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2 More Dying Piggies

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@Chopsticus

With the exception of fungal ringworm, no other skin disease is tranmissible between humans and piggies - which includes mites.
Humans get a version of the sarcoptic mange your two girls have -it's called scabies - but the bug is completely different, is human-specific - and is not transmisible
x
 
Oh I did. Instead of taking a good look at the problem, they sectioned me under the mental health act. That was how I became an invalid.

...and so that's why there are so many ringworm posters at the vets.
 
I'd just like to thank everyone for their recent donations and will be issuing a proper update in the next 24hours on the girls.

@Chopsticus - Thank you! - You have made a second VERY generous donation at the weekend - this means there is more than enough in the fund to cover the vets bills and make a donation to Glynneath GPR and The Forum - so I will PM about this.

Dotty is doing well and now off meds. Sadly - Dotty has made it very clear she doesn;t want to be with Beanie permanently. Each time I put them together in a temp cage (whilst cleaning them out) or pet carrier (whilst going to the vets) - Dotty is "not very nice" to poor little Beanie. I am not hopeful I will ever be able to re-bond them (but I will try once they are both better)

Rudy (my dapper male with the personal hygiene problem) has been constantly trying to woo Dotty with his wheeks - I think his attention may have gone to her head! Rudy is too old to be neutered - so I may have to consider getting Dotty spayed when she is well enough if these two are ever to be "an item"

Little Beanie has started trying to self-mutilate again, with accompanying squealing and squawking - but focusing on her neck and ears now. Also her skin is scurfing again despite the oatmeal baths, so we are consulting the vet again tomorrow to change her treatment plan with a view to concentrating on anti-fungal treatment now. Good news - her hair is growing back!

Bad news - Beanie is a naughty influence on my own pigs and clearly teaching them very bad habits......much of the "noise" she makes when her dressing/jacket is changed now is clearly no longer pain but "indignation".
Even my most placid pig Valentine (who went to see Uncle Simon yesterday again) - started squawking like Beanie when his teeth were looked at! I was so embarassed!

Pics and proper update on the girls to follow tomorrow.
x
 
Bless them. Causing chaos, at least it means they are feeling a bit better. :D
 
"Rudy (my dapper male with the personal hygiene problem) has been constantly trying to woo Dotty with his wheeks - I think his attention may have gone to her head!"
Oh, this made me laugh.

The posts on this thread are starting to give me a smile when I read them, always a good sign.
 
Oh I did. Instead of taking a good look at the problem, they sectioned me under the mental health act. That was how I became an invalid.

...and so that's why there are so many ringworm posters at the vets.
Please take care of yourself misses! x
 
@Chopsticus Poor you, your ears sound painful. You may have a fungal ear infection, the symptoms are very similar to what I had recently. I hope you are OK, obviously this has been very distressing for you.
 
It's great news to hear about Dotty and Beanies progress. It's also good that @Chopsticus is still involved and concerned about them. I hope Chopsticus can now relax a bit knowing that Dotty and Beanie could not get better care al this cannot have been easy for you. Take care of yourself.
 
So good to hear they are getting better - all down to the wonderful care and love they have received. Everyone is willing them on, so the healing vibes from everyone have also been there too. Good to hear that their characters are having the chance now to shine through - what little characters!
 
Apologies for the delay – here is a further update on the two girls.

(I’m putting in a lot of detail because I am treating this thread as a reference case history -with full experienced veterinary intervention/support/prescription meds (as opposed to home remedies or inexperienced vets)- in order to help inform anyone in the future who may have to deal with a severe case of sarcoptic mange. It’s a learning curve for all of us – and hopefully this thread will contribute to “best practice” for treating this horrible disease in future.)

Dotty is doing very well – she still has a bald area on her back, but this is now scab-free and starting to grow hair. She is off all medications apart from a 7-10day imaverol anti- fungal bath (she had one this afternoon). She is no longer scratching/self-mutilating and is enjoying being in the same room as my own pigs. She’s clearly a bit of a hussy as she is flirting with ALL my boys (bonded or not) by wheeking across the room to them (The various wifepigs are not impressed....the boys – single or bonded - are loving it!)

Beanie went back to see Uncle Rob yesterday and he was extremely pleased with her progress (he even complemented me - Praise indeed!)

