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Help! Bald patches and dandruff

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PiggieLovie

I adopted a new guinea pig tonight. A little girl around 7 months old. SHe is in poor shape. She is SUPER skinny, as she was fed bird and hamster seed for food and she has like no fur from ehr shoulder blades and back! IT IS REALLLLLLLLLY thin fur, i can see all her skin! ANd she has almost dry looking tiny speck/flakes all over her. I cant see them moving at all..


WHAT IS THIS? WHAT SHOULD I DO?? HELP!!
 
if it is fungal you can use nizoral shampoo bath them once to twice a week in it you can get it from the pharmacy its used for humans but i have used it many of times in guineas with fungal infection and it works a treat also apply clotrimazole 1% cream also from the pharmacy twice a day to the affected areas for around 4 weeks the fur will come out around the affected area so don't worry this is the cream working if you cant get this cream use canerstan 1% not 2% has its the clotrimazole which is the ingredients which gets rid of the fungal infection.....its also worth a vet trip just in case it is mites-lice but you can always bath them in a mite -lice shampoo.....see how you go but if it gets any worse see the vet..:)if they have had a poor diet and housing then stress can cause this problem with fungal infections but i could also be mites...
 
Here's a link from Peter Gurney's website, he recommends treating for both mites and fungal infestations. He uses Neem oil for mites and an essential oil blend for fungal infestations. (You can get the essential oils cheaply off eBay.) I can vouch for the Neem oil working wonders.

http://www.oginet.com/pgurney/skinp.htm

Whatever treatments you decide to use, I would definitely treat for both mites and fungal infestation.
 
A good routine when treating for both tends to be:

Day 1 - Ivermectin
Day 4 - Anti-fungal bath
Day 8 - Ivermectin
Day 11 - Anti-fungal bath

A third treatment for both may be necessary as the case is more severe than usual. You'd then give the Ivermectin on Day 15 and the next anti-fungal bath on Day 18. This treatment follows the guidelines of a week between Ivermectin doses, and a week between anti-fungal baths, but the baths are timed so that the topical Ivermectin is not washed off.
 
Excellent routine suggested by Laura :)

Also make sure she gets loads of vit c in her diet to help boost her immune system, peppers, broccoli etc.

Teresa x
 
The Ivomec is best given on day 10, not 8, in order to kill any mites that have hatched since the first dose.
This refers to Ivomec given by mouth.
If it is a severe infestation I prefer to give it by injection.
 
If I was you I would take the advice from people on here and give the vet a miss. Unless you find a really good guinea pig vet then don't bother. I took 2 of my guinea pigs to the vet a few weeks ago. I could tell the vet didn't have a clue, she kept walking off to talk to another vet, even tried looking things up in books. Then had the cheek to charge me £71 but after argueing got it reduced to £51, Then asked me to bring them back in 5 days, I said no chance I'm not paying again when uve not got a clue. I looked things up online and took advice from the real experts. People that keep and know about guinea pigs. Now my piggies are all healthy again.
Goodluck with your piggy. take advice from this forum and she will be one healthy, happy, cheeky piggy in no time.
 
Be careful in introducing her to fresh veg, if she has never had any before. Do it little by little so you don't risk a big tummy upset.

Sending my best wishes to that poor mite!
 
Question,

If i brought her into my room were i keep my other piggys and put her in a small separate cage next to the others but washed my hands before and after and gave her a bath..Do you think my other guinea pigs can get mites and whatever she has that way? I dont know, i am freeking out!!
 
She is very thin..like skin and bones..she hasnt been moving around a lot either..Do you think she will be ok? She was fed bird seed most of her life and the last 3 weeks the person said they didnt have money for food and had been feeding her table scraps! She just look like she is doing well at all... she is just RIDICULOUSLY skinny... and she seams to be getting wore and wont eat now..
Uh..i will freek if i lose another piggy.....
 
Is she eating herself at all? Syringe-feeding may help her if she's not eating much. However, if that is the case she'll need to be examined to see if her back teeth are overgrown.
 
"Skinny" doesn't tell us very much, it is a relative term. What is her actual weight?
 
I dont know, i dont have a guinea pig scale?
I just know she isnt like my others, i can feel EVERY one of her bones and her stomach is sunk in on the sides and she has protruding hip bones and you can see all the bones and tendons in her legs. Her head looks HUGE on her body cause she is SO skinny..
 
Can you weigh her on your kitchen scales? Put a bowl on the scales, adjust it to zero, put the guinea-pig in the bowl and weigh the whole thing.

You can get plastic syringes (without the needle) from Boots cheaply. She'll need Vitamin C syringe-fed as well; she may have scurvy. You can buy ascorbic acid from a chemist. I remember somebody mentioning porridge would help a guinea-pig put some weight on. You need to get her treated for the mites ASAP, as they're what are making her lethargic. Be sure to keep her warm.

I found this link on syringe-feeding a guinea-pig:

http://www.diddly-di.fsnet.co.uk/Syringe-feeding.htm
 
From the sound of it she's going to need a fair bit of TLC to get her back to normal.

Weigh her daily on some scales - kitchen scales do the job just fine - and write down her weight each day, you need to see accurately if she's losing or gaining weight. If she is actively losing weight, she will probably need syringe-feeding.

Has she been seen by a vet?
 
Digital scales are the best, they give a more accurate readout than analogue scales, most models allow you to choose between Metric and Imperial measurements.
 
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