## Ryle

The get lice from other infected horses or infected items like blankets, brushes, etc. 

To treat lice you have to use an appropriate product (powder, shampoo, etc) once every 10 days for 3 treatments. And you need to also treat all blankets, brushes, halters, etc that could serve as a source of reinfection.


----------



## babyruth1984

A good way to find out if the wormer you used could kill the lice is to go back to the feed store and just look at the box. If not just ask the people who work there if they have the powder.

My head is itching just thinking about it. I use to get lice alot growing up and the shampoos worked pretty well. I don't know if you can use them on horses, you can ask your vet though. Just be certain to wash any type of bedding and to clean out the bedding. Goodluck!


----------



## NorthernMama

Yup, you're gonna have to clean EVERYTHING for sure. A thought -- why not groom with a bit of veg oil on your brushes? Lice love clean hair because they can stick to it. They don't like greasy, oily hair because they have a harder time to lay their eggs successfully. 

Vinegar / oil shampoo mix works for people, cats and dogs... probably horses too. Put it on all over, let stand for 20 minutes (I think) and brush. Repeat daily? Maybe someone else has heard of this.


----------



## ohhellneely

Yup, just keep up with the treatments and do them for awhile so that you know that you have gotten all of them when the eggs hatch, etc.

If you turn your horse out with another horse, you might want to go ahead and treat him too, just so you know that you are stopping the spread.


----------



## babyruth1984

northernmama said:


> Yup, you're gonna have to clean EVERYTHING for sure. A thought -- why not groom with a bit of veg oil on your brushes? Lice love clean hair because they can stick to it. They don't like greasy, oily hair because they have a harder time to lay their eggs successfully.
> 
> Vinegar / oil shampoo mix works for people, cats and dogs... probably horses too. Put it on all over, let stand for 20 minutes (I think) and brush. Repeat daily? Maybe someone else has heard of this.


 
Tee tree oil would probably help keep them off, and it's really good for the hair and skin.


----------



## G and K's Mom

meggymoo said:


> You can also buy some wormers that have "ivermectin" in these have a useful side action of killing lice.
> Check with your vet first though, before using the wormer.


Stongid C works better. We just had a talk with our vet about this regarding a resuce pony.

Stongid C inhibits the eggs from hatching therefore breaking the cycle.


----------



## minihorse927

I had bought a mini stallion that had lice so bad they has eaten quarter size holes in his neck. I soaped him down in lice shampoo for humans and then for the next 2 months I soaked him and my other mare in bronco fly spray, and I mean soaked! I never had them come back. Since you can not bathe, stick with the powder for lice, I like using python dust if I buy a horse with lice and can not bathe them. As far as other horses, I would powder them too just in case they have gotten them already. I would powder the one who has them and the rest regardless of them having them or not. I brought the new one home and within 3 days my mare had a few on her already. In the spring I would scrub them all down with delicing shampoo and make sure to do a hefty fly/lice spray everyday for a month or two. Spray all the stalls and any equipment used on the horses with lice spray. My vet also told me to put a full tube of ivermectin down him once a week for a month as it would help to kill off the lice from the inside as well as my treatments for the outside. I would check with you vet before doing this though. I know they are a ****** to get rid of and as long as you keep up with a treatment plan that is working until they are gone from everything, then they will be gone for good! That little yearling stallion is now a happy healthy 5 year old with NO LICE! Poor guy, had quarter sized holes that were 1/2inch to 1 inch deep in both sides of his neck and was skin and bones from the lice. He has a severe infestation!


----------



## KANSAS_TWISTER

you can also take teatree oil and put it in a spray bottle to spray on stuff.....lice hate that stuff


----------



## Ryle

G and K's Mom said:


> Stongid C works better. We just had a talk with our vet about this regarding a resuce pony.
> 
> Stongid C inhibits the eggs from hatching therefore breaking the cycle.


Uhm.....not sure this is actually correct. I would double check it.
Pyrantel is only poorly absorbed from the GI tract so not likely to get to skin/hair in sufficient quantities to do anything to lice eggs. And besides, in no species is pyrantel effective against lice.


----------



## G and K's Mom

Ryle said:


> Uhm.....not sure this is actually correct. I would double check it.
> And besides, in no species is pyrantel effective against lice.


