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Advice Please

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jason and claire

jason and claire

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi, One of our albinos has very sensitive skin which is quite common in albinos but as of yet have been unable to find a cream that he can tolerate, the last thing we tried was tee tree cream but his reaction is always the same like its hurting and his skin gets redder than normal. He (ted) is allergic to laying on hay and has to have straw too, its getting frustrating watching him gnaw at his legs and feet cause of his skin being sore and of course hes making it worse for himself. can we use a human cream like which my wife uses for her excema. Any help much appreciated, thanks. ted is the one on the right in piccy, bill is the other.pets 001.webp
 
Have you seen a competent vet over your skin problem? We have got a piggy savvy UK vets locator o the top bar. He should be able to prescribe a cream that won't cause any more problems. We do not recommend to use human products on guinea pigs without express permission by a knowledgeable vet.

Have you considered changing the bedding to fleece with hay in a rack instead to see whether that is minimising the issues?

PS: Your piggies are very gorgeous. There is no such thing as albinos in guinea pigs; the eye colour in guinea pigs varies from pink to reddish, brown, black and very rarely blue. There is however a specific breed called pink-eyed whites, which your piggies are.
http://www.guinealynx.info/eyes.html#color
 
hi thanks for you reply, the issue is minimised by us already using a hay rack and the straw he seems fine with. unfortunatly there is no competent rodent vet near us. pets at home who we use are ok but far from cavy savvy. the vet has told us to just wipe his legs and feet with water often but were hoping for a better solution. we have done some research into the debate on whether albinos excist in the cavvy world and we believe that any mammal with the skin pigment missing is an albino, not that it matters too much to us as we love them whatever category there put in. thanks again.
 

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I would definitely advise a cavy savvy vet... Ivybridge has a good one and will tag in one of our Devonshire members too to this thread
@twiams Lives in Plymouth so perhaps they can advise
 
sport_billy said:
I would definitely advise a cavy savvy vet... Ivybridge has a good one and will tag in one of our Devonshire members too to this thread
@twiams Lives in Plymouth so perhaps they can advise
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hi. ivybridge is a bus journey for us as we dont drive but we will definatly consider as need a good cavy vet. thankyou we appreciate it.
 
Hi, I do think they need an official diagnosis from a knowledgeable vet as it could be that they have a recurring skin problem such as mange mites or even fungal. Though they could just have sensitive skin, but I have not had this with my own PEWs. For dry skin I use Humilac spary which I get from the vets but can also be bought online. I would also recommend switching your bedding to Vetbed which is much kinder on sensitive pigs. You would need an absorbent layer underneath like towels or newspaper.
 
jason and claire said:
hi. ivybridge is a bus journey for us as we dont drive but we will definatly consider as need a good cavy vet. thankyou we appreciate it.
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Filham Park Vets, ivybridge, its where i work. I would actually advise maybe seeing a woman called Hillary there rather than Steve the exotic vet, she does more cats and dogs but is actually a a skin specialist and is the main referal point for skin cases across Devon and some of cornwall. I know she's seen rabbits before so can't see a guinea being too different. She may have some ideas as she knows most of the products out on the market for skin issues!
The vets is about a few minute walks from the bus stop, depending on the bus you use, Plymouth city bus 45 stops at the town hall and there is about 10 minute walk, the 20a i think it is or the 21a stops about 2 minutes away from the vets. I have to get the bus there as i don't drive either haha. If you have any questions just let me know :)
 
helen105281 said:
Hi, I do think they need an official diagnosis from a knowledgeable vet as it could be that they have a recurring skin problem such as mange mites or even fungal. Though they could just have sensitive skin, but I have not had this with my own PEWs. For dry skin I use Humilac spary which I get from the vets but can also be bought online. I would also recommend switching your bedding to Vetbed which is much kinder on sensitive pigs. You would need an absorbent layer underneath like towels or newspaper.
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Thanks we will look into vetbed it sounds good,our last diagnosis was just sensitive skin,I'm sure its not mange but always thought it could be fungal. Thank you.
 
