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Urgent help for chip!

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jess_2745

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My mums friends guinea pig has mites. Shes been taking it to the vets and apparently its not getting any better. She has asked me to look after it for for her. I got the guinea pig tonight and it is in a horrendous state. The vet she was taking it to has been giving ivermectin injections every 2 weeks and knows nothing basically.

I'm taking it to my vets on monday as I'm working tomorrow and i just need some advice.

He has a lot of hair loss and an area of about 3cm that is just weeping and bleeding skin. What would be best to do about this? Bathe in salt water?
He is also having troubles pooing as his bum is getting full of soft and hard poos. I've cleaned it out and I'm giving him critical care to keep his guts moving and will give him some pro biotics.

He's quite skinny and his eyes are crusty. You can barely pick him up he is in that much pain.

When i take him to the vets i expect he will need antibiotics due to his wounds. Also can vets give you ivermectin to administer as a topical solution? The vets he was going to before have been injecting him right next to his wound which is so painful for him.

Sorry for the long post but I'm really worried and wont be surprised if he doesnt make it. Luckily she has said she will pay for any treatment.
 
I'm really sorry I have no GP experience but it sounds like a case of serious neglect to me hun. When one of my bunnies had a wound on her skin we bathed it in salt water and then put Sudacrem on it if you have any in. It's brilliant stuff.

I really hope he makes it through this hun x
 
Sounds like he needs urgent pain relief :( Can you not take him to the emergancy vets or a vets open on Sundays? (((Vibes))) for the little man x
 
Go to a health food shop and get a tube of Green People Organic Baby salve.This is very soothing and forms a protective film over the sore.Do not bathe as this will make it worse.

Ivermectin by inj.is fine for severe cases,but the topical version is more pleasant for the gp.Zeno 45o or Pharmaq 8% are both good.You can get Zeno from a vet and Pharmaq fromPharmaq webshop.

IMaryh
 
Oh my that's so sad. I really feel for the poor lad. I hope you can help him.

Can't guinea pigs have calpol for the pain (0.2ml) ? I think they can but sure an expery will be along to verify.

As for the sores, they sound horrendous. Wouldn't a salt solution hurt? I don't know.

Hope you sort him out. Is he not eating?
 
I have used xeno450 before and had excellent results on minor cases. I shall ask the vets if we can go down that route then as i think the injections are painful and aren't really an option due to his wound. I feel so awful but i really cant take him until monday as I'm working all day.

I've just fed him some critical care and he has a good appetite and did a normal poo which is a good sign. I don't think he can reach round to his bum because of his painful wounds. I only just got him so don't know if hes eating on his own. I will give him so veggies and pellets and see if he picks anything out to eat. Hes got loads of hay to munch on and nest in too.

I thought they could have calpol but not sure? I can't actually get in the scales as he squeals when you pick him up and trys to leg it if you put him in an uncomfortable position.
 
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Are you sure he hasnt got a fungal infection also
 
He has this midly before and it cleared up using the xeno450 but she didnt bother to treat until all signs had disappeared and it has flared up again, so i would assume it is mites as the xeno helped.

I don't have experience with fungal infections so wouldnt know the symptoms etc.
 
Poor guy. Bless you Jess for trying to sort him out.

Hope someone can clarify about the calpol so he can have some pain relief.
 
Hi,

We once had a guinea pig like this he'd been neglected at a nursery school and he had bad mites and open wounds.
In the end the vet had to do surgery to the wounds which was successful.
He was givin ivermectine by 2 drops behind the ears as well.
We also gave him a probiotic and metacam which is a pain relief.

Hope this is of some use to you.

Jaye.
 
i've had a search on here and both alcesterpig and ccc4 says 0.2ml every 12 hours is fine to do until you get painkillers from the vets.
 
Do it then hun. Hope he gets a bit of temporary relief.
Keep us updated on how he does.
 
sunny

ive just had young male i rescuded with same simtons cost me so far at vets
£ 100 hes said a bad reaction to mites hes got mange to always crying hes had to needles 1 pain and antie boitic and i have to give hime by mouth anty boitic every moring i just wipe his sores with warm water but he realy crys when you toch him hes a lovely chap fingers crossed
 
Awww good luck in trying to get him some pain relief, does no one near have any? I have a tiny bit of metacam left but I'm so far away :( xx Hope he's feeling better today with a new fab mummy x
 
this to me doesnt sound like mites,if the shots are not working then maybe its something different,
it sounds like a fungal infection to me
Fungal can spread all over the body and if it is very bad can go internal to,the most noticable thing would be white flakes of skin attached to the ends of the hair and looks like dandruff,it can be very itchy and painful and piggys can scratch themselves and make open wounds from being itchy,crusty eyes is another thing that can happen,i would definantely get to a proper GP vet very soon as severe fungal can start to cause seizures and much worse things too,the treatment would depend on severity and if its external or internal as well,a good vet will know what to do or pm Alcesterpigs or CCC4 for more help x
 
It could be a bit of both types of skin problem - the condition will improve slightly if the condition you are treating for is present, but the condition will not resolve entirely if something else is also going on. Guineas can have both fungal and parasitic problems at the same time. The treatment for such a situation would typically be:

Day 1 - Ivermectin
Day 4 - Antifungal bath
Day 10 - Ivermectin
Day 14 - Antifungal bath

