When families leave Lice Lifters Cranford® we educate them about checking and treating all members of their household for lice. Many times we have families that ask about their four-legged family members. “Can my child get or give head lice to the dog or cat?”
People do not get lice from dogs and cats…and dogs and cats cannot get lice from people. Lice are species specific parasites meaning that there is a different species of lice for each animal species. Human lice need human blood to survive, dog and cat lice need dog and cat blood. The lice that infect people only infect people. The lice that infect dogs only infect dogs. The lice that infect cats only infect cats.
If your child comes home from school with a diagnosis of head lice, your dog, cat, or other pets in the household are not at risk from catching the lice or hatching eggs! So let the dog out of the doghouse and the cat out of the closet!
Unfortunately, this is not the same for all parasites…especially fleas. Most species of dog and cat fleas will bite humans but cannot survive on humans. Except for the flea species Pulex irritans which is an equal opportunity mammal offender.
