Please Help, New Guinea Pig Owner, Mites

[JackieO]

Hi everybody,

I am new to Guinea Pig ownership and I really need some help. About 2 months ago I got my two guinea pigs, Andy and Popcorn. My boyfriend built me a cage made out of Pine because after researching I could not seem to find one that was as big as I would like. My problems started when I noticed that Andy was losing hair on his foot and that he was biting at it, I thought he was nervous about being in a new place and also that Popcorn was a little bit of a bully. Andy was a sweet guinea pig and Popcorn is more dominant. A week later it had spread to his front paw as well. I took both of my guinea pigs in to the vet clinic where I work. The doctor wanted to do a skin scraping, ringworm test and also Ivermectin injection. Andy was doing fine during the visit, had not received his shot yet and was about to, when he went limp. The doctor tried to save him for a long time but said that he had a heart attack. Andy was such a sweet guinea pig.

Popcorn never showed any signs of mites or hair loss. A week after I got home, I noticed that now he too has started to loose hair around his eye and also by his nose. I have scheduled an appointment to bring him in to the vet.

I am confident that once Popcorn has his shots that he will fine, my problem is that I do not know how my guinea’s got mites. Is there any way to tell if they got them from the cage itself or the bedding. I was using pine shavings, then started using a mixture of Aspen and the granules by Kaytee (I live in the USA so I do not know if you guys have the same brands). I read online that Pine is bad but is it the same for Aspen? It seems like everything I read online is contradicted by something else. I have read that Carefresh is a good brand and also that it can have mites. Can someone tell me what they use and also what to stay away from.

The cage that my boyfriend built is really nice but I think that I am going to have him build me a new one. It is made out of pine, on the bottom we lined it with plastic sheeting that can be wiped and cleaned easily. The problem (besides possible mites) is that where the bottom meets the sides, is becoming stained with urine. I did not put any coating on the wood because using a sealant or stain scared me because they chew on it. Does anyone have a wood cage that they built, and could share a few pointers on how to make one that will last? Like wood type, how to protect it from mites, make cleaning easy, what stains, paints, sealant, etc to use that is pet friendly. I really do not want to buy a plastic cage or make a C and C (I think that is what they are called) cage. Also how can I treat my cage that I currently have for mites while my boyfriend makes me a new one? I do not want to treat Popcorn and then have him come home to a mite infested cage.

One more thing I wanted to ask about is if I should get another guinea pig so that Popcorn is not alone. It makes me sad to go and get another guinea pig because I just want Andy back but I do not want Popcorn to be sad. He seems like he is okay, when we got home from the vet it seemed like he was looking for Andy. Popcorn seems like a dominant guinea pig. Popcorn would chase Andy around, push his butt and they would put their noses in the air at each other. Andy would make this weird movement and purr at him. I googled and looking at this website http://cavyspirit.com/sociallife.htm, they never showed any of the “Fighting with intent to harm†signs. I do not want Popcorn to be lonely however I do not want to get another guinea pig if Popcorn will make the other one sad or bully him.

Alright I know that was very long but I would really appreciate some help. Also if anyone has any other guinea pig tips that would be great.

Thank you,
Jackie

 

[Wiebke]

I am very sorry that you have lost Andy; sadly it can happen when there is a hidden heart defect. But it is an awful shock! I lost a piggy with acute heart failure during an emergency trip to the vets, and came out literally shaking.

From what you are saying I strongly suspect that you are dealing with fungus, rather than mites. Fungal typically starts in the face. If it is ringworm, please be very careful as it is one of the few things that can jump species to other pets and humans. Make sure that you disinfect everything with a disinfectant that is antifungal and not just antibacterial. Use disposable gloves when treating.
http://www.guinealynx.info/fungus.html
http://gorgeousguineas.com/indentification.html

It would be great if you got a new friend for Popcorn. Guinea pigs are not wired to be on their own. Here in Britain you have the option of "boar dating" single boars of any age at a reputable rescue to make sure that the two boars are character compatible and get along by their own choice. If you are elsewhere, you could try and see whether you can find a rescue or shelter within your reach. Generally, an age difference is of advantage so that only one boar is in the big hormones at any given time; this even more so if the boys can't choose each other.

You could help us pitching our advice more appropriately if you added your country/state (US) or county (UK). Go User CP/edit profile/location.

 

[Pepperdog]

My initial thoughts are also fungal such as ringworm which so commonly starts around the eyes and nose.

I just wanted to add that my concern from my personal experience with ringworm is the wood element of the cage, it is notorious for harbouring the fungus and infesting others, but all is not lost as long as you prevetatively clean the wood regularily with an antifungal discinfectant then it should stop it reoccuring.

