Mice and LOTS of lice

by Camry08 Thu 17 Oct 2019, 7:48 pm

My friend had two male mice one died and after examination was covered in lice or mites of some sort. She checked the other one and didn’t see any and made sure to keep an eye out for them but never saw any. Now months later her mouse was bent over in pain and would flinch and squeak in pain if she touched his stomach. I gave her the number to the only vet around but he was moving and wouldn’t be advalible for a few weeks. Long story short the mouse died after two days of suffer and after death the lice became visible. My question is what kind of lice could have done this? Is she and her other animals (cats) at risk of getting them? And finally is there anything that can be done without a vets help?

by SilverThistle Thu 17 Oct 2019, 9:01 pm

Any kind of blood sucking, or body using (example, worms), parasites can kill any animal including cats, dogs, even humans rarely. Lice and mites consume the blood of their hosts, and a large or untreated infestation can cause the animal to become anemic, which is a lack of healthy red blood cells, thus making their body will slowly shut down.

My guess would be your friend was dealing with a type of ear mite, and they left the ears once their host had died in order to find a new host. Depending on the type of mite it may be able to effect cats but this is unlikely, still she should consider treating the cat(s) with a topical parasite treatment which can be purchased from their vet. It is extremely rare for humans to get ear mites.

Mice can be treated with the kitten versions of some parasite medications, a vet should know which ones are safe for mice. Some people have recommended diatomaceous earth as a parasitic treatment but I've personally never tried it, and I would urge to be cautious with at home "diy" treatments because they rarely are effective.

Mice and LOTS of lice

Mice and LOTS of lice

Re: Mice and LOTS of lice