Not true:

Feeding and Care of the Horse - Google Book Search

A little hard to read...... sorry, see yellow highlights


----------



## Helenmcd

all good advice from the others but you must wash/treat tack and brushes, you and your clothes,


----------



## NorthernMama

G and K's Mom said:


> Not true:
> 
> Feeding and Care of the Horse - Google Book Search
> 
> A little hard to read...... sorry, see yellow highlights


 OK -- I didn't read the whole thing, but the chart is showing the Avermectins to be effective against lice, not pyrantel -- did I miss it?


----------



## Ryle

G and K's Mom said:


> Not true:
> 
> Feeding and Care of the Horse - Google Book Search
> 
> A little hard to read...... sorry, see yellow highlights


Nothing on that page says that pyrantels are effective against lice. It says on the chart that the drugs denoted by the _d _are effective against lice and the only group marked with that _d_ is the avermectinswhich are ivermectin and moxidectin.

Sorry, but I do remember my pharmacology and parasitology lessons. Pyrantel is not effective against lice.:wink:

"Pediculosis (Lice)
Lice are wingless, flattened insects that are ectoparasites of mammals worldwide. They constitute two orders: Anoplura (sucking lice, blood feeders) and Mallophaga (biting lice).
Two species of lice affect horses: Damalina equi a biting louse that feeds on skin and hair, and Haematopinus asini a sucking louse that pierces skin and sucks blood and tissue fluids. Infestations are common.
The life cycle is completed on the host and transmission is mainly by direct contact. Infections are more severe in the late winter and early spring.
The skin irritation results in itching manifested by rubbing, biting and kicking. The coat may be roughened with loss of hair and there may be secondary bacterial infection. In heavy infestations individuals become anemic and lose weight and condition.
*Diagnosis*

This is based upon finding eggs or lice. The latter are 2 - 4 mm in size and thus can be readily seen when hair is parted.
Biting lice are more active than sucking lice.
*Treatment*

Dipping or spraying with insecticide solutions; two treatments two weeks apart are recommended. Ivermectin is effective against sucking lice but not biting lice.
Frequent and thorough grooming is helpful in controlling pediculosis."

--A Concise Guide to the Microbial and Parasitic Diseases of Horses, Carter G.R., Payne P.A. and Davis E. (Eds.).

http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=5469


----------



## lnpranch

I have heard that warm or hot vinegar kills the eggs. Also Endure fly spray helps kill live lice. You do have to clean everything that has come into contact with the horse and i read online the other day that you will need to clean their pen as well as the lice can be on anything the horse has rubbed or laid on. 

I'm getting ready to write an article about horse lice and have been researching it online. I am happy to have found your forums because now i have others i can talk to about this problem. Two paints we purchased came up with lice and one rescue. they have been quarantined from the other horses until this is all under control.


----------



## Cherie

I am sorry to say you are barking up the wrong tree with your treatment of lice.

Horses get lice (along with rain rot, goopy runny eyes, flakey dry skin, poor hair coats and many more things) from being deficient in Vitamin A. 

They are NOT contagious and you cannot give rain rot or lice to a horse with healthy skin and a healthy immune system that has sufficient Vitamin A either stored or in their diet.

This is why you see lice and rain rot in thin, poorly cared for horses and in the late summer and spring on horses that are fat, but are not receiving any Vitamin A supplementation of any kind. Vitamin A is a 'fat soluble' vitamin (along with D and E) that is stored in the liver. If horses have access to good green grass they are never deficient in it. They store quite a bit if it in the fall, but if they are not supplemented, they run out of stored Vitamin A sometime in the winter. That is why we see rain rot and lice at that time in unsupplemented horses. You can see it any time of year in thin, poorly fed and cared for horses like the rescue you talk about.

You do not need to even treat rain rot or lice if you don't want to. Just get the horse on plenty of Vitamin A and it all goes away very quickly -- much more quickly than the horse that is treated with topicals and not supplemented with Vitamin A or good grass. [If you get the horse on good green grass, it will go away even more quickly.]

To treat them with Vitamin A, you can give them ORALLY the Vitamin A injectable available at feed store and vet supply stores and catalogs. It is labeled for cattle, but just squirt 5 CCs in the horse's mouth (like a dewormer) and they absorb most of it. You can repeat every week. Then, you can start the horse on a good Vitamin Supplement that has a high level of Vitamin A in it.

If you supplement Vitamin A in the winter, especially, you will never see another case of rain rot or lice, no matter how bad the weather gets.


----------

