Best Way to Clean Crust From Guinea Pig's Face?

[Kithri]

Sorry for the weird title. I wasn't sure if this was the right place - it's related to health, but we already know what's wrong with her.

Basically, one of our girls, Eleanor, has a URI. My husband noticed some crust under her right nostril a few days ago, but she wasn't exhibiting any other symptoms - she was eating, drinking, running around, no other discharge, wheezing, etc. However, we weren't sure if the crust was mucus, blood from an injury, or maybe just fecal matter, but we decided to take her into the emergency vet anyway. They told us she had the beginnings of a URI and gave us antibiotics to give her, and told us to separate her from the other three. So she's responding to the treatment and so far the only change we've noticed is that she seems down, probably due to missing the others, including her litter mate, Lucy.

Our concern, however, is the mucus crust under her nose. We thought she might clean it off herself, but she hasn't. What would be the best way to go about this? I didn't know if it'd be something as simple as a towel and water, but I wanted to check with you all before we tried anything.

Thanks a bunch,
Kithri

 

[Betsy]

Not had any experience of a URI but just wanted to send healing vibes to Eleanor (great name btw). I'm sure someone will be along soon to advise you.

 

[Lady Kelly]

Hi, I'm not sure why your vet recommended separation as your other piggies will have already been exposed to the virus by the time she was diagnosed. It's not a common practice to separate.
Anyway, in my experience any crust remaining is from a piggy not cleaning themselves properly and I find this fairly common if they are not well, I have mostly noticed it around the eyes. Hopefully in time she will give this a good clean but in the meantime you could try a damp cotton pad or face cloth and give it a wipe. I would be careful with it though and not get her too wet if she is struggling with a URI

 

[Ellenb]

Hey there! Just a wee concern that I have, I bought a 6 week old piggy two weeks back and she has a lot of crust and a bit of hair loss on top of her eye. What do you think it might be?

 

[Ellenb]

If it is fungal infection how do i clean it and is there anything i can buy for it?

 

[Betsy]

Hey there! Just a wee concern that I have, I bought a 6 week old piggy two weeks back and she has a lot of crust and a bit of hair loss on top of her eye. What do you think it might be?

Please start a new thread for your concern so it doesn't get missed by others who will be able to answer you and then the answers don't get mixed up.

 

[Kithri]

Hi, I'm not sure why your vet recommended separation as your other piggies will have already been exposed to the virus by the time she was diagnosed. It's not a common practice to separate.
Anyway, in my experience any crust remaining is from a piggy not cleaning themselves properly and I find this fairly common if they are not well, I have mostly noticed it around the eyes. Hopefully in time she will give this a good clean but in the meantime you could try a damp cotton pad or face cloth and give it a wipe. I would be careful with it though and not get her too wet if she is struggling with a URI

Thank you!

We thought about that, as they were already all together before she got sick. Do you think it'd be okay to reunite them? We think she's really quite sad, unfortunately. :/

 

[Lady Kelly]

Thank you!

We thought about that, as they were already all together before she got sick. Do you think it'd be okay to reunite them? We think she's really quite sad, unfortunately. :/

If you think she is seeming worse because of the separation then I would put them back together. There is a possibility that the condition is contagious and a smaller risk that the other piggy hasn't caught anything yet but could do when put back together. It's weighing up the possibilities because if she isn't eating as much because she's on her own then it's going to take a lot to get her better.