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I Think My Guinea Pig Had Mange Mites

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davie679

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yesterday I woke up and my guinea pig, Scooby, was missing the fur around one of his eyes. I picked him up and while he was sitting in my lap he started freaking out occasionally and flopping around. I did some research and I found he has most of the symptoms for mange mites, but when I took him to the vet they said it was probably just a respiratory problem. I don't see how a respiratory problem would make him itchy enough to tear his fur off though. Now today, his eye has gotten worse and now has scabs under it, and he's missing fur and has scabs on his back leg.

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It does sound like he could be having a reaction to the mites itching him. If your vet isn't guinea pig specialised please take him to another vet asap.

Was he given anything for the respiratory infection?
 
Jaycey said:
It does sound like he could be having a reaction to the mites itching him. If your vet isn't guinea pig specialised please take him to another vet asap.

Was he given anything for the respiratory infection?
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they gave him a fluid shot, and they gave me antibiotics. But the only problem with taking him to another vet is, I can't afford it. I could barely afford to take him to the one I did and that's the cheapest vet I could find. The vet said she'd treated a lot of guinea pigs before though
 
Fungal is a possibility too. Possibly Ringworm if it is around the eyes. Am on my phone so I can't post a link but have a look at the Ringworm guide in the caring for a poorly guinea pig section.
 
That looks like fungal possibly round the eye... and the scabs on leg point to mites or fungal @helen105281 what do you think?

@dave679 They need to see a vet to get it treated, If you are US based which your IP is showing have a look at this vets list here, many vets will set up payment plans

Guinea Lynx :: GL's Vet List

it needs attention as it will not get better only worse on its own
 
If the cost is a problem then I think your only option is to give the antibiotics a few days to start working. Have a look at your bill/receipt to see what the antibiotics are, and if they're Baytril you'll need some probiotic too. Give it 1.5-2 hours after the antibiotic as the meds can cause digestive issues.

If there is no sign of him getting better, or his condition changes then he'll need to see the vet again sadly. It might be worth asking them if they offer credit facilities.
 
I'm seeing the same vet again next week to see if the medication is working on him. So if it is just a respiratory problem they said it should be fixed by then, and if its mites then they'll give him more medication to help with that
 
I would ask about fungal too while you are there. I think the treatment in the US is a product called Sporanox.
 
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