• 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

Rare Mites

Status
Not open for further replies.
Kerrie74

Kerrie74

Adult Guinea Pig
Joined
Mar 6, 2015
Messages
4,866
Reaction score
3,996
Points
1,185
Location
Nottingham, England
We took two of our guinea pigs to the vets, one for a problem I posted somewhere else and the other because he keeps scratching.

At first the vet tried to tell my son it was either his bedding or behavioural problems and that she didn't think it was lice (he told her it was lice/mites)... she got some tape pressed it on his stomach and took it off, came back and said he has a case of rare mites and to get some Seleen Shampoo, does anyone know if this stuff is ok for guinea pigs or should I try Lice 'n' Easy Shampoo?

I meant to say that she recommended the Seleen because Snow is obviously itching.
 
Last edited:
Mites aren't rare to guinea pigs - and unless your vet can give the name of these "rare" mites concerned, none of us are the wiser.

There are "normally" two types of mites:
a) static hay mites - live on the surface of the skin and nothing to worry about but can be treated with iveremectin spot-on (use Xeno450 - do not buy other pet shop over-the-counter mediciines like Beaphar etc)
b) mange mites - (ie sarcoptic mange) - a less common but difficult condition to treat requiring injections of ivermectin or better still, doramaectin. Please read this thread for information to give to your vets if you suspect this
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/2-more-dying-piggies.122408/

HTH
x
 
Here is an overview of guinea pig parasites (including the scientific names, in case your vet used them). The most common are mange mites, which you cannot see with the naked eye and which need a well dosed ivermectin product to treat properly. if that is not the case, mange mites can kill.
http://www.guinealynx.info/parasites.html

We have got a UK piggy savvy vet locator on the top bar.
 
Edit - just to be clear - if your piggie has mange mites then Seleen shampoo or Lice 'n Easy is NOT the answer and you therefore may need to consider whether to find a more cavy savvy vet to get the right treatment (injections) for your piggies.

PM me if you want further info
x
 
No he doesn't have those, his skin is perfectly fine, his fur is coming out though, she said some were dead as we'd been treating him with the spot on stuff (Small bottle - http://www.medicanimal.com/Ivermectin-Drops/p/I0004730 ) she said that he needed the Seleen because he's itchy and she was hoping this would calm it down, hence me asking about the other shampoo as well. She wants us to first use the Seleen on him wait 24 hours then use the spot on again once every two weeks x 3. I was wondering which is the best Seleen or the other one and if they did the same sort of thing and if the Seleen was safe enough to use on guinea pigs.

I don't mean to be rude but my guinea pigs WON'T be going back to see her again, useless, our other guinea pig is ill, he was taken last week Thuesday, he saw a lovely vet who was very thorough, she asked my son to take Sheamus back 3 days later, he took him back yesterday and this other vet who was a bit pig ignorant said "He won't get better that fast blah blah blah" tried to say it was only two days, obviously not great at maths, we were ASKED to take him back and he was being treated for something he doesn't have, guessed diagnoses the same as the idiot woman did yesterday, all she did was check his mouth,chest and stomach... As a result I think Sheamus may have to go to the PDSA, he fell over earlier.

Thanks for the replies :)
 
All the best for both piggies. Finding a good vet can be quite difficult.

Please have your itchy piggy checked again by somebody more piggy savvy if the problem doesn't go away any time soon or gets worse.
 
Thanks @Wiebke

Your totally correct about finding a piggy savvy vet, my son told me before he left to take Sheamus to the PDSA that the woman had a handbook in the room on small animals *sigh* At leas the PDSA will look at him properly.

It was like when my son took Sheamus the other week for a check up and to have his eye looked at because he has a mark on it, she didn't even bother to check if it was an ulcer, but she said it's not a cataract, I didn't know scars grew.....
 
Kerrie74 said:
Thanks @Wiebke

Your totally correct about finding a piggy savvy vet, my son told me before he left to take Sheamus to the PDSA that the woman had a handbook in the room on small animals *sigh* At leas the PDSA will look at him properly.

It was like when my son took Sheamus the other week for a check up and to have his eye looked at because he has a mark on it, she didn't even bother to check if it was an ulcer, but she said it's not a cataract, I didn't know scars grew.....
Click to expand...

We have got a piggy savvy vet locator on the top bar, in which we try to help members find the best piggy savvy vets in their area in order to spare them and their piggies a long odyssey with bad experiences and unnecessary suffering.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top