Showing Symptoms Post Treatment (possible Mites)

[Malice]

Just before Christmas I took my piggy Syllabub to the vets as she had a rather nasty scab on her back, which I suspected was self inflicted due to mites. The vets prescribed her Xeno 450 for it, so over the past month she's been having the regular spot on treatment. I also ordered some more Xeno 450 online for the other piggies to treat all of them just in case.

Poglet, Posset, Toggle and Sticklebrick all had their final doses on the third of this month (so less than a week ago; Syllabub had hers before then). All seemed fine; however, since then I have noticed that Poglet has developed the typical balding 'v' on her back and scaly skin; Posset also seems to be developing the 'v', although her skin seems clear enough (although she's very itchy if you touch her back). Toggle and Sticklebrick seem fine. Syllabub's fur has mostly grown back and her skin is much clearer now than it was when we started treatment (just some residual scaliness).

I'm just a little confused as to why to of my piggies seem to be displaying mites symptoms after the treatment, when they were fine before? My initial thought was that maybe it was fungal rather than mites, but then why would Syllabub have got better? Is it usual to still see some symptoms after treatment, or is it possible that the symptoms have just been 'delayed'? I suppose it could be that it's fungal and mites, in which case I'll still need to treat the former.

I've ordered some shampoo off of Gorgeous Guineas, which I will be bathing all the piggies with when it arrives (I've been putting off bathing them as I haven't wanted to interfere with the spot on treatment), which I'm hoping will sort out some of the issues.

I was also wondering if it would be safe to give Poglet and Posset a fourth dose of Xeno 450 in a few days (ten days after what was their third treatment) just in case, or would it be best just to focus on treating it as fungal for now?

I will be booking a vet's appointment for them this week, but I was just wondering what the best course of action between then and now was. Otherwise the guinea pigs all seem healthy and happy, eating, drinking and pooping well!

 

[helen105281]

I recently had a mange mite issue with 4 of my pigs and 2 of those needed a fourth dose, all had the v. They were all treated by injection though. Fungal is possible like you say, and there is a fungal condition called broken back which also has the v. So treating for fungal too would be a good idea if symptoms are not improving. Just make sure you don't bath within 48 hours of the mite treatment. For fungal I usually treat with Imaverol dips.

 

[Malice]

Thanks for your response! =) I'm just waiting for the shampoo to arrive and then we'll bathe them (I have a cold at the moment anyway, so am trying to avoid handling them anyway). Glad to know that four doses of Ivermectin is safe though! Previously I've only ever had piggies treated with the injection, so that's what I am used to, but the spot on seems a bit kinder to them

 

[Swissgreys]

I had a similar experience recently, where Eddi showed all the symptoms of mites and was treated with Xeno for them (as were all the girls, even though they didn't have any symptoms).
At the end of the course things did improve, but then Eddi developed the scaly skin and more sores (in a different location), so it was back to the vets, and he was treated topically for fungal.
Again the girls showed no signs, although Eddi's skin culture came back positive for fungal.
After 21 days of treatment the scaliness and itchiness is gone, and I think we are finally on top of it.
I have no idea how he got either condition, but sometimes it happens. My DH suggested that the stress f living with 3 ladies bought it on....

By the way I adore the names of your piggies. I would love to know how you chose them.