If you post photos we should be able to tell if it is fungal though you would still need an official diagnosis. @piggyfan is a Vetbed user and should be able to recommend where to get it at a reasonable price.
 
Thank you very much this info is really helpful and we will get in touch as having a good vet is important, thank you."twiams, post: 1558383, member: 12478"]Filham Park Vets, ivybridge, its where i work. I would actually advise maybe seeing a woman called Hillary there rather than Steve the exotic vet, she does more cats and dogs but is actually a a skin specialist and is the main referal point for skin cases across Devon and some of cornwall. I know she's seen rabbits before so can't see a guinea being too different. She may have some ideas as she knows most of the products out on the market for skin issues!
The vets is about a few minute walks from the bus stop, depending on the bus you use, Plymouth city bus 45 stops at the town hall and there is about 10 minute walk, the 20a i think it is or the 21a stops about 2 minutes away from the vets. I have to get the bus there as i don't drive either haha. If you have any questions just let me know :)[/QUOTE]
Thanyou
 
Thank you I will post some piccys soon.helen105281, post: 1558391, member: 5819"]If you post photos we should be able to tell if it is fungal though you would still need an official diagnosis. @piggyfan is a Vetbed user and should be able to recommend where to get it at a reasonable price.[/QUOTE]
Thankyou
 
I have not had this issue either with any of my pink eyed whites. I hope you get this sorted. Have you tried contacting gorgeous guineas reference some of there creams? People have already mentioned about bedding change so i wont repeat too much. Not sure what else to suggest. Do you have a picture? If they have pyoderma (bumble foot) then a good vet will need to see them and give some treatment to get rid of any infection or inflammation.

To add, i have a self lilac (grey) who will often get reddened hind feet, it does come and go and she gets red around the ears and eyes and i think its a mild allergy. Its never caused her any discomfort and is monitored, but she doesn't chew her feet.

x.
 
Hi guys thanks for all your help. Heres a piccy of said leg. hopefully..
 

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It's difficult to say, it could be fungal but I have just remembered a pig I knew who had bald legs and I think he had Cushings. Do you know if your vet has considered that? It could be a reaction to something though instead.
 
helen105281 said:
It's difficult to say, it could be fungal but I have just remembered a pig I knew who had bald legs and I think he had Cushings. Do you know if your vet has considered that? It could be a reaction to something though instead.
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hi ive just looked up cushings as dident know piggies could get that,so its something to consider. my wife thinks its just an allergy to hay,even though its not in his house anymore only in a rack,he still runs in it while out exercising in the shed,in fact he seems to love running through it and rolling around in it, we do stop this when he tries this but its hard to stop him unless he exercises elsewhere which he would hate as he couldent say hello to our girl pigs. lol. we will take him to vets soon after talking with a local breeder we know, see what she says too.
 
My PEW has stopped scratching as much since I changed over to fleece and paper bedding in their litter trays. I hope you can get it this sorted x
 
theoretikos said:
My PEW has stopped scratching as much since I changed over to fleeeair litter trays. I hope you can get it this sorted x
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Ted is the only one who does this, we have already changed his bedding he now has a bit of old lino on the bottom for easy wiping and then newspaper with just straw on this and not hay like the others have,his hay is in a tray on the front of hutch.this has reduced the problem but not eliminated it.
 
jason and claire said:
Yes we try and stick with one from our local pet shop as its fresher looking than others plus all of them seem to enjoy it
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I was just wondering if it would be worth trying a different brand in case he doesn't react to all hay. Maybe give Oxbow a try.
 
I get Ings hay from Hay for Pets (online), wich my lot love. It's very different from your average meadow and Timothy hay, and if it is a hay allergy, it may well be just one variety that is causing the problem. Def worth looking into.
 
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