Revolution Question?

[Amba]

My guinea has been prescribed .2ml of revolution in two doses spaced two weeks apart. She says to treat my healthy guinea too and to scrub everything. It's supposed to be applied to the back of her skin. Has anyone had experience with this working? I've used revolution once before and it didn't work. Does it have side effects, I worry about giving medicine to my healthy guinea.

 

[Pebble]

Revolution (selamectin) is a recognised effective anti-parasitic "spot-on" treatment for guinea pigs - although not often used here in the UK where ivermectin is the drug of choice.However parasites are developing resistance to ivermectin so alternatives like selamectin and doramectin are becoming more frequently used.

Spot-on treatments rarely cause side-effects - unless an overdose is given. They are also normally very effective provided you do not bathe the guinea pig within 48hours of administration.
2 doses at 2week intervals for Revolution has been shown to effectively treat mites and lice in guinea pigs. Because the drugs only work against the adult parasites and not the eggs you need to give at least 2 treatments to "break the life cycle". Sometimes this may need to extend to 3.
If you are treating an active infection then you should treat all your guinea pigs and, as the vet said, try and decontaminate everything they have been in contact with. Otherwise, the mites will hop back onto the piggies and start the cycle all over again.

Can't comment on the 0.2ml without answers to the following questions.
How much do your guinea pigs weigh?
Is it dog or cat revolution as the concentrations differ so the doses would differ?

Don;t worry about treating your healthy guinea - if you are going to get rid of the problem you will need to treat all of them. She is probably in any case carrying the parasites, just that her immune system is better able to resist them so is not showing symptoms.
You might want to up their Vit C content for a while (fresh veggies or a supplement)
HTH
x

 

[Amba]

thanks so much, Pebble. You've eased a lot of my worries. She is on a cat dose and she weighs about 800 grams.

 

[Pebble]

That works out at 15mg/kg which is the dose normally recommended......

Edit: for guinea pigs weighing 800g or less. If a piggie weighs >800g, a stronger dose is recommended.

 

[Amba]

Thanks Pebble. She isn't responding to the treatment (still scratching and pulling fur out)

 

[Pebble]

It's only been a week and there will still be eggs and mite debris in her skin so she will be scratching. Can you post a photo of her so we can see exactly how severe the infestation is please. Bathing 48hours after the treatment can help dislodge the mite debris and make her feel more comfortable.

It will take at least 4 weeks before you see an improvement and for the itching to stop (ie two weeks after the second treatment)
Have a read of some of my posts on this thread:
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/2-more-dying-piggies.122408/

It sounds to me like your piggy's progress is one eek behind that of Dotty (who is still scratching after 2 weeks and injections) and I am not expecting her to improve for at least another week or so

x

 

[Amba]

After about a week and a half she started to stop scratching and biting herself as much. I gave her the next treatment and she was scratching again like crazy (I think this happens at first when the mites wriggle around and die). She is still scratching but has grown back a lot of fur and gone from weighing 700 to 800 grams. She is due for her final treatment in a week, but I might still continue after that. Mites are stubborn things! I continue to treat her friend too. The vet said if it didn't work straight away it wouldn't work. Thank you for your help, Pebble.

 

[Pebble]

Keep an eye on the thread I linked to -5 weeks on from doramectin injections and one of the piggies in my care is still having issues with scratching etc. (and she is coming up to injection no 6!)
Sarcoptic manage treatment can be a long haul
x