Elderly cat breathing difficulties when purring

[Nicola O]

Myrtle has been a bit subdued for a couple of days, and noticing she had a mucky bum I thought I d give her a wash and blow dry.

 

Whilst washing her I realised it wasn't poo but little fuzzy grey clumps that were fixed to the base of the feather shaft, and by 'eck, they took some shifting. A quick google tells me that it's lice.

 

She's been dried off (she seemed to love the hairdrier) and has been liberally doused in lice powder. I gave her a thorough look over and couldn't see any crawling on her, just the clumps on her feathers. How long do I leave it before powdering her up again ? and I suppose I should have done her room mates as well ?

 

Nicola

[Egluntyne]

Johnson's Antimite sparay works well for lice. There is an egg withdrawal period of 48 hours from the time off application as it is *not licensed for use on poultry in UK.

I would treat her room mates too.

[Nicola O]

Thanks for that Egluntine. I knew there was another product I could use but I couldn't remember what it was called .

 

Is it squirted where the lice are, or is it like Fontline fror dogs and cats and put on the back of the neck? I'll get some today after work. I don't need to worry too much about the eggs - Myrtle is my elderly ex-bat and hasn't laid since last summer and one of her room mates is currently broody so is not laying either .

 

Nicola

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I squirted it where the lice were . It worked a treat .

[Nicola O]

OMG, OMG, I FEEL SO GUILTY

 

I got some Johnsons Anti-mite stuff, gave Myrtle a squirt, and then looked at her roomies. Doris seemed clear (but I gave her a couple of squirts anyway), but Dora (currently broody) was showing signs of a mild infestation.

 

I looked at all the others. The new ex-bats are fine, but the splash and blue orp. were covered !! With their huge fluffy drawers I hadn't noticed. The other two that live in the cube with them were clear of eggs but I spotted one crawling on Margot so they've had a couple of squirts. Those with eggs had four short, quick squirts on their bums and one under each arm/wing pit. I hope that was right.

 

When I finished I was really itchy and I found lice had got down my t-shirt and were crawling round my cleavage . Queue a sprint to the bathroom, stripping off as I go for a hot shower - clothes are now in the machine.

 

I do feel guilty, I have obviously become too lax about checking them over, some of them don't like being handled so I've tended to leave them. But from now on, every week they will all be checked - whether they like it or not.

 

Nicola

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Don't feel guilty (although I did too ). It's just one of those things and not down to poor chicken keeping practices . If you have wild birds in your garden, they are the culprits .

[Nicola O]

Thanks ANH

 

I meant to ask. How do the chooks lose the egg clumps that seem to be super glued to the feathers, do they just fall off or have they got to be preened out. All the girls who have been squirted are now preening like mad. I hope it doesn't mean I squirted them too much.

 

Nicola.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

My Molly didn't have that many feathers affected so we just snipped them off with scissors . (Two person job, definitely .)

[Falkor]

Remember to respray on day seven as any live eggs may hatch and you will be infested again! The egg withdrawal applies again obviously.

 

My girls have had lice (currently treating) and like you the Orps bloomers hide so much! I try to have a health check disguised as a snuggle with all my lot at least once ideally twice a week but only two crouch for me so it can take a while to round up eight!

 

I also do a complete Cube and run clean out with poultry shield on day one of treatment, again on day seven and again on day fourteen. I change bedding and chuck diatom about too as I figure those pesky lice could fall off the girls camp out for a bit and then climb right back on! Overkill maybe

 

I tried cutting the feathers off with the eggs but found that one of my Orps bum got caked in poo (well more than normal ) so would advise against this but that is a personal thing and mainly cos this particular Orp is a pain to bath and blow dry!.

[The Dogmother]

Sounds like Northern Fowl Mites (see pictures here)

 

As Palmer07 has said, treat a week apart. Also treat the housing with Poultry Shield. You can also use a 10% solution of Poultry Shield to wash the mites, eggs and mite poo off the hens' botties. You will need a concerted effort and plan to get rid of the nasty little critters. See my thread linked above.