Mites

[Adrcam]

Hi I'm new to this site. I have a 2 year old piggie named Jimmy who has been diagnosed with mange mites. He is under treatment from the vet and received his first dose of animec spot on Tuesday. He has an appointment to go back next Tuesday a second dose. My question is what do I clean his cage out with? Will washing it out with hot soapy water be enough to stop further infestations?

 

[kjscottpiggies]

Once every few weeks I give my hutches a good scrub with a little bit of the virkon s disinfectant. You can buy it from most country stores I think, and it's a pink powder that you dilute with water. It is 100% safe for any animal, just have to rinse it out well! Hope this helps, if the tub is too big ask the vet for a recommend disinfectant

 

[kjscottpiggies]

You can give it one big scrub using that then go to the Johnson's clean and safe one.

 

[Adrcam]

Thank you. X

 

[helen105281]

I was going to recommend Virkon too or F10 and you need to make sure that any washable bedding is washed at the highest temperature possible. There is also a Paragon washing liquid that is available from Halo which copes with mite infested bedding, I can find the link if needed.

 

[Wiebke]

I would recommend to use F10 or Virkon for disinfecting your cage from time to time; both of these are also antifungal.

F10 is also available as a hand gel. With over 20 piggies, I find it useful to not carry stuff across. As it is also effective against some viruses like norovirus and tummy bugs, it comes in handy for us humans, too!

If you are dealing with an acute infestation of mites or ringworm, I would recommend to wash any fabrics in direct contact once at 90 C and or at least at 60 C, the latter until you are over it. Otherwise, I would wash the bedding at least once a month at a higher temperature to prevent the build-up of bacteria.

A full mites course consists of 3-4 rounds of mites treatment at an interval of 1-2 weeks (depending on the product your vet is using) to catch any emerging eggs and prevent a reinfestation. If treated promptly and correctly, mites need not go past the nuisance stage. You may find that a piggy that has had mites once can suffer a re-occurrance when the immune system is lowered either through illness or stress; they are opportunists, like so many of the common piggy illnesses.

 

[Adrcam]

Thank you for the replies off shopping tomorrow so will take a look. The vet said he will need at least 3 treatments, 7 days apart. He stopped scratching almost as soon as he had had the first treatment but came up with 2 sores on Wednesday. He is much less miserable in himself but looks dreadful. Is there anything I can put on the sores or are they best left alone.

 

[helen105281]

It is best to let them breathe but they can have Sudocrem or Bepanthen on them if it was really bad or you could ask your vet for something like Fuciderm gel. I think my Gertie had this when she had really bad sores with mange mites and a steroid injection too because she was scratching.

 

[Pebble]

Re: the sores - if you can, try and not put anything on them unless it is a topical gel designed for treatment of open wounds. If the only reason to apply a cream is because of the irritation/prevent scratching then talk to the vet about the suitability of either steroid or antihistamine creams/injections.
Both benpathen and sudocream are barrier creams (i.e. they prevent external agents such as urine etc from reaching the skin to irritate it - think nappy rash) and therefore are not really suitable for applying to broken skin as they will create a microclimate in the open wound that could encourage infection.

Re: Cleaning

Is your cage an indoor plastic or an outdoor wooden hutch?

F10 and Virkon are both good general purpose disinfectants (F10 better as it is the only one that kills ringworm spores) but wont get rid of insects (ie mites)

Johnsons insecticidal cage spray should do the trick for mites/lice - but you need to be VERY CAREFUL in how you use it as it contains permethrins that can have adverse effects on mammals including piggies and their slaves if not applied properly. It must not come into contact with the skin or be inhaled.

For an indoor/plastic (ie non-porous) cage - take it outside and spray (wear a mask) and allow the spray to remain in contact for 30 mins. Then wash off and disinfect as normal.

For anything wooden (porous) - you need to spray on and leave for 24hours to soak in...(remove all animals from the area and wear a mask) ...then you need to wash/disinfect as per above (and maybe even scrub with bleach), rinse and then allow to dry thoroughly This means the wooden hutch will be out of action for at least 72 hours so alternative accommodation would be required.


Edit: for fabrics/fleeces etc - high temperature and also some hydrogen peroxide (Vanish oxy) should do the trick!

HTH
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