Here's the Situation

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Trisha - 26 Nov 2003 21:54 GMT

Okay. So I only have my one rattie guy. (I know. They're happier with
friends.) Currently, I'm treating him for lice. How is it possible for one
rat to get lice when he doesn't leave the house? He doesn't have a social
life either, lol. I use Care Fresh bedding and freeze it over night before
opening a new bag. Maybe the eggs only go dormant when frozen? Are they
airborne for pete's sake? I guess if I can have a cat that had kittens by
immaculate conception, I can have a rat with mysterious lice, lol, but it
would be nice to know if I can prevent future infestations. Any insight?

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Trisha

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Jade - 27 Nov 2003 10:31 GMT

Is your cat an outdoor cat? Other animals can bring in icky critters from
outside that small animals can get.

Erika

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Lord help me to be the person my rats think I am. <:3_)~

> Okay. So I only have my one rattie guy. (I know. They're happier with
> friends.) Currently, I'm treating him for lice. How is it possible for one
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> immaculate conception, I can have a rat with mysterious lice, lol, but it
> would be nice to know if I can prevent future infestations. Any insight?

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belt - 27 Nov 2003 11:26 GMT

good thought Jade..

Another thats close to that is..well..perhaps you brought them in on you,
Trisha. I've known people to bring fleas into their house without even
being near infested areas---fleas carry on a lot of people just fine--never
bother them. My mother is very sensative to mites and fleas---I once
brought fleas into her house by accident by going to a bar with a friend who
had a flea bag dog.

perhaps a friend of yours has a fleabag?

just a thought.

--belt

> Is your cat an outdoor cat? Other animals can bring in icky critters from
> outside that small animals can get.
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> > immaculate conception, I can have a rat with mysterious lice, lol, but it
> > would be nice to know if I can prevent future infestations. Any insight?

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Trisha - 27 Nov 2003 17:39 GMT

Well, we don't have the cat or kittens anymore. All we have is the rat and
fish.

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Trisha

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Jade - 27 Nov 2003 10:56 GMT

Whoa! I overlooked the "immaculate conception" part about the cat. I have
to hear the story behind that! Care to share? :)

Erika
Lord help me to be the person my rats think I am. <:3_)~

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Trisha - 27 Nov 2003 17:45 GMT

Lol. Well, we had an indoor cat a few years back. I was very strict about
her being an indoor cat because of fleas and FIV and other cat diseases, not
to mention being stolen or hit by a car. So, one day, my hubby and I left
for the day to go to Cedar Point. (Amusement park in Ohio) We get back
around midnight and there's something laying in the entry way of our
apartment. I thought it was a dead mole cuz it was small and gray. Turns
out, it was a dead kitten. Alex (the cat) had had kittens in our tv stand
while we were gone that day. We had no idea she was even pregnant. The
only time she was outside of our apartment was to go to the vets. To this
day, we're not sure how she got pregnant. We'd had her a while before she
had the kittens, so she didn't come to us already preggos. We had a hole
underneath our kitchen sink and that's the only way we can think of that
maybe another cat got in to get to her. Anyway, she had 4 healty kittens
and one that didn't make it. Explain it if you can, lol.

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> Whoa! I overlooked the "immaculate conception" part about the cat. I have
> to hear the story behind that! Care to share? :)
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
> > immaculate conception, I can have a rat with mysterious lice, lol, but it
> > would be nice to know if I can prevent future infestations. Any insight?

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J&S Bouchard - 27 Nov 2003 12:22 GMT

This is very weird indeed. There must be something going on. How can your
cat become pregnant without help? I tried that story (immaculate conception)
with my parents when I was 19 and it didn't fly then either...lol
Do you live alone? Someone is messing up somewhere. Are you sure it's lice
and not mites? Mites can be found everywhere(pellet bags, cat litter bags,
bedding), and if you don't do a thorough enough clean up, the mites can
survive months without a furry host.

