Unsure whether Rosie's 'mites' is mites at all. Need a little advice.

[klee]

As you may have read Rosie has had some hair loss which the vet thought may have been caused by mites, however now I am doubting whether this is true.
The original thread is here: http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=94592


Initially I noticed that Rosie had a patch of hair loss on her back that was mainly hidden by the rest of her hair, which had been scratched.

This is the initial patch.

As per the vets advice all 4 guinea pigs have been treated with xeno450 and are due their 3rd and final treatment a week on Tuesday.
However, the initial patch of hairloss is still there, I'm not sure how much has grown back but she has also got some hairloss on her tummy and neck which I hadn't noticed until recently.

It looks pinker than it actually is

Again she still seems happy, lively and eating/drinking.

My plan is to get a vet appointment on Monday to find out what they think is going on and to get a second opinion, I don't think the vet we saw was very cavy savvy.

My thoughts at present are:
could it be fungal ?What other signs would I be looking for?
Could it possibly be ovarian cysts, from what I have read hairloss is normally on the side (which Rosie generally doesn't have), but it also talks about enlarged nipples which Rosie seems to have. I have had a feel of her tummy and from the side I can feel a lump (internal rather than on the surface), a little bit above her rear leg :...
I don't know if this is the right sort of location?
Is there anything else it could possibly be?
She is 6 if that is of any help.

Thanks

Kayleigh x

 

[Suzygpr]

First and foremost I would treat for mites as it is the most likely cause for that pattern of hairloss underneath the body, irritation from the bedding would be my next thought. A patch of hairloss on the lower centre back is quite common in rexoid breeds, again treat as for mites.

Which treatment are you using?

Hairloss due to ovarian cysts tends to be on the sides of the tummy rather than underneath, as 75% of guinea pigs go on to develop cysts and the vast majority give no problems at all I would not be too concerned at this stage unless her behaviour has changed.

Suzy x

 

[hazeyg]

Hope rosie gets better soon- the lump could be an enlarged lymph node becasue shes under the weather with the skin issue. Enlarged nipples- have you a comparison, if they have always been like that I wouldnt worry too much.
Healing vibes x

 

[klee]

First and foremost I would treat for mites as it is the most likely cause for that pattern of hairloss underneath the body, irritation from the bedding would be my next thought. A patch of hairloss on the lower centre back is quite common in rexoid breeds, again treat as for mites.

Which treatment are you using?

Hairloss due to ovarian cysts tends to be on the sides of the tummy rather than underneath, as 75% of guinea pigs go on to develop cysts and the vast majority give no problems at all I would not be too concerned at this stage unless her behaviour has changed.

Suzy x

Thank you Suzy. I'm just worrying myself as the hairloss doesn't seem to be getting any better. I know its a cycle treatment over the 6 weeks but i would have thought i may have seen an improvement.
We are using xeno450 and will finish the course next tuesday.

We have always used shavings and haven't had any problems, although we had a bale from july i think, just finished it off yesterday and the shavings were alot larger so maybe this hasn't helped. We have a new bale which feels a bit softer and is smaller shavings.

She is a very placid and tolerant guinea pig and her behaviour hasn't changed really.

Thank you for your reassurance

 

[klee]

Hope rosie gets better soon- the lump could be an enlarged lymph node becasue shes under the weather with the skin issue. Enlarged nipples- have you a comparison, if they have always been like that I wouldnt worry too much.
Healing vibes x

Thank you.

Unfortunately i don't have any pictures, they just seem larger than what i remember and compared to the other girls they are bigger. I suppose it may just be down to age.

Another question, i know I'm not to give her a proper wash until 48 hours after treatment has finished, but would i be able to just wash/clean her bottom.area? She has quite ahirt hair there so it is hard to brush any muck out?

 

[Guinea pigs <3]

Sending Rosie healing vibes, she's such a cutie! Have you considered other types of bedding as I know that shavings can irritate piggies skin sometimes? It might be worth trying a week on something else to see if it clears up?

 

[klee]

Sending Rosie healing vibes, she's such a cutie! Have you considered other types of bedding as I know that shavings can irritate piggies skin sometimes? It might be worth trying a week on something else to see if it clears up?

Thank you. We have tried fleece, but it just isn't feasible with them being outside, Rosie has always been on shavings for 6 years and up until recently we haven't had any problens although the most recent shavings were bigger flakes.
Does anyone have any suggestions for bedding? I find alot of the bags of bedding are really small and expensive for the amount you get. I actually have a gift voucher for a garden centre near me that sells pet stuff, i will have a look and see what they have later on.
x

 

[hazeyg]

Whilst her skin is sore I would move her on to a softer bedding just to make her more comfy, as you say its unlikely the shavings caused the problem. I know with mites bathing can dry up the skin and make it worse but yet for fungal its a necessary treatment. The way the baldness is it looks like my Theos fungal and given shes had two treatments its certainly a possibility as its not responding. But fungal older than 1-2 weeks starts to scale and flake.
What would be worthwhile and wont cause the skin to get worse is the gut the cage and clean with F10 which will kill any fungal spores that may be there. But as for Rosie as i havent seen her I'm hesitant to say treatr her for fungus when mites is just as plausable.
I would go to a better vet for a second opinion if it was me and make sure to mention the lump, nipples etc x

 

[hazeyg]

A bedding that * could use and chuck away is tea bag bedding, lovely and fluffy and soft. Its about 16 quid delivered though. But worth it if shes more comfortable . You can get it for the pet food company

 

[piggyfan]

Oh poor little baby. I really hope you find out what is wrong and she gets better soon.

