• 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

My guinea pig has mites :(

beckyxxx

beckyxxx

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Oct 4, 2017
Messages
348
Reaction score
293
Points
380
Location
UK, Blackpool
Just been to the vets with my guinea pig after noticing he has a tilted head, she swabbed his ear and found lots of dark wax in his ear and suspects mites and noticed he also has ring worm on his ear, she has given me a course of anti biotics, ringworm treatment and she has given him a mite treatment. My poorly boy :( has anyone else had problems with mites before?
 
All the best!

Your vet is obviously covering all angles that can cause a head tilt, which is good when the cause is not quite obvious - a possible ear infection, wax and ear mites. Rabbit ear mites can occasionally happen; they are more likely when rabbits are around. Treatment with ivermectin is the same as for all mite varieties.
Guinea Lynx :: Ear Mites

Has your vet just given cream for the fungal on his ear? Please use good hygiene when handling your piggy and deep clean the cage at least twice with F10 (widely available online), which is the only disinfectant proven to also kill ringworm spores. Once now and once after the end of treatment to prevent carrying any spores through. Ringworm is the single most transmittable issue between species, including humans. Ideally, you use diposable gloves and thoroughly wash your hands.
Wash any fabric in contact with your piggies (bedding, cosies and clothing of yours) at 60 C.
Ringworm: Hygiene And Pictures
 
Thanks guys, he’s had ring worm before so will deep clean the cage with the disinfectant I have. She’s given him oral treatment for ring worm, as well as a solution to sponge him in once a week. He’s on 0.22ml of Baytril twice daily and 0.6ml Itrafungol once daily , she’s told me to swab the enterance of the ear daily to keep the ear wax build up down. He had a lot of the wax in the ear so she thinks maybe that’s why he’s tilting his head slightly as it will be uncomfortable for him. He’s never been around rabbits before and lives inside so I’m thinking the mites maybe came from a bag of hay if possible? I’m glad he’s on anti biotics as well incase it is an ear infection. Hoping he will be better soon as he’s just recovered from an eye ulcer last week :(
 
beckyxxx said:
Thanks guys, he’s had ring worm before so will deep clean the cage with the disinfectant I have. She’s given him oral treatment for ring worm, as well as a solution to sponge him in once a week. He’s on 0.22ml of Baytril twice daily and 0.6ml Itrafungol once daily , she’s told me to swab the enterance of the ear daily to keep the ear wax build up down. He had a lot of the wax in the ear so she thinks maybe that’s why he’s tilting his head slightly as it will be uncomfortable for him. He’s never been around rabbits before and lives inside so I’m thinking the mites maybe came from a bag of hay if possible? I’m glad he’s on anti biotics as well incase it is an ear infection. Hoping he will be better soon as he’s just recovered from an eye ulcer last week :(
Click to expand...

What kind of mites has your vet diagnosed? There are three different varieties:
- mange mites, which burrow their eggs in the skin (the worst variety that can lead to fitting, loss of appetite and ultimately in the extreme). Mange mites eggs are often already present in the skin of piggies, but are usually kept under control by a fully working immune system. Since pets@home have switched their supply mass breeder, mange mites in the UK from freshly bought chain shop piggies are no longer a major problem.
- hay/fur mites, which fix their egg cases to the hairs especially at the bum end. While these used to come only from untreated cheap farm typically in the autum and were easily got on top of, in the last few years there has been a new and much more resistent strain coming in imported pet shop hay. We are dealing with a lot more cases of hay mites.
- rabbit ear mites; they are much rarer these days and most common when rabbits and guinea pigs are kept in the same vicinity.

Itrafungol is best for getting on top of ringworm. Please make sure that you give your piggies a thorough bath at the end of the fungal treatment to make sure that he doesn't carry any spores across in his coat. I have had ringworm outbreaks twice that way by newly adopted piggies that had been either surrendered with ringworm or had been with ringworm relatives during their quarantine, but had not been affected themselves. Always wait 48 hours between any skin treatment to allow the previous one to work fully. ;)

His immune system can be somewhat dented at the moment in the wake of his eye injury. :(
 
Yeah I was thinking that :( I’m making sure he gets plenty of vitamin C. She didn’t say which type of mites it was but she put some drops behind his ear and the medicine was Called Invermectin drops Which she is again putting behind his ears in a week. So I think they may be inside his ears? :(
 
@beckyxxx They usually recommend putting it behind their ears as there's the bald patches there so you can get it on their skin. Plus the piggy is less likely to scratch or be able to lick there

Hope he feels better soon!
 
Ahhh thanks, I know me too he has been through the wars at the moment. Hoping he’s going to finally be on the mend :(
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top