• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Mites Or Allergy To Bedding ?

Status
Not open for further replies.
T

Turtles

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Nov 13, 2016
Messages
67
Reaction score
43
Points
145
Location
Belgium
My piggies were treated against mites today because they scratch so often, boy oh boy.
As I had to change their cage out i moved them both to the floor cage. Before this they were still on the flax bedding in their cage and they were scratching, and scratching and scratching.
I put them on the puppy pads and fleece in my room and the scratching almost completely stopped? I saw lem scratch like once maybe twice after and that was it.
Now we had no visual proof for mites but felt like a scraping was not necessary and only did a little check although nothing was found, considering their stratching habit it seemed obvious, but now, i'm starting to doubt.
Could my bedding be in the mix of their scratching ?
 
Mites are not visible to the human eye, they need to be viewed under a microscope to be diagnosed. Your best bet would be to take them for a check up at a good cavy savvy vets and let them take a sample to view under the microscope where they can confirm whether there are any mites or not. If not then it is likely that the bedding is causing a problem.
 
@Lady Kelly ooh perhaps i wasn't clear enough. A product against mites is prescription based in my country so of course i took them to the vet!
She took a little bit of skin from behind the ear, and put it under a microscope but she didn't seem to see anything. She didn't want to do a serious scraping
 
Turtles said:
@Lady Kelly ooh perhaps i wasn't clear enough. A product against mites is prescription based in my country so of course i took them to the vet!
She took a little bit of skin from behind the ear, and put it under a microscope but she didn't seem to see anything. She didn't want to do a serious scraping
Click to expand...

Oh sorry my misunderstanding. A tug of hair with some skin attached is usually enough to diagnose as far as I understand. I would say if mite treatment hasn't changed the situation then the next logical step would be to try a different bedding and see if the symptoms alleviate
 
No no it was most likely on my part, i sometimes forget people don't have the same back round information as i do and forget mentioning it.
I might try and keep them on the pads today as long as possible and keep a close eye, while keeping track of the scratching and put them back in their cage tomorrow. If they go from a scratch or 2 in a day to 20 it might have something to do with the bedding i would assume ?
Treatment only started today so I will probably have to wait a couple of days to see a difference i'm guessing
 
Turtles said:
No no it was most likely on my part, i sometimes forget people don't have the same back round information as i do and forget mentioning it.
I might try and keep them on the pads today as long as possible and keep a close eye, while keeping track of the scratching and put them back in their cage tomorrow. If they go from a scratch or 2 in a day to 20 it might have something to do with the bedding i would assume ?
Treatment only started today so I will probably have to wait a couple of days to see a difference i'm guessing
Click to expand...

Mange mites treatment with ivermectin or selamectin takes about 48 hours to fully kick in; within this time the scratching should go down a lot, but it can initially get worse at first when the ivermectin is starting to work on the mites. It will start creeping up again, which is why a second round at the product specific interval is needed. Two days after that, any scratching should be on a normal level. A third round takes care of any emerging eggs to prevent a comeback. When you commit to mites treatment, you always to complete the full course.
Mange mites are invisible to the naked eye. Most guinea pigs have mites eggs in their skin, which are usually kept under control with a fully working immune system.

It can be that your bedding can be the course or that the ivermectin is doing the trick; you may never know. Just see whether they may be happier on fleece with an absorbent underlay and hay in trays.
 
Hi wiebke thanks for your comment!
They seem overal happier on the fleece though, though like you did say earlier they were scratching even more so than usual! And panda was pissed over nothing (kept rummbeling and falling out to her little sister). I moved them shortly after to the pen with fleece.
Idk they really do seem happier on the pads, they were popcorning and running and jumping (they haven't done that often, lemon has a sneezing problem and though she doesn't have Uri [yet?] she is less active than usual, she is being treated with antibiotics), whilest pan was just grumpy and mean earlier on the flax she's been running and jumping on the pad+fleece, loose from the fact that she still scratches, she does seem happier. I'm not sure what to do with the entire situation
 
Bought some new fleece today (100%polyster) from a discount store and the girls seemed very excited about it, lots of jumps and happy noises and I think they are only quiet now because of all the running and playing earlier. Placed it over the flax and wood pellets (their normal set up) and they were very excited.
The thing that bothers me is they're still scratching. And i don't even dare say it's gotten less. I know i have to wait like atleast 48 hours to get results but it bothers me seeing them scratch. I noticed the scratch shoulder/ear and kinda like their tummy? Lem needs her antibiotics at 5 am (in 4 hours) so i'm going to check if i see anything then.
Someone said it might be hay mite and i should freeze my hay overnight, only my hay remains outdoors in a box and it freezes at night on it's own so i don't know about that + haymites are usually seen in warmer temps and not these horrible cold ones, than again i'm no professional.

Lemon also keeps sneezing (natural she has only been taking antibiotics for a day :P) but does anyone know when i should be seeing improvement?
And is it normal that piggies on antibiotics are a bit more smelly ? I feel like there is a stronger odor than normal. Like waaaay stronger, i thought it was the fleece at first but that smells fine still.
 
Yesterday i find some little white dots in panda her fur (only panda though not lemon) so i'm starting to suspect it might be lice, i can't see anything on their skin but with 2 peruvians looking for a clear patch of skin can be tricky. Gonna start freezing in hay just to be sure guess we'll just have to wait and see
 
Turtles said:
Yesterday i find some little white dots in panda her fur (only panda though not lemon) so i'm starting to suspect it might be lice, i can't see anything on their skin but with 2 peruvians looking for a clear patch of skin can be tricky. Gonna start freezing in hay just to be sure guess we'll just have to wait and see
Click to expand...

Easiest thing to do is pick some of the white dots out and look at them closely on your finger. If they look like miniscule worms and move then yes it sounds like lice otherwise it could be skin flakes
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top