Suspected Burrowing Mites On Baby Pig

[RosieMaia]

Hi there!

As some of you maybe know, I recently brought home a very tiny baby. She's growing up nicely, but vet and I suspect she has mites. In the early stages, it looked more like a non-dermatophyte fungal infection, but now it's looking more and more like mites and she's very itchy and sore. Unfortunately, she's still 200 grams and the vet is very, very reluctant to use either selamectin or ivermectin on her. Suggested using neem oil to control the pruritus, but I don't think it's had any effect, presumably because the mites are burrowing and the oil doesn't penetrate in the skin that well.

The other three pigs have been treated with ivermectin preventatively, so I'm not worried about them. Is there something else I can do about Maggie for the time being?

 

[DAH]

Is she eating ok?

 

[helen105281]

I know vets in the UK can treat at a lower dose for pigs under a certain weight but am not sure what the minimum weight is. Hopefully someone will know. Has your vet considered a shampoo to use in the interim?

 

[RosieMaia]

I've been given an imidacloprid powder (same active ingredient as Advantage), but the vet explained it has limited effect on the mites.

She's eating fine and the infestation isn't very severe - we noticed the first skin changes less than a week ago, and initially thought it was fungal, because it looked that way. The neem oil or the imidacloprid powder seem to provide some relief from the itching... Basically, my bet is reluctant to treat with selamectin and ivermectin unless the infestation becomes severe or she stops eating. As it is, she's bright and active, but uncomfortable.