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Scabs vet has seen but need advice

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Guineapiggirl34

Junior Guinea Pig
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So my boy had a small scab a while back, I thought it was an injury, it has since totally cleared up. But my big black girl had a crusty spot, then multiple ones, it took til yesterday to be able to see an exotic vet (could have seen a different one of Saturday but decided it was not worth it). She did a skin scrap, found no mites (which I thought it was) and only a very few bacteria in the whole rust but she wants to treat her with a foam spray not antibiotics unless it gets worse. Her skin in scabbing and peeling off with the fur attached ☹️. We have not bathed them for a while they were due a bath when our dog died and the puppy arrived. I thought they would be fine as I know they should not be bathed too often(we do every 2-3 months normally as they have longer fur). We clean there cages out every two days with a new quick drying fleece (they won’t potty train), and wipe the cage with kavee unscented wipes. What does anyone suggest we start using to cl3na the cages regularly? We were using part natural cage spray with clove oil I;it and the pigs hated it. Someone suggested f10 diluted which I could only find with pine scent which I know is bad for pigs. I have now found a unscented f10 but I worry that it will be too sterile… there is such a thing as too clean and no natural immunity being built up. Suggestions please! I would love a few stress free months with no deaths or illnesses apart from my own chronic one!
 
I’m sorry to hear that.

If mites weren’t found then the other possibility is a fungal infection. We can only guess, sight unseen, but is something to check with your vet .
If a fungal infection was found then a fungal treatment would be needed. You havent said what the foam spray is so that would be useful to know.

F10 would be the recommended cleaner. It does kill fungus and It is the recommended cleaner for thorough disinfection anyway particularly where there is a fungal infection or parasite infestation. I use it routinely at normal dilution for regular cleaning and then at a stronger dilution for deep cleaning every few weeks. I buy it in concentrate form so i make it up myself

A Clove oil cleaning spray or anything scented would be bad to use - strong smells, any essential oils etc are bad for their respiratory system.
I have never seen pine scented F10 myself.

Be very careful with bathing - they do not need regular bathing. Even my long haired boy never got bathed. I just kept his hair around his back end cut short.

Guinea pigs don’t litter potty train.
 
Some people seem to think you can train them to pee in a box of hay but I have had no success myslef, they peed everywhere but the box! I will go online and order some f10 and a spray bottle now thanks for your help. I will send the name of the foam in a bit when I can get to the bottle.

I don’t understand where the infection has come from as they are cleaned out regularly, bums trimmed, just fed hay with a few nuggets and veg. Got told my black girl is overweight mum said she eats 95% hay so she isnt overfed, I just think she is big.
 
No guinea pigs cannot be properly trained - ie they will not get up from where they are resting and go somewhere specific whenever they need to toilet. (Piggies are not like Rabbits - rabbits are trainable - they will get up from where they are resting to go to a litter tray).
Piggies may pee and poop incidentally where they are eating so that is why if you put hay in a tray then it will catch a lot of it but they will still pee in other places around the cage.

Without a diagnosis of fungal, you can only surmise whether it could be fungal - it’s just that crusty skin, hair coming out etc is also a possible fungal sign if mites have been ruled out. but fungal spores can come in via contaminated items such as hay, shoes, bedding or from damp environments etc. If it is fungal then you may never know the source hence all you can do is disinfect with f10 and and get a diagnosis and treatment

Regarding being overweight, make sure you check her heft yourself. You put your hands around the ribs to see what you can feel.
It is unusual for piggies to become overweight with a good diet. It really only happens is they are fed incorrectly proportions of pellets in particular

This guide explains how to check heft
Weight and Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support
 
I am so sorry for my delay in writing there is a lot going on here and I am not coping with the fatigue. So she was given chlorexyderm, to be applied to the sore patches. They are/treating it as bacterial unless it gets worse. She seems better today but the foam is making her fur so sticky and hard that/is is very difficult to find. The scabs, so it could be they have gone or it could be we can’t find them in here thick dense fur. Her sister has one little patch and is also being treated with the same foam. Thank fully the other cage does not see to be affected -I can only assume his scab was in fact an injury!?
They say they did not find mites but have not ruled mites out so do not bath yet incase (they will need a bath once I have finished with the foam it is awful, oily and sticky almost like hairspray stuck in their coat.)

I ordered the f10, I had to be careful as Amazon does sell the pine scent too! So if anyone ever asks about a cleaner make sure to tell them to get the unscented version!

Once it arrived, I dilute it as instructed. It gets sprayed on and then wiped off straight away with a bit of kitchen roll? Is it safe for the piggies esp if still wet? (Some places on line suggest you can even use it to bathe sores so I guess it is not toxic?) or does it need to be totally dry before the y go back in the cage? We change their liner every 2 days. Do they need spraying with f10 that often or will once a week suffice?

Assuming it is bacterial or fungal, what to do with their wooden houses? Spray with f10 and left to dry or put straight back in?
I had already got new woven tunnel and houses so I can throw the old ones and once they are all better give them the new ones.
 
F10SC is a disinfectant which does not need to be rinsed off. Spray, let it dry and then the piggies are fine to be in the cage

F10SC X D is a dual version disinfectant but with a detergent cleaner in it as well and that does need to be wiped off.

Either one of these are fine to use for the cage

The version that can be used on sores is an antiseptic version , not the disinfectant version.

If both piggies in a cage get the same sores then it adds weight to it being fungal (or mites)

If it is bacterial then the wooden houses will be fine. If it is fungal then the houses need to be soaked in a bucket and left for a few hours. Then leave for a day or so to dry and then they can go back in the cage.
 
We did tell the vet that both of them have it but 🤷‍♀️. They say it is bacterial. I imagine this foam will do nothing for fungal infection but they want us to wait til it gets worse. Soak the wooden houses in a bucket of f10? Will a normal wash be ok for the fleeces and for the fleece/fabric things be ok? We have fleecey corner hides and fabric wrapped round half the cage to provide darkness and seclusion.
 
A bacterial treatment won’t cure a fungal infection, although it will obviously help with any bacteria which appear as a result of open wounds.

Yes make up a container of diluted solution and stand the houses submerged in it. F10 will kill any fungal spores which may have got into the wood

A normal wash if it’s bacterial I would think would be ok. If it is fungal then the fleece items need to be hot washed
 
I mean they did seem to have improved a bit? If they improve and heal completely would you think it is Infact a bacterial infection? It certainly has not got any worse inthe last two days.
 
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