Guinea pig lice

[Pip&pep]

Hi,

Just looking for some advice for our guinea pigs with lice please.

We have a 6 and a half year old sow who has recently recovered from a URI and today we noticed a few very small orange lice or mites on her. We've checked over our other guinea pig and we could only find one on him.

They don't seem bothered by them, but we have got a vet appointment for tomorrow to try and get them both treated.

Does anyone have any advice or experience with lice or mites that they could share please? We've had piggies for years and this has never been an issue so we are wondering what has caused it. We clean the piggies regularly and there's been no change in our routine.

 

[Roselina]

Hello well done for arranging a Vet visit - this is the only way you will get the correct treatment as some of the medication is unattainable ( xeno450)
My piggies were recently diagnosed with hay mites - you cannot see them but the mites feed on skin debris and lay their eggs on piggies - I was only aware because of the scratching.
I had advice from the Vet for the skin application.
I had to dispose of all the hay as I couldn’t tell which hay was infested.
The c&c was thoroughly cleaned with a dilute F10 solution including their hop inn and all bedding was washed at 60C
I got rid of a lot of stuff so it was good to declutter.
I’m sure other members will be along to support you and offer advice
Good luck and let us know how you get on. It sounds like you’ve found them early !

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m sorry to hear this

As you can see pale small creatures then it will be lice (mites are not visible to the human eye).

You will need a course of a vet strength ivermectin treatment which is dosed for their weight.
The issue that presents at the moment is that the normal treatment (xeno 450) has been unobtainable for a year or so. Your vet may advise you to get a different treatment and possibly one from a pet shop (pet shop products are too low dosed and don’t always cure the issue but we aren’t left with a whole lot of choice at the moment). The other things others have been prescribed is kitten stronghold (which is strong enough). You will have to see what your vet says.

Lice feed directly on the piggy’s blood and can weaken a piggy and given your piggy is elderly and already low in immune system due to the URI, it. A be a good idea to give your piggy a two week course of vitamin c supplement to help boost her. Do not give vit c supplementation for longer than two weeks (it can cause other health problems if their bodies get used to it and then the supplementation stops).

I will add a guide below which also explains about cage disinfection etc

I hope she is ok

New Guinea Pig Problems: Sexing & Pregnancy; URI, Ringworm & Parasites; Vet Checks & Customer Rights

 

[Pip&pep]

Thank you so much everyone! We had trouble getting hold of xeno450 so we were prescribed an alternative that is strong enough that should hopefully do the trick. Our older piggie still has some lice on her but it's been less than 24 hours since she was treated. They are both doing very well and have a stable weight so fingers crossed we caught it early and the lice will go away soon!