Mites not going away after first Xeno treatment

[Edam]

Hey everyone,

One of my guineas, Flora, has a bad mite problem at the moment. Her skin has lost a lot of fur in the v shape on her back and she is v itchy. Her bald spots are red and have little blood spots now. It looks so sore bless her. Her hair has the flakes in and comes out when you pull gently.


We went to the vet last week, and they gave her an anti inflammatory injection for the itching (although I’m not sure this helped?) and put on 5 pippettes of xeno 50 - they didnt have xeno 450 and i cant find any anywhere . The next dose of 5 pippettes of xeno 50 is next Monday (2 weeks from the first dose), but her condition hasn’t improved and if anything her bald spots seem worse? More red and sore.

Her cage mate is absolutely fine, no signs of mites. I have given him the usual preventative doses of ivermectin though.

I have some questions please:

- is there anything anyone could recommend to help ease the symptoms she has whilst she is undergoing the treatment? I feel so awful for her

- as the symptoms have got worse is there anything the vet could prescribe/give her?should I take her back to the vet? She is due to go back next week after the second round of xeno 50, to prescribe further xeno most likely and reassess what is going on but is it worth taking her back before? Or is it a case of sit tight and wait for the xeno to work? Basically I'm wondering if there should have been some improvement now (a week since first dose)? Or if Ivermectin takes a while to work and I should wait the week.

Thanks so much

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m sorry to hear this.
She has mange mites. These burrow into the skin and are very uncomfortable.

It will take all three doses of xeno before the mites are killed.
Treatment only kills the live mites. So the first treatment will have killed the mites that existed at the time of treatment.
There will still be eggs which will continue to hatch as those are not killed by the treatment. The second treatment will kill those.
The third treatment is a catch all.

If she still has issues after the third treatment then return to your vet (we are seeing some resistant cases crop up).

New Guinea Pig Problems: Sexing & Pregnancy; URI, Ringworm & Parasites; Vet Checks & Customer Rights

 

[Edam]

I’m sorry to hear this.
She has mange mites. These burrow into the skin and are very uncomfortable.

It will take all three doses of xeno before the mites are killed.
Treatment only kills the live mites. So the first treatment will have killed the mites that existed at the time of treatment.
There will still be eggs which will continue to hatch as those are not killed by the treatment. The second treatment will kill those.
The third treatment is a catch all.

If she still has issues after the third treatment then return to your vet (we are seeing some resistant cases crop up).

New Guinea Pig Problems: Sexing & Pregnancy; URI, Ringworm & Parasites; Vet Checks & Customer Rights

Thanks so much for the reply! This is very useful. Oh no, what happens if this is a resistant case?!

Is there anything I can do to ease the symptoms? Should i be combing her or putting coconut oil on her skin or something? Would anything help? X

 

[Piggies&buns]

Different treatments can be tried.

Not really, but the vet may be able to prescribe metacam for you to give her at home each day to help ease her discomfort

 

[YvonneBlue]

We have had to deal with a resistant outbreak of mites. After two unsuccessful tries with spot-on treatment, Arfur had to have 3 injectable doses of, I think, Panomec. So far he is now clear of mites.

Note that Arfur was severely malnourished and had a severe infestation of mange mites when he was rescued (he had very little fur left). This seems to have left him susceptible to mites.