When we had ringworm on the farm we would creosote the wooden sections of the pen, this is very obviously NOT an option for guinea pigs, but if you are able to source an antifungal wood treatment in the us then it would help, but it must be safe for pigs. If you cannot or dont want to risk matters with the pigs (which I am not sure there is even anything available), then monthly scrubbing of the wooden areas would be a best option. It might pay to pre-treat the wood with pet safe paint as pine is very absorbant wood which could absorb not only the water from scubbing, but urine. painting the wood would also help to keep the potential for fungals reoccuring again.

Sorry you lost Andy, you may once popcorn is better again be able to trial some boys with him to see if they get on if you can find somewhere to help you find a friend for him, a rescue if there is anywhere near you would be a good first point of contact of course but we understand it might not be as available as it is in the uk here.

Good luck with popcorn and then finding him a friend

 

[JackieO]

Thank You

Thank you so much for all of your advice. I brought Popcorn to the Vet and the doctor did a skin scraping and a DTM test. The DTM test takes a week so I do not know the results yet. Dr. Lee said that it looks like he has mange. When he looked at the skin scraping under the microscope he said that he did not see any mites. He said that it would be best to treat for both a fungal infection and also for mites/mange to be safe. Popcorn got an injection of Ivermectin and also a topical fungal cream to apply twice a day (the same cream I use for my dogs ear infections). I have given up on trying to have a wood cage, there are too many variables involved. I talked to people at Lowes (a hardware store) about wood type and sealants which are pet friendly and no one seemed to know any pet safe sealants for wood. I called an Organic Stain/Sealant company to double check that it would be alright to use in a cage but they never called me back. I bought a C and C cage online, I had never wanted one just because I thought they did not have lids on top (which my dogs would have loved) but am happy to find out that they can have them. Thank you again for the advice. I will definitely try to find little Popcorn a friend but I am going to wait till his new cage is here and he is healthy again. He still scratches a little but it is way better than before.

 

[Wiebke]

Best of luck with the treatment! Of course, you will want to wait until your boy is healthy again before you risk infecting another piggy. I would even wait with the new cage until then, so you do not transfer any mites and fungal spores to the new place.

 

[Pat Shields]

Hi, I'm over here in Missouri, not too far from you, or at least closer than the folks in the UK. I have 2 guinea pigs I rescued last year. Back in March they managed to get mites. We (the vet and I) are certain it was mites because the skin condition cleared up with a treatment of once a week for 3 weeks ivermectin by mouth. She did a skin scraping and looked at hair follicles and didn't see any mites under the microscope, but because of the symptoms and the miserable itching and going into fits when Redemption scratched she treated empirically. (No, I didn't let this go on for any length of time; they saw the vet the morning after the night of the misery, and I took both of them because if one had them the other was sure to have them.) The treatment was successful.

I figured that the only place they could have gotten mites was the hay in which I was allowing them to live and nest. So I stopped putting the hay in their cages except the hay they eat, I cleaned their areas thoroughly, and now they have newspaper for their floors. I had bought a large bale of hay that was from a field, unprocessed except for being baled. Their cages are the largest size wire dog crates with the plastic tray floors. The cages you see in Petco or PetSmart are simply way too small.

The guinea pigs probably came to you with mites, unless you have been using natural, untreated bedding as I did.

I highly doubt the wood used for the cages or the bedding would have them as the lumber for boards and for shavings is kiln-dried, and the heat of the kiln-drying would kill any mites there were.

No stain, paint, or sealant would be safe, in my not-so-humble opinion. What I would do is to make a floor out of Coroplast (we can get it here but I don't know if it is called the same thing, but signmakers have it, it is a corrugated plastic that resembles corrugated cardboard boxes) with sides high enough so that they can't urinate outside it.

The key to successful mite treatment at my house was not to stop after the first treatment, to carry it through all three weeks. I also made little vests for them to wear after putting antibiotic ointment on their wounds. I just cut off the tops of crew socks and cut holes for their front legs and a slit behind their heads. It stays tight to their bodies and prevents the pain from their scratching open wounds. Here is a picture of it:

A third thing I did, and you might want to talk to your own vet, as I and my vet experimented with this, not knowing if it was recommended for guinea pigs, was to give them a drop of children's liquid Benadryl (0.1 to 0.2 ml) from a graduated syringe the vet gave me every 8 hours or so for the itching. It didn't hurt my guinea pigs, and it helped stop the unbearable itching.

I am so very sorry that your pig Andy died. I hope that Popcorn can be brought to the best of health. We don't have as many resources here for guinea pigs that they have in the UK. This forum is the greatest source of help for me that I have found.