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Skin infection/mites?

David&Carly

David&Carly

New Born Pup
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Hi all,

After some advice please. Our little piggy Wilbur started scratching and biting his back a lot over the last few days. His hair is falling out (or maybe he's pulling it out?) and it's clearly irritating him a lot. The skin is broken in places and looks quite sore - does anybody know what this might be? And how it can be treated?

We used biological washing powder to wash the pigs' fleece (we usually use non-bio) and I'm wondering if maybe Wilbur is allergic to it? But if he is his spine seems an odd place to have the reaction. We've washed all their bedding again with the usual powder, hoping it might make a difference

Thank you for any advice. Attached are some pictures.

David and Carly
 

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It sounds very much like mites, and the best thing to do is get him to a vet asap.
In the meantime please do not try to treat at home or with over the counter remedies and these rarely work, but mask the symptoms, making it much harder for a vet to diagnose properly.

The good news is that mites are easily treated and recovery is fast.
 
Sorry I can’t help you, but I wish your piggy a speedy recovery 😁
 
See a vet and ask for Xeno450, its 3 doses 2 weeks apart. Kills any skin parasites. Don't be fobbed off with Xeno50 which is 9x weaker as the name suggests, you'd need at least 7 or 8 soggy doses for an average size piggy and it all needs to soak into the skin not just go on the fur!
 
Thank you for the replies. I know the pictures make it quite hard to diagnose. We'll get him to a vet tomorrow evening. He's eating well and still jumping around so we're sure he's ok in himself.
 
David&Carly said:
Hi all,

After some advice please. Our little piggy Wilbur started scratching and biting his back a lot over the last few days. His hair is falling out (or maybe he's pulling it out?) and it's clearly irritating him a lot. The skin is broken in places and looks quite sore - does anybody know what this might be? And how it can be treated?

We used biological washing powder to wash the pigs' fleece (we usually use non-bio) and I'm wondering if maybe Wilbur is allergic to it? But if he is his spine seems an odd place to have the reaction. We've washed all their bedding again with the usual powder, hoping it might make a difference

Thank you for any advice. Attached are some pictures.

David and Carly
Click to expand...

Hi! Please see a vet. It looks more like skin parasites or a fungal skin infection to me. They require different treatment, so it is worth getting the correct diagnosis and good quality treatment to get on top of it once and for all.
What to check and look out for in new guinea pigs (vet checks, sexing, parasites&illness)
 
Just thought I should add that Xeno will kill all parasites as in mites and lice- if you have a fungal or bacterial infection Xeno wont work on that and you'll need something else like an antifungal or antibiotic.
 
A vets visit is definitely needed, I think it will be coincidence that you changed the washing powder when this happened. As Wiebke and PigglePuggle have said the treatment for the condition depends on what it is which is impossible to diagnose from a picture. The good news is that with prompt diagnosis and treatment piggies can recover very quickly from mites, lice, and fungal infections
 
Thanks. We have our other pig living next to Wilbur. He has the same hay. Would it be wise to take him to the vet just in case?
 
A great piggy vet here

Beaumont Sainsbury Animal Hospital
Nadene Stapleton
Royal College Street
London
London
NW1 0TU
020 7387 8134
 
David&Carly said:
Thanks. We have our other pig living next to Wilbur. He has the same hay. Would it be wise to take him to the vet just in case?
Click to expand...

It's up to you but I would definitely mention to the vet that he lives next to Wilbur. Do they have contact through the bars? Hay mites are very common but then fungal issues can be highly contagious too so they vet may or may not recommend treating the second piggy.
 
We checked Bertie (our other piggy) and he did have a dry patch on the small of his back but the skin doesn't appear to be cut or red in anyway.

Thanks for the vet suggestion sport_billy. We live in South east London. Are you able to recommend one this side of the river?

Thank you for all your help everyone.
 
Lady Kelly - they're separated by a piece of plywood with 1 inch holes so they can sniff and talk to one another.
 
Just a small update: we took both pigs to Andersons Vetinary Surgery in Bromley based on a fairly good amount of Google reviews and their proximity to where we live. The staff were great and the vet we saw had piggies of her own which was comforting.

Both Wilbur and Bert have been given Xeno drops (pipettes) over two weeks. We'll monitor their skin and itching and clean their enclosure again tonight.

We now have two very soggy looking pigs. Wilbur looks as though he's been out in the rain :( Both of them are eating well and squeaking as usual which we're taking as good signs.

A quick question. Bert was given 1 pipette of Xeno 450 (he weighs 1.2kg) and Wilbur was given 2 x Xeno 50 (he's currently around 950g). Does this sound like enough? We did make sure all of the liquid went onto the skin rather than the fur. I'm looking to buy some more online and wondering whether to get a box of 450.

Thanks for all the help guys.
 
My vet prefers half or three quarters of a tube of Xeno450 for smaller piggies rather than multiple doses of Xeno50 due to the sogginess and difficulty making sure all the liquid hits the skin!
We got a prescription for Xeno450 for the piggy with bald patches and mild mites but the vet said buying it cheaper online then treating the rest of the herd with the same product was a good option. I'd check with the vet, especially if the poor piggy is already drenched in Xeno50! They seem to like the taste too and luck it off each other which is a confounding factor in dosing...
 
Good point - thank you. I'll get the 450 in that case.

We were thinking about bathing them in the near future when this has cleared up using Manuka and Neem shampoo. We don't bath them regularly as we're sure it stresses them out (especially Bert). He just tries to climb up the sides of the bath all the time and ends up sliding down!
 
There is no need to bathe guinea pigs unless it is needed for a medical treatment. Mine never get bathed
 
We have read that. Neither of them are impacted or anything like that. Bert's bum does smell a little bit though and I thought it might be nice for him that's all. If the general consensus is to not bath them then we'll take that advice - thank you.
 
Bathing wont really help at all, just stress the piggies. Baths are only usually needed for long haired piggies with pee and poo soaked pants and even then a quick bum bath usually works
 
Evening all, it's been almost two weeks now since we took both our pigs to the vet. We are still concerned though with how Wilbur is getting on. He seems to be itching a lot (probably more than he was before). His wounds have scabbed but he's managed to reopen one of them and it's now slightly raised underneath. It has now scabbed over again but we're worried he'll just keep opening it up. He has multiple scabs on his body. He's eating and drinking still and as talkative as always.

We've just given him a dose of Xeno 450 and considering taking him back to the vets tomorrow. Interested to see what you guys think before we make another appointment.

Thank you
David
 
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