Help with rat lice/mitesi theyre on me!!!?

Question

i was playing with my rats today tone in over ayear and the other is about 7 months, i noticed fleas or mites or lice of some kind i picked one out and its lil legs wiggled i freaked out and put them back in their house, then i noticed some on me. i picked them off and proceeded to google it, and the stuff i read said that one type of parasite dont bite things other then rats, and that others can cause disease . i also have a cat and and the rats were all over my couch and they're cage is by my dresser. anyway i wanted to know if im in danger of contracting some sort of plague and how to rid my rats, my self ,my cat, my couch , and my apartment of the parasites.

like can i just get cat flea shampoo and do the rats and cat with that and get normal flea shampoo for my self and do flea powder on the rest of my apartment?

any help in the subject would be greatly appreciated

Answer 1

First, don't worry.  Lice on rats are species specific and are easily treated.  Do *not* use the flea powders, shampoos and topicals that you can buy at a pet store.  Only use a product that your vet recommends.

Lice are typically treated with Revolution or Ivermectin.  See a veterinarian to determine what kind of parasite your rat has, and then treatment can begin.

Great info here:

http://ratguide.com/health/integumentary...

Don't worry about treating the cats or yourself.  Just thoroughly clean the rat's cage and toss out any wooden objects.  Change the bedding and maybe clean with a diluted bleach solution.  Lice die fairly quickly when they are not on their host (your rat) so I wouldn't worry about the apartment.