Lice

I just noticed some tiny little specks on the top of her head, and when i looked closer it was lice. From what I could tell I think they were biting lice (not sucking lice) . They looked reddish brown in color. Or maybe she had both? But she has seemed fine since day 1. She runs, plays and is always in good spirits. I tried to upload a video of her playing with a ball but I couldn't figure it out. The treatment said for lice, follow up in something like 56 days. So yes, I will follow up to catch what the first round didn't. Here she is:

What a cute little heifer! Thanks for sharing!

We use ivermectin pour on for lice also. My papaw always swore by letting cattle getting rained on and that getting rid of lice. Whether or not that actually works, I have no idea.

Maybe @greybeard can weigh in...

Wow, you actually see the exoskeleton of the lice in one photo! When my goats had lice, I treated the entire herd, with repeat applications on the goats who had the worst infections. Black oil sunflower seed added to their grain helped with the dry skin and hair loss.

Be careful with the application of the poison. Wear protective clothing for yourself and be sure to shower immediately after applying the poison to your animals. After treating my goats, I ended up with elevated liver enzymes and had to have follow up testing to rule out abdominal cancer or other liver disease. I ended up being fine (other than more medical bills), and did not immediately connect the application of the lice powder to the liver enzymes. I rarely drink and it was only after the fact that I connected applying the powder to the liver damage. I do recall being pretty much covered in powder those days and then cleaning out the barn since I was already so "dirty".

Wehner Homestead said:

We use ivermectin pour on for lice also. My papaw always swore by letting cattle getting rained on and that getting rid of lice. Whether or not that actually works, I have no idea.

Maybe @greybeard can weigh in...

Click to expand...

I've never heard of the rain thing, but if it were true, no cattle anywhere in E Texas would have lice for very long and to be honest, I don't see how it would work. The eggs (nits) are pretty firmly attached to the hairs very close to the skin. Even once the eggs hatch, the egg casing/shell stays attached to the hair for some time, but as each hair grows in length, it only appears that the eggs were laid farther up the hair. It's almost impossible to kill lice by drowning too.

As far as the dermatitis looking scaly stuff, it was a pretty severe infestation. Each louse pierced the skin...thousands, maybe millions. Each piercing results in a little scab once the louse moves on, dies of falls off. Scabs fall loose as the skin heals and what you are seeing now is probably dead skin cells bunches from the many scabs as well as dead lice and empty/dead egg casings.

You do want to pay attention to any excessive hair loss. They can get a form of mange during and after a bad infestation. The calf's hair coat should slick off smooth and shiny as the skin repairs itself and it begins to lose any winter hair coat. A rough hair coat in spring/summer/early fall is indicative of internal and/or external parasites.

Make sure the animal (as always) has free access to a good mineral supplement.
56 days between treatment and re-treatment is the outside limit imo. It does appear the species was Bovicola bovis/Damalinia bovis and it's life cycle is about 40 days. So, for this species, 56 days is about right and of course always follow directions on the product--assuming of course,that only one species of louse was involved.

Why is lice infestation rarely seen in summer?
Lice stay warm during cold winter months by staying close to it's host skin, but in summer, a cow standing out in the sun will see it's skin temp increase a lot and lice can't take heat very well. Not much over 100deg F is lethal for most lice and a cow's skin, especially it's back and sides will get much hotter than that on a summer day standing in the sun. But, lice will move to cooler skin areas of the animal..underneath and behind ears, legs and bellylines. You will want to check those areas as well in the coming days as the ambient temps warm up.

Here is a picture of the label:


Should I switch to Cydectin, or stick with Ivermectin again?

Also do you know of anything to help with her skin. I read an article about putting mineral in a spray bottle, and misting her coat with it?
Thanks again!

adlynch said:

I read an article about putting mineral in a spray bottle, and misting her coat with it?

Click to expand...

You mean spraying her with mineral oil?
I'm not a fan of min oil for that. It seals the skin off, and creates hot spots and imo, it needs air and sunshine.
If you are much concerned about her skin condition or she shows signs of itching, take the picture to your vet and ask the vet what they reccomend.
I don't ever bathe my cows, but may be something you could give it a bath with to improve it's recovery tho I personally would not while there is pouron treatment still working.......Wehner Homestead can offer input on what to wash 'em down with and how/when--they do show animals.

X2 to what Greybeard said about min oil. Wouldn’t use any type of an oil on an animal. It takes away its ability to regulate its temp.

As far as washing...you can wash cattle every day BUT they are then sprayed, then combed with HIGH dollar conditioners to keep from drying their hair and skin out. For an occasional wash, you can use dish soap or mane n tail. I’d recommend against Dawn unless you want to remove excess oil or a smell. We use it yearly on our bucks in the spring so they don’t smell all summer and they can get more hugs. Our go to for an occasional wash when we aren’t in show prep mode is ivory or joy. We don’t typically bathe any pastures cattle, only the ones that are going to show.

@greybeard @Wehner Homestead , thank y'all for the all the info! She's totally fine other than the dry skin. Ive been known to worry a little too much sometimes. Sounds like I need to just let it run its course for a bit and see if it will work itself out.

As far as switching to Cydectin...
You can if you want to but for lice control, you aren't going to see them develop resistance to the Ivermectin in one generation.
For deworming, you may want to switch types as time goes by, and you will want to figure a protocol for total parasite (internal and external) before fly season begins.


I'm too far south to advise you on what type, brand, or specific protocol, but it would be advantageous if you can do it early and even a product that works (safely) on both the calf and your donkey.

I use blocks with Altosid® IGR beginning a few weeks before fly season kicks off & put up rubs as soon as fly season begins (cattle pass under the rub that is soaked in pesticide and diesel) but research the fly control blocks well. Some that work great for cattle 'may' be toxic to equines.

It will be up to you to determine if you have a fly problem at all or bad enough to warrant implementing fly protocols.