 

[hazeyg]

forgot to add the link :
http://www.thepetfoodco.co.uk/store...id=18&int_subcategory_id=0&int_product_id=336

 

[klee]

Whilst her skin is sore I would move her on to a softer bedding just to make her more comfy, as you say its unlikely the shavings caused the problem. I know with mites bathing can dry up the skin and make it worse but yet for fungal its a necessary treatment. The way the baldness is it looks like my Theos fungal and given shes had two treatments its certainly a possibility as its not responding. But fungal older than 1-2 weeks starts to scale and flake.
What would be worthwhile and wont cause the skin to get worse is the gut the cage and clean with F10 which will kill any fungal spores that may be there. But as for Rosie as i havent seen her I'm hesitant to say treatr her for fungus when mites is just as plausable.
I would go to a better vet for a second opinion if it was me and make sure to mention the lump, nipples etc x

The vets gave us some trigene (i think) disinfectant they use on all their cages etc, to be diluted 1 in 50. I have used it twice on the hutch, not sure if it kills fungal spores though.
I think i will go back to the vet that recommended we use the vets we recently saw as thry are recommended on the forum and he was pretty good when we saw him with Esme.

As dor what you mentioned about fungal flaking, she has quite dandruffy, scurfy skin but I have been told this is common with the breed, but this isn't a change to normal
x

 

[Poppy'sMum]

I think your best bet is to take her back to the vet's as the tummy hair loss isn't normal. The vet may want to do a skin scrape to send off to test for fungal issues, as it's possible to have both mites & fungal together. Our vet told us to take ours back if the hair loss hadn't improved within 2 weeks. Poor Rosie, I hope she feels better soon

 

[klee]

I think your best bet is to take her back to the vet's as the tummy hair loss isn't normal. The vet may want to do a skin scrape to send off to test for fungal issues, as it's possible to have both mites & fungal together. Our vet told us to take ours back if the hair loss hadn't improved within 2 weeks. Poor Rosie, I hope she feels better soon

Well the vet we saw said to bring her in in 3 weeks which would be this tuesday, if there isn't any change. However the vet we saw wasn't very confident with guinea pigs so i will ask the other vet to get her records. Hopefully we can get an appointment on Monday as i am working away tueday and wednesday.

 

[Wiebke]

If it is a consolation, my teddy Nerys looked very similar a few weeks ago; she definitely had mites (and not fungal, as her sister Nia a couple of weeks earlier) and needed a full course of panomec (ivermectin) injections to get on top of them, but that has done the trick. Nerys also has thinning fur underneath, but no signs of ovarian cysts or hormonal problems. In her case, it is probably due to her greedy nature and the resulting major big bum! Nerys also sometimes suffers from dry, flaky skin due to her thick coat not being aerated properly. It has taken me quite some time to sort out what is due to what... mallethead

The hair on the bald patch should start growing back within a month. Give your piggy a nice skin soothing/dehydrating bath a few days after the last treatment. ALWAYS finish any course of mites treatment!

If the patches don't disappear, you can have a skin scrape taken and have it analysed for fungal, but brace yourself that that could come back as negative. I played that particular game with Nerys last summer after both mites and fungal treatment by the vet didn't do anything. In the end, the bald patch disappeared on its own...

 

[hazeyg]

Bare in mind skin scrapes are quite sore as well x

 

[klee]

If it is a consolation, my teddy Nerys looked very similar a few weeks ago; she definitely had mites (and not fungal, as her sister Nia a couple of weeks earlier) and needed a full course of panomec (ivermectin) injections to get on top of them, but that has done the trick. Nerys also has thinning fur underneath, but no signs of ovarian cysts or hormonal problems. In her case, it is probably due to her greedy nature and the resulting major big bum! Nerys also sometimes suffers from dry, flaky skin due to her thick coat not being aerated properly. It has taken me quite some time to sort out what is due to what... mallethead

The hair on the bald patch should start growing back within a month. Give your piggy a nice skin soothing/dehydrating bath a few days after the last treatment. ALWAYS finish any course of mites treatment!

If the patches don't disappear, you can have a skin scrape taken and have it analysed for fungal, but brace yourself that that could come back as negative. I played that particular game with Nerys last summer after both mites and fungal treatment by the vet didn't do anything. In the end, the bald patch disappeared on its own...

Thank you Wiebke. It's good to know others have experienced a similar thing with their own piggies. Rosie's hair is quite coarse and thick aswell, not as dense (I don't think) as Nerys but that may explain why her skin seems flaky.
I was planning on completing the course anyway, I know its not good to stop mid-course especially where parasites etc are concerned

Do you think it is worthwhile waiting until the treatment is finished before heading back to the vets? I don't think she is in discomfort, and is happy in herself if a little itchy.
x