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Help! Health advice for Steve the guinea pig asap!

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annasam

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Hello all,
We are new to the forum and have joined for some pointers for Steve.

Steve is 5+ years old, lives by himself (no other guinea pigs but us of course!) and has recently had a recurring skin problem on his tummy- apart from this skin issue he has never had any problems. He is still eating and drinking as normal (Would take a lot for him not to munch away!)

We have had him at the vets a couple of times: he was at first given Baytril antibiotics and a pesticide drip thing (the vet put it on the back of his neck) which seemed to work great however the problem came back sometime later. With our next visit he again got prescribed the Baytril and the pesticide thing which again seemed to work very well.

Recently he had started nibbling his tummy again! We took him to the vets and she took a sample of his skin with sellotape to see if there were any nasties- the vet said that she saw eggs but no bugs. She then rubbed him all over with some chemical which I assume is a pesticide. We weren't given Baytril this time and we were told to wait two weeks.
Even though the two weeks aren't up, we are a little concerned. Since he has had the treatment there doesn't seem to be any improvement. In fact for the first time since he has been having these problems he has been nibbling his legs too!

We're not trying to belittle vets in anyway- they do a tremendous job. But we wonder about the effectiveness of the treatments- the pesticides he was given were not for guinea pigs (I seem to recall one was for parrots!) Also a search online added fuel to the fire- some sites say that some skin conditions can be misdiagnosed by vets.

So we decided to ask the people in the know- fellow guinea pig owners!

Also we have seen a website that sells guinea pig treatments. If any of you have any experience of what works and doesn't work please let us know!

I tried adding pictures on here but the computer didn't like it so please visit - http://samdick.weebly.com/steve.html the pics are on there.

So in a nutshell- please look at these pictures of Steve, help us with a proper diagnoses and suggest some treatments etc.

Many Thanks in advance!
It would be great to get this problem sorted for our wee dude asap!

Anna, Sam and Steve the guinea pig.
 
Hi! Sorry, I cannot access your link. I would also be grateful if you could tell me which country you are from.

Hair loss can have many different reasons.

The only effective treatment against very painful and invisible mange mites, which looks like the most likely candidate is an properly applied interval course of ivermectin. Please ask your vet what product he is using. Some "pesticides" that work for other species can be toxic to guinea pigs.

You may also take a fungal problem into consideration; that can also cause hair loss severe skin irritation. Sorry that I cannot give you any more targeted advice at this stage, not knowing what your vet has been using and what we are up against.

these are articles from the best medical website for guinea pigs:
http://www.guinealynx.info/hairloss.html
http://www.guinealynx.info/mites.html
http://www.guinealynx.info/fungus.html
http://gorgeousguineas.com/indentification.html; I hope that they can help you.

You may print them off and show them to your vet. Please enquire after a small animal specialist in your wider area.

PS: We would be very grateful if you mentioned the actual problem in the title. We are trying our very best to answer every thread in this section; stating the problems helps our knowledgeable members to be as efficient and as effective as they can.
 
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Thanks for such a speedy reply! I'll have a look at those! No problem re the title thing.
As a moderator, why is it that I can't post images on here? Am I missing something obvious?

We are up in Scotland.
 
Here is a link to a map which shows vets that have been recommended by our members. Unfortunately there only two in Scotland at the moment:
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/...g-Recomend-Vets-Map&highlight=recommended+vet

I think it would definitely be worth getting a second opinion from a 'cavy savy' vet as misdiagnosis can often lead to the problem dragging on for longer than needed. Most skin problems are easily treated if properly diagnosed and treated with the correct medication, but can get much worse very quickly if left.

I hope Steve improves soon!

Edit: Just looked at your pictures and that definitely needs treating asap. I would hazard a guess at mites, due to the hairloss and redness, but this really needs to be confirmed by a competent vet. It looks very itchy and sore for your boy :(
 
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I second Jerrybelly; please contact one of our recommended vets if you can get there somehow! It will make all the difference!

With the right treatment, Steve will be right as rain again in a few weeks, but he needs to be seen by somebody who is piggy savvy!

From your pictures it could be either fungal problem or mites; only a good vet can make the correct diagnosis.
 
Thank you all! The Dunfermline one is only 15mins from us- perfect! Shall get him there when we can! Shall keep you all posted!
 
I agree with the above it is not possible to tell from the photos if it is mites or fungal.
 
annasam said:
Thank you all! The Dunfermline one is only 15mins from us- perfect! Shall get him there when we can! Shall keep you all posted!
Click to expand...

That's certainly a stroke of luck! I hope now he can receive the proper treatment and will be back to his usual (more furry!) self soon :)
 
When you have time, we would be glad if you could introduce yourself in our introductions section.

here is our tutorial on uploading pictures into your posts; you will need to use an uploading website for it.
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/...ial-Posting-Pictures-In-Threads-(Photobucket)

We would also be grateful if you added your general area to your details; as you have seen, it can make a big difference. You can do so in private messages (on top bar)/my settings/edit profile/location. thanks!
 
No problem, will do.

Well, we had Steve at the vets today and he got a ivermectin injection- quite a high dosage.

Was difficult to see our wee boy in pain, but hopefully it's for the better! We have a follow up appointment on Monday (where he is also going to get checked for ringworm! The vet doesn't think it is but I assume they're just covering their bases)

Steve is doing well after his jag this morning. He's eating fine and also (unsure if its just us 'seeing things') he seems happier than he did before we left!

Its amazing, when things go wrong with our pets, it reminds you just how much they mean to you! And also how they're not just pets- they're part of the family.

Thanks again to you all for your help!

Shall keep you all posted with how things go on Monday,
Anna, Sam and Steve.
 
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