Mites And Sniffles..

[krazycat]

I have five guinea pigs seperated in two cages and we've had so many issues lately.

Peaches, who belonged to my landlady but has recently been adopted by me, gave birth to babies in October and has struggled massively since. (I did not breed her, but I've taken on her and her little ones) The most recent issue is mites. She's doing really well at the moment, but I have a question about giving mites treatment. She had a treatment given at the vet's last week. Is it too soon to treat her again with ivermectin on Friday? She's still itching quite a bit but is finally on the mend.

Apollo, one of my original piggies, has struggled with sniffles for a long time. He's seen three different vets (due to me moving) and they have all agreed that his chest is clear and he might be allergic to something. I can't figure out what. However recently he seems like his nose is stuffed and he's wheezing a bit. We saw the vet on Friday and he's on baytril, but is there anything I can do to help ease the symptoms a little? I feel so bad for him.

 

[Wiebke]

Ideally, Peaches should have three rounds of treatment at your vets, about 10-14 days apart, depending on what form of ivermectin he is using. Please enquire at the clinic! It often takes until after the second treatment for the itching to completely disappear. The third round is to catch any emerging eggs. In severe cases a fourth round may be needed. Topical shop products are usually low strength and designed to prevent, but not treat an actual outbreak.
Mites are opportunists and hit whenever the immune system is lowered.

You could try 0.2 ml pediatric sudafed maximum twice daily if his nose is very bunged up (provided that you are in the UK). Hay- or sawdust are the most likely culprits. Would you consider testing various dust free hay products to see whether one of them works for him?

 

[krazycat]

Hi, thanks for the advice. I talked to the vet and Peaches is going to have another treatment on Saturday.

Can you recommend any dust free products please?

 

[krazycat]

I tried four pharmacies yesterday with no luck. One asked me the age of the child, and when I let it slip it was for a guinea pig, they wouldn't sell me anything.

Is it this one you use? http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sudafed-Chi...=UTF8&qid=1387516807&sr=8-10&keywords=sudafed
It's not listed on the sudafed website and none of the pharmacies had sudafed for children, so I suspect whatever it was is no longer produced

 

[krazycat]

Apollo didn't get any better with the Baytril, and when I came back after being with my family in Norway for a week, he had lost 200 grams. My local vets referred me to a specialist across town (nearly 2 hour journey) and he went through hours of testing.

Unfortunately, he passed away on the way home from the vet.


Rest in peace, my beautiful, affectionate, purring, loving boy. You were only 3.5 years, I wasn't ready. You were the first piggie I ever held and it was love at first sight.

 

[helen105281]

I'm really sorry. Night night Apollo.

 

[piggyfan]

Oh no! I am so sorry for your loss.