Hello all,
I am new at this forum.
Similar thread was probably around million of times, but I want to share my story and hopefully get new opinion/advice.
We have 2 boys, 3 years old.
They live in large C&C cage with fleece bedding. Regularly cleaned.
During the last 6 months they are itchy.
They both scratch all over their bodies and bite their sides and legs as well.
I will not say it is very very bad, but definitely they scratch waay to much.
Whenever I look towards the cage, one of them will probably scratch.
We really care for them and all we want for them is to be healthy and happy.
There is no bold spots, no visible parasites on their skin or fur.
We kind of came to a dead spot as we can not figure out what is happening.
We did lots of research, saw a great vet and tried many things with no improvement.
1. After lots of reading and researching, we concluded they might have mites.
We decided to treat for mites, got topical Ivermectin and did everything by the book.
Dosages were good. We treated 4 times since itching was still there after 3rd treatment.
Didn't help at all. It was pretty much the same.
2. We ordered Shampoos from Gorgeous Guineas.
We washed them with Shampoo that treats Dry Skin.
We live in Canada and air in our apartment is very dry.
So we decided to try that.
That seemed to help, but only for a few days.
Other thing to mention, while we were washing them and they were wet, they were not itchy at all.
I remember reading somewhere, if pigs have mites water drives them crazy so pigs go crazy as well.
3. We tried changing the laundry detergent we use to wash their fleece.
We changed to all natural one (no smell, no dye...).
No change.
4. We took them to see our vet.
She examined their fur and skin.
Didn't find anything.
She usually treats piggies with Revolution, not ivermectin.
But she said since we treated already with Ivermectin, that should have fixed the problem if there was a problem.
We didn't wanna do the skin scrape at that time. That was before we tried Shampoos.
Said we will come back if shampoos don't help.
Vet advised to try shampoo that contains Spherulite and Phytosphingosine.
So what to do next?
Do the skin scrape? Or try with Revolution?
We also have Shampoo for Lice for Gorgeous Guineas, but not sure if that can help. Haven't tried that.
Lice should be visible as far as I know.
Or should we try with that medical shampoo vet advised?
I rather prefer those natural shampoos, as piggies skin is so sensitive.
Any advice is highly appreciated.
And sorry for the long post.
I am new at this forum.
Similar thread was probably around million of times, but I want to share my story and hopefully get new opinion/advice.
We have 2 boys, 3 years old.
They live in large C&C cage with fleece bedding. Regularly cleaned.
During the last 6 months they are itchy.
They both scratch all over their bodies and bite their sides and legs as well.
I will not say it is very very bad, but definitely they scratch waay to much.
Whenever I look towards the cage, one of them will probably scratch.
We really care for them and all we want for them is to be healthy and happy.
There is no bold spots, no visible parasites on their skin or fur.
We kind of came to a dead spot as we can not figure out what is happening.
We did lots of research, saw a great vet and tried many things with no improvement.
1. After lots of reading and researching, we concluded they might have mites.
We decided to treat for mites, got topical Ivermectin and did everything by the book.
Dosages were good. We treated 4 times since itching was still there after 3rd treatment.
Didn't help at all. It was pretty much the same.
2. We ordered Shampoos from Gorgeous Guineas.
We washed them with Shampoo that treats Dry Skin.
We live in Canada and air in our apartment is very dry.
So we decided to try that.
That seemed to help, but only for a few days.
Other thing to mention, while we were washing them and they were wet, they were not itchy at all.
I remember reading somewhere, if pigs have mites water drives them crazy so pigs go crazy as well.
3. We tried changing the laundry detergent we use to wash their fleece.
We changed to all natural one (no smell, no dye...).
No change.
4. We took them to see our vet.
She examined their fur and skin.
Didn't find anything.
She usually treats piggies with Revolution, not ivermectin.
But she said since we treated already with Ivermectin, that should have fixed the problem if there was a problem.
We didn't wanna do the skin scrape at that time. That was before we tried Shampoos.
Said we will come back if shampoos don't help.
Vet advised to try shampoo that contains Spherulite and Phytosphingosine.
So what to do next?
Do the skin scrape? Or try with Revolution?
We also have Shampoo for Lice for Gorgeous Guineas, but not sure if that can help. Haven't tried that.
Lice should be visible as far as I know.
Or should we try with that medical shampoo vet advised?
I rather prefer those natural shampoos, as piggies skin is so sensitive.
Any advice is highly appreciated.
And sorry for the long post.