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Trisha - 27 Nov 2003 17:50 GMT

> > Okay. So I only have my one rattie guy. (I know. They're happier with
> > friends.) Currently, I'm treating him for lice. How is it possible for
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
> bedding), and if you don't do a thorough enough clean up, the mites can
> survive months without a furry host.

Check my reply to Jade about the immaculate conception, lol. As for the
rest, I'm married with 2 daughters. I'm pretty positive that it's lice.
I've seen both lice and mites before. I guess maybe my daughters could be
bringing them in from outside, or a friends house. I do know my oldest
daughter's friend has a rat that just had babies, so maybe she brought them
from there...

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J&S Bouchard - 27 Nov 2003 18:26 GMT

> Check my reply to Jade about the immaculate conception, lol. As for the
> rest, I'm married with 2 daughters. I'm pretty positive that it's lice.
> I've seen both lice and mites before. I guess maybe my daughters could be
> bringing them in from outside, or a friends house. I do know my oldest
> daughter's friend has a rat that just had babies, so maybe she brought them
> from there...

At least lice are very easy to get rid of. The reason I asked about mites
and lice because lice is species specific and host specific too. So you can
actually see the bugs moving around then? Yuck... now I'm itchy again...lol

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Scot McDermid - 27 Nov 2003 16:02 GMT

> Okay. So I only have my one rattie guy. (I know. They're happier with
> friends.) Currently, I'm treating him for lice. How is it possible for one
> rat to get lice when he doesn't leave the house? He doesn't have a social
> life either, lol. I use Care Fresh bedding and freeze it over night before
> opening a new bag. Maybe the eggs only go dormant when frozen?

Probably they go dormant when frozen. You can put clothes in a dryer
for 20 minutes. Apparently that will kill lice and eggs.

I would certainly hope that a brand new bag of CareFresh would
be lice free.

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Trisha - 27 Nov 2003 17:52 GMT

> > Okay. So I only have my one rattie guy. (I know. They're happier with
> > friends.) Currently, I'm treating him for lice. How is it possible for
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> I would certainly hope that a brand new bag of CareFresh would
> be lice free.

I'd hope that a brand new bag would be vermin free also, lol. I just don't
want to take any chances and freeze them first.

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Scot McDermid - 27 Nov 2003 19:03 GMT

> > > Okay. So I only have my one rattie guy. (I know. They're happier with
> > > friends.) Currently, I'm treating him for lice. How is it possible for
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
> I'd hope that a brand new bag would be vermin free also, lol. I just don't
> want to take any chances and freeze them first.

A quick search using Google found:
Both
http://www.mercola.com/2000/sept/10/lice.htm
and
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/headlice.html#Freezing
had the same quotation:
Freezing: Lice and their eggs on inanimate objects (e.g. toys) may be
killed by
freezing temperatures. Objects that cannot be heated in a clothes dryer
may
be placed in a freezer (or outdoors if sufficiently cold). This treatment
may
require several days to be effective, depending on the temperature and
humidity. Such treatment would rarely (if ever) be required.

http://www.headlice.org/lindane/_world/environment/states/vermont.htm
Freezing: Lice may be killed by freezing articles for 72 hours.(11)

http://www.state.vt.us/health/_hs/epidemiology/headlice/headlice.htm
In freezing weather (32oF or below), put items outside for 72 hours
to eliminate lice and nits. Small items can go in the freezer.

Good luck with getting rid of lice. Are you combing with a
lice comb or flea comb or something? What is the procedure
with rats?

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J&S Bouchard - 27 Nov 2003 19:23 GMT

> > > > Okay. So I only have my one rattie guy. (I know. They're happier
> with
[quoted text clipped - 42 lines]
> lice comb or flea comb or something? What is the procedure
> with rats?

Oooh, great links!!!

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Pet Forum / Mammals / Rats / November 2003

Here's the Situation