• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Guinea Pig Itchy Bald Patches, Vet Didn't Call Me Back Yet

Status
Not open for further replies.
F

Flowur

New Born Pup
Joined
Dec 23, 2013
Messages
7
Reaction score
0
Points
0
So my guinea pig started to have 1 itchy bald patch on his back 3 weeks ago. We called a vet and they made us wait a week to have an appointment.

When we took my pig in, the vet said that it wasn't mites and that she will have to take a few days to see what it is (she took a piece of skin and hair from my pig.) but she still gave me medicine for him that might help (it was pink liquid) to feed to him once a day. We used it the first time and then all of a sudden my guinea pig started to eat and drink less. We called the vet and she told us to stop using the medicine and to just wait for her to call back and tell us what is wrong with my pig. It's been 6 days that I haven't heard from her and my pig is still eating and drinking less (unless i handfeed him) and now has two big bald patches on his back that he keeps biting. It bleeds and peels.

He doesn't go outside, only stays in the house...

I'm scared and don't know what to do... I'm waiting for the vet to call my parents back and let us know but they still won't respond.... What could be wrong with him and what should I do? I'm scared of losing my pig
 
I think you need to go back to your vet or see another one for a diagnosis. Please could you let us know where you are. It could be mange mites or fungal. If you could post photos that would help. I can help more later once I am home and not typing on my phone. Please could you also find out the name of the medicine.
 
helen105281 said:
I think you need to go back to your vet or see another one for a diagnosis. Please could you let us know where you are. It could be mange mites or fungal. If you could post photos that would help. I can help more later once I am home and not typing on my phone. Please could you also find out the name of the medicine.
Click to expand...

The name of the medicine is ciproflox oral syrup. When I took him to the vet, the vet tested the skin patch and said it wasn't mites... I'm in Ewa Beach, Hawaii.

Here is a picture:

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=eget78&s=8#.Uy3Ra4UbGS4
 
Ok it looks like it is an antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections so the vet must think that that is what it is. I would speak to your vet again as I think it could possibly be fungal, though can see why the vet may think bacterial infection too. I know there are topical creams that can be used for bacterial infections such as Flamzine which contains Sulfadiazine, my Millie had this when she had a bacterial infection on her back. They can also have Fuciderm gel.

If it is fungal then treatment would need to be with antifungal medication, ideally in the form of dips in a product called Imaverol (Enilconazole) but there are creams that can be used to, examples in the UK are Daktarin and Canesten. Enilconazole is my preferred course of treatment though as it does not make the skin heat up. Please speak to your vet, even if he still thinks it is bacterial then he needs to prescribe a topical treatment if your pig could not tolerate the oral antibiotic.
 
From the picture it looks more like mange mites than a fungol but I'm no expert. You need to get it diagnosed correctly. I don't think we have many members on here from Hawaii so getting a recommenadtion may not be easy. I do hope you get to the bottom of this & get your piggy back to full health. In the meantime there is a good Peter Gurney skin complaints web page @ http://www.oginet.com/pgurney/skinp.htm and a Guinea Lynx page on mange mites which maybe of help @ http://www.guinealynx.info/mites.html
 
Hello... so my mom finally let me take my pig to the vet after she tried to bath him multiple times and use local pet shop products on him to get rid of the rash. She didn't listen to me when I told her not to use them on my pig. The bald spots developed into big bumps on his back. There are more big bumps allover his back coming to the surface and one forming on his head. The vet said that it might be Cysts or Tumors and not mites... The vet gave us sulfa-trim antibiotics to give our pig and to check back in 2 weeks and see if it helped at all... she said if it didn't help then he needs a biopsy... Is it really possible to have that much tumors...? There are so many lumps on his back...
 
Is there any way you could post photos of the lumps, are they scabby at all? If so it could be that it is something fungal related.

It could even be a reaction to the products that were used but I can't say for certain.
 
helen105281 said:
Is there any way you could post photos of the lumps, are they scabby at all? If so it could be that it is something fungal related.

It could even be a reaction to the products that were used but I can't say for certain.
Click to expand...


Here are the visible ones... the others are under his hair and hard to see
 

Attachments

  • bumps1.webp
    bumps1.webp
    42.6 KB · Views: 6
  • bumps2.webp
    bumps2.webp
    40 KB · Views: 5
That looks more like fungal to me, it is possible that he did have mites at the beginning as they can get a combination problem, however, the beginnings of fungal and mites can be very similar.

If you can go back to your vet and ask about fungal, here is a couple of links to help you (please note that by fungal it does not necessarily mean ringworm).

http://www.guinealynx.info/fungus.html

http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/ringworm-hygiene-and-pictures.115402/

I am not too sure about the bumps though unless they are big scabs.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top