Beanie – 5th January
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Beanie – 31st January
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She has put on 50g (now weighing in at 680g which is still low but better than the 630g she has been for the first 3 weeks chez Pebble). More importantly she is much more perky! (If a bit of a drama queen!)
Most of her hair is growing back and she is no longer sensitive to being stroked on her rump. However yesterday it was clear she was developing new irritation areas around both her ears (which are very crusty) and her eyes.....(as if it’s the last stage of the mites moving up her body). It was decided not to take a skin scraping (to check for dermal fungal infection) as the crusty infection round her ears looks to be in the upper layers of skin and in any case it would be too traumatic for her atm. It was also decided not to give her an oral anti-fungal but to continue with a weekly imaverol dip/spray instead (because of the risk of oral anti-fungals to long term health). We’re pretty sure from the appearance she has a secondary yeast infection on the outer layers of skin so the imaverol should do the trick.

She was a little angel whilst Rob checked her ears for ear mites (which would not have been killed by the doramectin as ear mites do not suck blood). None were found and her ear canal inside looked OK/no inflammation –so looks like the ears are free of parasites. She now has Canaural ear drops twice daily for the yeast/irritation etc and we have further doramectin injections to give her over the next two weeks. (Normal practice is to give 3 anti-mite injections – however Beanie has already had 4 and these two will bring the total up to 6. Although injections would normally be given 14days apart – it is clear from Beanie’s responses that, with such a heavy mite infestation, the injections should be no longer than 10 days apart)
She is still on buprecare and metacam for pain relief although she is now off the septrin antibiotic.

She really hates the jacket now so, because her hair is growing back and affording her more protection, we removed everything yesterday evening/this morning. Unfortunately she self-mutilated again – this time around her ears/eyes/front paws inh line with the remnants of the mite infection. Also because she is screaming loudly again, we have moved her back into isolation as the sound has been really upsetting to my other pigs.

Today, her new wounds have been bathed in dilute F10, she has been sprayed with imaverol and we have then applied flamazine cream to the wounds once she has dried off. We have applied a new dressing/bandage/jacket - but because of its position up around her neck she is very unhappy. She is not out of the woods yet – she was so distressed earlier once the jacket was put back on that she did a full back-flip which shook me as much as it did her.

Beanie is still at risk of seizures or sudden heart failure because of the longer-term effect of the mites....these insiduous parasites may be all dead now – but they have left a neurological legacy which is evident because she is still self-mutilating. In the grand scheme of things – we’re only at week 5 from treatment – some piggies have to suffer for months before they get relief.

I sincerely hope that her pain and suffering will be completely relieved in the next two weeks and she can “join in” hustling the single boys with her sister Dotty.

x
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Can't believe how well her fur is growing back. She looks so much better.

Hope she continues to improve and stops the self mutilating soon.
 
What an amazing job you (Pebble) and the help of the vets are doing. It's quite a dramatic transformation in the pics. Really want to wish you, dottie and beanie all the best in their recovery. Thank you for keeping us posted too (i know you're doing it partly for a case history reference) but thank you anyway. :tu:
 
For a very long time Dotty has stayed away from my other 3 piggies. So clearly she detected all the guinea pigs had mites or something else wrong.
When Ginny was around she licked other piggies to help with problems and sometimes managed to get the others to lick her back. That's when I realized guinea pigs need each other not just for social reasons but to help treat each other. I know we know it's mites that run on 2-week cycles and recently turned lethal, but they had this months before and seemed to have sorted it out between them. (Now I know it's probably just seemed better because it was egg part of the cycle).

So what I did wrong was, because of that and Beanie definitely wanted to be together with someone I put them together and gave Dotty a serious dose of the problem. Maybe she will want to stay away from others a bit more. Sonds like it may last a while. But she is really mild and calm and likes to eat from your hand.

Yeah heart seizure sounds like how Piggysus passed away.
 
You're a good person for putting your piggies' needs before your own..
To be honest, the arrangement coincides with my needs. I have gone back to not having to leave home more than twice a month.
With the piggies I had to get grass and vegetables about 5 times a week and it has not done me any favours, in contrasts to what the doctors pushed.I just began to feel my legs in 2 years and they do not feel good.
 
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