# Do Other Mammals Get Lice? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 4, 2015, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-mammals-get-lice/721658 "2015-06-04T20:24:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-mammals-get-lice/721658/1 "2015-06-04T20:24:41Z")
Sure, we all know to guard our cats and dogs from fleas and ticks, but we never hear of them getting lice! Do other mammals get lice, if only primates? ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-mammals-get-lice/721658/2 "2015-06-04T20:44:31Z")
Horses can get lice, but generally it’s only seen when the animal is severely debilitated. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-mammals-get-lice/721658/3 "2015-06-04T21:19:33Z")
[Dogs](http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/articles/caninelice.htm) and [cats](http://www.petmd.com/cat/conditions/skin-hair/c_ct_lice_feline_pediculosis%20) get lice. They are found on a large majority of mammal and bird species, which frequently have one or often several specific louse species restricted to that species. The only mammalian orders which lack lice are bats, monotremes, pangolins, and cetaceans. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-mammals-get-lice/721658/4 "2015-06-04T23:30:56Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > The only mammalian orders which lack lice are […] cetaceans. And even those have something CALLED [“whale lice”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whale_louse), although they’re really crustaceans and not insects. ---
**Author:** ![Stealth\_Bragg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4bbf92/32.png) [@Stealth\_Bragg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stealth_Bragg)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-mammals-get-lice/721658/5 "2015-06-05T08:32:40Z")
Had pet rats before now that got lice (from the hay?) used a medicated shampoo to clear them up. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-mammals-get-lice/721658/6 "2015-06-05T09:52:16Z")
Other animals get lice, as **Colibri** mentioned. It is not seen as often because they tend to be diagnosed in cases of negligence and overcrowding (so animal abuse/hoarding situations or animals snuggling in very cold weather), and the animals also have a host of other problems more important than lice. Some species (the pig species, in particular) can transmit other diseases (swinepox). [Here are some examples of lice in various species.](http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/integumentary_system/lice/overview_of_lice.html?qt=louse&alt=sh) They’re also not seen that often nowadays because the same parasiticides that are used to treat other parasites also do a good job in killing lice. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-mammals-get-lice/721658/7 "2015-06-05T12:59:45Z")
[The Salmon louse](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salmon_louse). ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-mammals-get-lice/721658/8 "2015-06-05T14:50:10Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > [The Salmon louse](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salmon_louse). Like whale “lice,” these are also crustaceans rather than insects, in this case copepods. Many fish have [parasitic copepods](http://www.fao.org/docrep/008/v9551e/V9551E39.gif) of this kind.