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Guinea Pig Itching And It's Not Mites?!

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chloe heslington

chloe heslington

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Okay so i have 2 guinea pigs, Kali and Meeka- before i introduced them i had meeka quarantined for 2 weeks and in this time i saw her itching alot, i got her treated for mites..
Recently she has been itching alot more however Kali hardly ever itches, this makes me thing that it isn't mites as it would have spread to Kali sooner, wouldn't it?! they've been in the same cage for about 3 weeks or more.
Anyway what other things could cause itching and not spread to another guinea pig?
If the itching does carry on for longer i will take her to the vets but right now, i want to see what it could be? :)
they are on fleece bedding as Kali gets really itchy when on woodshavings or another other type of bedding like that, and her legs go all read and its not nice :3
thank youuu :D
 
It depends on the type of mite, if it is not running lice, or static mites, but is mange mites which are not visible to the naked eye then it may not spread though it is always best to get all pigs treated. How did you treat the mites?

I recommend a vet check to be sure but another possibility is fungal, not necessarily ringworm though so don't panic, do any of the following apply?

Greasy hair
Excessive hairloss
Hair comes out easily when pulled

It is possible though that she has some kind of allergy too, especially with her reaction to woodshavings.
 
Thank you for answering, but nope none of them apply, the only thing she does is itch?! even when I'm stroking her, no fur comes off in my hand or on my clothes, its super strange :L
 
She could have mange mites, was she treated with spot on or injection? and if spot on was it from a vets or pet shop?
 
Was it Xeno?

It may be that she needs something stronger, injections are the stongest, followed by oral Ivermectin with spot on being the weakest and shop bought spot on only suitable for routine preventative treatment. I am not a fan of spot on at all anyway as have seen pigs have bad reactions but know a lot of people and vets do use it.

Did she have 3 treatments? a week to 10 days apart or just the one dose?
 
mites can be a pain. did you thoroughly wash all the cage and wash the fleece on high temperature (if you use that?). also, sterilise anything you might have used like the dust pan and brush etc.

is there anything she could be having a reaction to in the environment, like dusty hay, perfume you use, washing powder etc?
 
It wasn't xeno, it was a pets at home one And she has 2 treatments about 9 days apart :S
Yep washed the fleece just to make sure I'm gonna check the washing powder and the hay is fine, I shake it before do put in into the hay rack :)
 
I would speak to your vet, was it a Pets at home vet? If sold in Pets at Home I would think it would be very mild.
 
Yeah, it was a pets at home vet and will speak with him again, thank you :) it just seems really strange that she's not loosing hair, not got any sores on her, not irritable when you pick her up, the only thing is the scratching, can they just pick up a habit of scratching?!
Thank you :)
 
It could be habit, I know it can be difficult break the itch scratch cycle, my first pig Gertie ended up on a course of steroids for that reason. See what the vets says.

If you hold her and touch her back does she try and bite you at all?
 
Hi! I have 3 Guineas, a Mom and two newborn babies. All 3 are scrathing! And do not see any fleas or mites. No hair loss, nothing! Jusy like you described. So strange. And I worry because of the babies. I wonder if the bedding is doing it? What is the best type to use?
 
Some pigs get irritated by wood shavings. There are numerous other ones to try from carefresh to bedding used for horses to fleece blankets etc. You have to find right one to fit in with your lifestyle. Fleece isnt for everyone as it has to go in washing machine and needs regular spot cleaning but some people including myself prefer it to more messy type beddings that get tracked through the house.
 
It could even be dry skin - treating for mites when they have dry skin can make the itching worse but it's good that you've done it anyway to rule it out!
 
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