Pets and head lice

We get a lot of people asking about their pets and head lice. Don’t worry, your pet cannot get head lice! Head lice are a completely human problem. Dogs, cats, guinea pigs, hamsters, horses, or any other member of the animal kingdom: none of them can catch lice. Your fur babies are safe 🙂

Lice only live on humans, they aren’t found anywhere in the world except on people’s heads. That’s part of why it is always “lice season.” Those tiny monsters are passed from person to person around your community forever. Head lice have certain requirements to survive, which include a human food source, as well as a certain temperature and humidity to hatch eggs and support the newly hatched lice. Your pet can’t provide these things, so lice won’t live there. Thank goodness! Can you imagine brushing a sheepdog with a nit comb?

Once your family has been professionally treated and your laundry is done, you are all done! You can go ahead and love on your dog or cat as much as you want, and know that you can’t catch lice from your pet.