# How come dogs & cats get ticks & fleas, but not lice? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 21, 2008, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-dogs-cats-get-ticks-fleas-but-not-lice/446176 "2008-04-21T01:44:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-dogs-cats-get-ticks-fleas-but-not-lice/446176/1 "2008-04-21T01:44:52Z")
At least, I’ve never seen an ad for a product that would delouse a dog or cat. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-dogs-cats-get-ticks-fleas-but-not-lice/446176/2 "2008-04-21T01:53:35Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] At least, I’ve never seen an ad for a product that would delouse a dog or cat. [/QUOTE] WAG. They do get lice, but the lice are specific to the species they are infesting and do not pose any pestiferous inconvenience to their human companions. Did you really intend for this to be in GD? If you had in mind GQ, feel free to report my post to a mod and request a venue change. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-dogs-cats-get-ticks-fleas-but-not-lice/446176/3 "2008-04-21T01:56:28Z")
**Moderator’s Note:** Yeah, not really seeing a debate here, so let’s let the Big Brains over in GQ take a crack at it. ---
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-dogs-cats-get-ticks-fleas-but-not-lice/446176/4 "2008-04-21T02:06:54Z")
They do, but it’s less common than ticks or fleas. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a dog or cat with lice, or at least not so bad I noticed. Maybe enough dogs and cats are in good health/kept in small enough groups that bad infestations are rare? Will inquire. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-dogs-cats-get-ticks-fleas-but-not-lice/446176/5 "2008-04-21T02:07:37Z")
[Introducing the biting dog louse.](http://www.olympusmicro.com/micd/galleries/oblique/trichodectescanis1.html) Among others. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-dogs-cats-get-ticks-fleas-but-not-lice/446176/6 "2008-04-21T02:09:31Z")
I’ve seen products that kill fleas, ticks, and lice for cats, and I think also for dogs. I think if it kills fleas and ticks it also kills lice, but I might be mistaken? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-dogs-cats-get-ticks-fleas-but-not-lice/446176/7 "2008-04-21T02:24:25Z")
They do get lice, but lice infestation in dogs and cats is considered a problem of neglect (ie, the animal is in very poor bad shape and probably has some other nasties). Different from ticks and fleas, which may prefer one species but can live in many others, lice are mainly species specific. Different animal species have their particular lice species. The reasons you don’t see products being marketed specifically for lice control are: 1. As said before, it is uncommon for regular well kept pets to have it, and if they do, they probably have a lot of other issues. 2. Many of the major ectoparasite killers in the market (from the Avermectin family, at least), are also capable of killing lice. So if the veterinarian finds lice on a pet, they will use the same “tick and flea products” either at the same dose, or at a dose deemed effective for lice killing. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-dogs-cats-get-ticks-fleas-but-not-lice/446176/8 "2008-04-21T02:27:50Z")
Zabali, an avermectin-based product (Revolution, Advantix-Multi, Advantix, Ivomec, etc.) will be effective. Frontline (fipronil) and others are not. I’m not familiar with the newer products(like Promeris). ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-dogs-cats-get-ticks-fleas-but-not-lice/446176/9 "2008-04-21T02:34:24Z")
Double post. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-dogs-cats-get-ticks-fleas-but-not-lice/446176/10 "2008-04-21T02:37:23Z")
That’s what I had recalled, we had a problem with fleas last summer, we humans brought dog fleas in to the cats. ☹ Adding: We do try to use the flea and tick preventative, but had some emergencies come up. We had to borrow to go get the next round for them. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-dogs-cats-get-ticks-fleas-but-not-lice/446176/11 "2008-04-21T04:23:19Z")
[QUOTE=KarlGrenze] Different from ticks and fleas, which may prefer one species but can live in many others, lice are mainly species specific. Different animal species have their particular lice species. [/QUOTE] [gulp] Including humans? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-dogs-cats-get-ticks-fleas-but-not-lice/446176/12 "2008-04-21T05:31:38Z")
Of course including humans. This is good news BTW, as far as it goes. If your kid comes home from school having picked up head lice (or if your teen-aged son returns from Spring Break with pubic lice [that’s right, crabs; there’s no need to be squeamish]), you don’t have to worry about the infestation hiding out on Spot or Puff (or Scabbers) after you’ve successfully de-loused your offspring. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-dogs-cats-get-ticks-fleas-but-not-lice/446176/13 "2008-04-21T09:38:49Z")
In a similar way, you cannot blame that you got lice from spending too much time next to Scruffy… 😉