This can be repeated a third time, as follows, if necessary:

Day 20 - Ivermectin
Day 24 - Antifungal bath

Calpol can be used for pain relief, dose of 0.2ml up to twice a day.
What will be most effective at present is soothing the sores, this should ease any itchiness (pruritis) and prevent the sores from worsening. The best creams to use to soothe the wounds are Bepanthen (baby nappy rash cream), Aloe Vera gel or ointment, or the cream recommended by Mary (see post by Delia). Gorgeous Guineas or Galen's Garden Green Cream should also be effective, but you'll have to wait for the post for them!
 
carmer a bit now

jenny_ren49 said:
ive just had young male i rescuded with same simtons cost me so far at vets
£ 100 hes said a bad reaction to mites hes got mange to always crying hes had to needles 1 pain and antie boitic and i have to give hime by mouth anty boitic every moring i just wipe his sores with warm water but he realy crys when you toch him hes a lovely chap fingers crossed
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the pain relive injections working now for sunny he seems carmer i bathe his wonds every day and also i gie him by mouth antybotic omily miterthe flake of dand druf have cleard up coat looking better well got to go and feed al my others now by all
 
I gave him some calpol before i went to work this morning and just been feeding him now and he seems brighter, his eyes are clear today. He was kept on shavings so that probably wasn't helping his eyes. His bum was blocked up again though. I've got some aloe vera gel at the stable which is unopened so will put some of that on this evening.

I really think it is mites as when he was treated with xeno 450 weekly it was basically cleared up. However she didnt continue with the treatments. She said that after his injection he gets better but then after a week he goes backwards again as they were only doing fortnightly jabs. However he might have both so we shall see tomorrow when i take him to the vets.

I know some people say mites can be spread to other guinea pigs and some say that a guinea always has mites but they only affect them when they're ill or stressed. What is the general thought on this? He was in with 2 other boys but they bullied him. They don't have any signs of mites/fungal.
 
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Poor little chap. A couple of ours have had mites but it always cleared up after the invermectin.. I hope your little Chip gets better soon, poor little fellow.
 
I gave him some more calpol at 8 and some critical care. His bum was blocked again! but not with soft poo like before, it was hard normal poos. I've only ever owned 2 boars which dont have this trouble so i assume its not normal?

I also put some aloe vera on his sores and he seems to be a bit brighter. Thank you for everyones kinds words and replies. Much appreciated.
 
Isn't the poo getting stuck impaction? And has to be done daily in some cases forever?

I'm so pleased he seems brighter. Good job!
 
chip

jess_2745 said:
I gave him some calpol before i went to work this morning and just been feeding him now and he seems brighter, his eyes are clear today. He was kept on shavings so that probably wasn't helping his eyes. His bum was blocked up again though. I've got some aloe vera gel at the stable which is unopened so will put some of that on this evening.

I really think it is mites as when he was treated with xeno 450 weekly it was basically cleared up. However she didnt continue with the treatments. She said that after his injection he gets better but then after a week he goes backwards again as they were only doing fortnightly jabs. However he might have both so we shall see tomorrow when i take him to the vets.

I know some people say mites can be spread to other guinea pigs and some say that a guinea always has mites but they only affect them when they're ill or stressed. What is the general thought on this? He was in with 2 other boys but they bullied him. They don't have any signs of mites/fungal.
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hi jess how is chip mines getting a little bit better he seems carmer
 
Sounds like this poor little chap has been through it, bless him. Well done you for agreeing to take him on and helping him :)

Impaction is quite common in boars although usually older boars - do you have any idea how old he is ? You will need to clean him out daily and this will need doing probably for the rest of his life - can get worse as they get older and need doing more than this if he's particularly bad :(

Mange/mites etc is considered by alot of vets to be catching but I've never fund this to be the case and certainly it can be caused and aggrivated by stress. Your theory of him being continuously bullied would be a prime example of a very stressed guinea. Hopefully now that he is away from this awful situation and having some proper care, food and veterinary attention he'll make a speedy recovery. The creams suggested, particularly Bepanthen and Aloe vera gel will help to soothe his poor skin but please dont bathe it - water seems to cause major irritation to the already inflamed skin.

Really hope your vet can sort the little fellow out and make him more comfortable.

Teresa x
 
Thought i'd give an update.

Just got back from the vets and she was horrified. He is on metacam for how ever long he needs it and Baytril for two week. I just wanted to check these doses are correct. Metacam 3 drops orally once a day. Baytril 0.2ml twice a day. He is also going to have the xeno450 drops once a week insted of injections which I'm pleased about. She also said to keep using aloe vera/bepanthen on his sores.

He's only 2 years old so ill be interested to see if his impaction clears up when he can move around more. If it is weak muscles i expect i will have him indefinately as his owner wont want to clean his bum every day. He is so cute though. I will try and get some pictures up later.
 
I've used 0.2ml baytril with success on 2 pigs with URI's. What's it for? Does he have a skin infection (the sores ouch)

Glad it's no more injections for him too.

I hope in a way his impaction doesn't clear up as sounds like he's much better off with you than where he has been.
 
Yeah the baytril is for his sores, they are crusty and weeping and obviously bits are getting in it, they look horrendous.

I hope i can keep him too, he is a sweetheart.
 
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