• 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 with sore bald patches

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jon
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
J

Jon

:'( Hi - first time online. One of my Guinea Pigs has developed sore bald patches - Been to Vets, today, she gave him an antibiotic and shaved fur around area that was already going bald & sore. This evening, the patches seem red-raw and with fresh blood on the skin surface. He's obviously in some pain and I feel as though it ought to be treated with cream and a dressing. My Mum will go back to the Vets, in the morning and ask for some sort of "antiseptic" cream. What else can I do tonight ? Any suggestions ?
Jon (aged 13)
 
It sounds like mites to me, is he scratching? and is the skin dry aswell as scratched? i'd go back to the vets and ask for ivermectin, its the only thing that gets rid of mites. in the meantime i'd just bathe the sore bits with boiled and cooled water and some cotton buds. do you have any bepanthen baby cream or something similar? that may soothe it, sorry i cant be of more help. Hope he gets better soon x
 
Aww poor little thing. It does sound like mites.
Jon could you get any pictures to show us?

Emma x
 
Thanks, Do you think sudocrem would be suitable or not? it's all we have.
 
Welcome to the forum Jon.

Yes,this is almost certainly mites.

You need to try and find a more gp knowledgeable vet.Shaving round the area was unnecessary as was the antibiotic(a waste of your mums money). Ivermectin is available as a topical lsolution or in oral form.Injections are no longer necessary. The topical form is Zeno 450.Ask your vet to use this.You will need another dose on day 10.

If Sudacrem is all you have,that will help for tonight.In the morning ask mum to go to a health food shop and get a tube of Calendula ointment.She may be able to get this in a chemist as well.This is healing and soothing.

Try and get the piggy to the vet tomorrow for the Ivermectin,as this works very quickly in stopping the irritation and will kill the mites.
 
Thank you very much! we are going to put some sudocrem on now and go back to the vets tomorow.
 
Thank you again. O0 we have put the sudocrem on. mum said we will sleep better knowing he has some cream to soothe him. we can't wait to take him to the vets in the morning! i will let you know how we get on soon. J
 
Hope all goes well at the vets.

It sounds like you have a lovely caring mum.
 
Good luck at the vets, I hope your piggy soon feels better :smitten: :smitten: :smitten:
 
Would it also be worth Jon getting any cream from Gorgeous guineas or even emailing Chrissie with a photo? As Chrissie as worth her weight in gold when it comes to things like this.
Chrissies email address is [email protected]
 
My mum went to the vets today. They have given him the injection and they have said it needs to be taken once every week so to bring him back in.

The results came back from the lab today showing that it is mites. The vet said to bring in our other 4 guinea pigs and they will give them all the injection as they may be infected aswell.
Thank you for your kind comments. I'll keep you all updated.
By the way, he is called "scrufty" which raised a chuckle in the vets waiting room. :) :)
 
Jon,

If you can ,find another vet.I feel that this one is ripping you off.There was no need for a lab test,the symptons of mites are obvious,although unfortunately not all vets seem to be able to recognise them.I know someone who took a gp with mites to a vet and was told it had skin cancer!.

There is also no need to give Ivermectin by injection,this is uncomfortable for the piggy.It is now available in topical form also in oral form. The dose for any I vermectin route is to repeat on day 10,it does not have to be done weekly.2 doses should be enough.

Unless your other gps are showing symptoms,there is no need for them to have Ivermectin..The mites do not always spread from pig to pig.All gps have mites,but they do not bother them normally.If the pig gets stressed or is unwell then the mites proliferate and start to cause irritation.Some pigs are more prone than others.
 
Mary gives very good advice. Injections are no longer necessary as she says. I have treated one of my piggies for mites with xeno 450 topical ivermectin. His cage mate is fine and doesnt have mites :)
 
My wig has exactly the same thing but hers isn't sore we are going to take mine to the vets. But it's probably mites. 0:)​
 
It's mites. they have given us some soothing shampoo because he keeps scratching and making the sore area even worse. We are going to the vets tomorrow for another injection and then they said to take his brother with us to make sure he doesn't get the mites.. Do you know if they can have drops once they have started the course of injections because they have to have three lots of injections but only two drops?
 
Hi Jon,

Has he had an injection today? When one of mine had mites the vet did the injection 10 days apart. Cuzzy was in with other pigs but I didn't treat them as they caught them.

I'm not sure about the drops, I think once they start on the course of injections they will clear up and the drops won't be needed.

Hope they are ok,

Louise
:)
 
Thanks, we are going to the vets tomorrow morning. We Will continue the course of injections. Thank you. O0
 
Best to stick with the injections now they have been started.2 injections should be enough,unlees the infection is really bad.There is no need to have the other piggy done unless he has signs of mites.Very often gps do not catch mites from one another.
 
Scrufty has had the injections and is alot better there is still a red scab from where he was bitting it but that is now healing. He has given us xeno 450 for the other guinea pig for if any signs of mites show on him.

Thanks for all your help everyone you have been great! O0 O0 O0
 
Jon get them all treated especially if they live together. I have 2 in seperate cages and one is being treated a few weeks after the other.Make sure the cage is also washed with hot hot water and i parts bleach to 40 parts water. The mites can hide and live in nooks. Mine will be treated every few months to make sure
 
Bleach should not be used to clean cages as it can leave a residue in the wood,which may be chewed. I use white vinigar which is very affective and much safer.

Mites are species specific and die quickly when they leave the host body.They will not lurk around and affect other pigs.

I have groups of pigs together and it is rare for one with mites to affect another.

All gps have mites in the system,but in very small numbers,.If the pig is unwell or stressed in anyway they will proliferate and cause irritation. Some gps are more prone than others.

I only use Ivermectin on gps that actually have mites. Using it on unafected pigs is an expensive waste of time.

I am against the practise of using Ivermectin or anything else as a prophylactic.All this does is cause immunity.
 
Scrufty has now healed with just a tiny scar. The hair is starting to grow back now Thank you agian for the help, speak to you soon! O0 O0 O0 O0

Jon.
 
fab news, so pleased for you and scrufty
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top