More health woes for Goggle

[Goggle's Mum]

I’m sorry to report that Goggle is still having a bad run of health.

This time last year there were all the problems with her pneumonia (http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=53136), which came to a head in the summer, and now she seems suddenly very agitated by cuddles.

She is very affectionate, and wants lots of kisses and licks; but if anybody strokes her she can tolerate maybe one or two strokes, and then she jumps a mile and is fearful of anybody touching her again. At first I thought it might be insect bites or a skin condition, and certainly we will try installing a flea lamp to see if it catches anything. Of course I am now scared of washing her in case it brings on more pneumonia, so I’m not sure what we can do if it’s a skin complaint.

Which brings me to the second point…

Goggle has not regained any of the weight she lost when she had pneumonia. Ever since she has always had the odd little wheeze, but it has been once every few weeks and then she has been back to normal. However, in the last couple of days she had a very bad fit of respiratory distress whereby she had a series of hiccupping breaths (not at all like the respiratory distress caused by the pneumonia) in which her whole body shook with each one. This could have been worsened by the stress of thinking she was about to be stroked (which she wasn’t).

I am wondering if a second bout of pneumonia or another respiratory infection could have caused her to lose more weight, which has made her too sensitive to be touched?

I guess another trip to the vet is in order, but our local ones know very little about pigs and when I went to see Anne at O’Meara she wasn’t there, so I had to see her colleague who was very rude and condescending towards me. Any tips I can try beforehand will therefore be very welcome.

Thanks in advance! x

 

[Goggle's Mum]

I saw the local vet yeterday, and she advised washing Goggle with gorgeous guineas shampoo again to get rid of any lice or parasites.

Obviously I'm really scared of washing her after the long battle with pneumonia from which she is still recovering. She has only regained a tiny fraction of the weight she lost as it is.

PLEASE could anybody with ANY advice contact me!

Thanks.

 

[doglovinpiggylover]

oh no, really sorry about this, hope your piggy gets better, i cant help but at least my wishes will bump your message up to the top.

Good luck x

 

[PiggiePal]

You could contact Laura at guinea pig helpline for advice, I'm afraid I don't know much about pneumonia in pigs x

 

[Wiebke]

It sounds very much like she may have mange mites. Guinea pigs do not have fleas and mange mites are not visible to the naked eye, but they are very common, especially in animals with a compromised immune system. They are treated with ivermectin. Bathing can be quite painful on a piggy with mites.
You need to treat all piggies living in a group with ivermectin (the most commonly available form is xeno450 for piggies over 800g or xeno50 for guinea pigs under that).

Here is more information on mites:
http://www.guinealynx.info/mites.html

 

[Goggle's Mum]

Just wanted to say a big thanks to everybody for their replies.

Wiebke, I'm really grateful to you for responding. Following your post, I elected not to wash the pigs, and instead passed your comments to the vets, who gave me some xeno spray (active ingredient being ivermectin). There weren't any instructions on the packet other than the dosage, so I wasn't sure where to spray. I didn't want them to eat or lick it, so in the end I just put it on the back of their necks and behind their ears, etc. Also, on the info leaflet it says that for routine prevention of common ectoparasites the dose should be repeated monthly. Am therefore thinking I should do this, although I'm wondering if that means their flea spot is now redundant...

Fingers crossed Goggle won't be suffering for much longer