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Weight Loss, Hair Loss :-(

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Pogoodill

Junior Guinea Pig
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Our eldest and dearest guinea Caramella, a female of perhaps 3 years of age (I'm guessing) lost a fair bit of weight (100g) over the last few weeks. We weigh them weekly. I have been giving her extra to try to build her up a bit. Nothing wrong with her appetite at all - she appears to eat the same amount as previously (which is more than most of our five). I noticed at the same time she was looking a bit unkempt rather than sleek and now have noticed she had lost most of her hair on her rear and underbelly and her skin feels dry. Again - no signs of any scratching or discomfort. If it wasn't for noticing the weight and hair loss, I would say she was fine.

Any ideas?

Thanks for your interest in our guinea, and look forward to meeting you on the forum!

Pogoodill
 
Pogoodill, post: 1951220, member: 124231"]Our eldest and dearest guinea Caramella, a female of perhaps 3 years of age (I'm guessing) lost a fair bit of weight (100g) over the last few weeks. We weigh them weekly. I have been giving her extra to try to build her up a bit. Nothing wrong with her appetite at all - she appears to eat the same amount as previously (which is more than most of our five). I noticed at the same time she was looking a bit unkempt rather than sleek and now have noticed she had lost most of her hair on her rear and underbelly and her skin feels dry. Again - no signs of any scratching or discomfort. If it wasn't for noticing the weight and hair loss, I would say she was fine.

Any ideas?

Thanks for your interest in our guinea, and look forward to meeting you on the forum!

Pogoodill[/QUOTE]

Hi and welcome

Please see a vet for mange mites, fungal skin infection or perhaps ovarian cysts. Start topping her up with syringe feed and water, as much as she will take on her own to help keep up her weight.
Syringe Feeding & Medicating Guides, Probiotics Links, First Aid Kit...

Could you please add your country, state/province or UK county, so we can help you more efficiently and tailor any advice to what is available and doable where you are. We have got members and enquiries from all over the world. Please click on your username on the top, then go to personal details and scroll down to location. This will make it appear underneath your username in every post you make. Thank you!
 
Pogoodill said:
"Syringe Feeding & Medicating Guides, Probiotics Links, First Aid Kit..." - was that supposed to be a hyperlink?
Click to expand...

Our syringe feeding guide (which contains all the relevant informatio) is stickied in our Caring for An Ill Guinea Pig Section. I have stickied a link at the top of the Health/Illness section so it can be found by people missing that specific subsection. ;)
 
Wiebke said:
Our syringe feeding guide (which contains all the relevant informatio) is stickied in our Caring for An Ill Guinea Pig Section. I have stickied a link at the top of the Health/Illness section so it can be found by people missing that specific subsection. ;)
Click to expand...
Thanks for your time! Will take a look tomorrow.
 
Hi again.

Update. Caramella still drinking loads, appetite unchanged i.e. plenty of food. Still scratching a lot. Dry skin. Doesn't appear too distressed. Skin although dry is not even pink, let alone red which is good. Used Invermicin drops and fungal spray. Massaged in some coconut oil last ni to relieve dryness. She wasn't massively impressed but wasn't at all distressed. Bought some Bag Balm online which we're going to try on her to orrow to assist with the dryness. Will invermicin shift fleas too or do we need to wait and treat them separately? I'm so sensitive to fleas I can usually 'detect' them even if there's only one of them!
 
Guinea pigs don't get fleas. What us her diagnosis as it sounds like you are attempting to treat several different conditions at once which can be counter productive. Has she seen a vet?
 
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Lady Kelly said:
Guinea pigs don't get fleas. What us her diagnosis as it sounds like you are attempting to treat several different conditions at once which can be counter productive. Has she seen a vet?
Click to expand...
Hello Lady Kelly

Thanks for your interest in our guinea! She has not seen a vet at this stage. After researching her symptoms online we discovered the normal course of action was to treat for mites (most likely) and, if this was ineffective, to try anti-fungal treatment. Her group of symptoms do not fall neatly and definitely into one diagnosis, so by process of elimination we are treating her one by one, starting with the most likely. Her Invermicin course has now come to an end and now we have started the anti-fungal treatment. Meanwhile, I am hoping to give some relief to the symptoms whilst we try to treat the cause. Will keep you posted. And thanks again.
 
Can guinea pigs really not catch fleas? We have been periodically treating all our herd with anti-flea treatment since we have had them when not only they buy I have been scratching more than usual! After a few weeks, both I and the guineas are fine again....?
 
Pogoodill said:
Can guinea pigs really not catch fleas? We have been periodically treating all our herd with anti-flea treatment since we have had them when not only they buy I have been scratching more than usual! After a few weeks, both I and the guineas are fine again....?
Click to expand...

Hi! There no species specific fleas to guinea pigs.

What kind of ivermectin are you using? Please be aware that shop products are too low dosed to be effective against guinea pigs suffering from an acute outbreak and you can easily make their suffering worse instead of better.

That is why we strongly do not recommend to home treat and to treat on spec. You have to also be extremely careful when treating topically for mites and fungal at the same time. it is in the end often cheaper to go straight to a good vet than going your own when you are not sure what you are up against.
 
You should only treat for mites when they have them. If you are treating them when they don't have them, you could make them immune to the meds.
 
I notice your guinea pig has been suffering for over 3 weeks now and your own diagnoses this far have not worked out. Please visit a knowledgeable vet so you can be sure that you are treating the correct thing and preventing your pet from further suffering.
 
I recommend strongly that you take her to see a vet. If she is losing weight and hair and scratching, and your attempts at home treatment have failed then she really does need to see a vet. Only a vet can diagnose whether the problem is fungal or mites and to prescribe the correct treatment at the correct dosage. If it is mites or fungal then there may be an underlying problem that only a vet can diagnose for you and give her the correct treatment. Please stop using home treatments and take her to see a qualified vet for formal diagnosis and treatment.
 
Thank you all for your kind advice. We are trying to do our best within our budget to take care of our guineas. Sadly we do not have bottomless wallets, and both decided that we would seek advice and treat them in the best way we could. Having researched online I see from many responses to forums around the world we have looked at that vets are guessing themselves a lot of the time with such a group of symptoms and common well documented issues are as well treated at home with common well documented remedies without the need to be taking them to the vets on every occasion. I appreciate that there are other views expressed here, but I'm afraid I do not share them. I am able to read dosage myself on the side of a box, I do not feel that getting this information from a professional I have paid money to is benefitting anyone apart from the vet perhaps.

I have nothing against vets or experts for that matter, but like GPs (general practitioners, not guinea pigs) they work on guesswork much of the time and are often under pressure from drugs companies to sell their solutions. I am skeptical I am afraid and am not in the bracket of animal lovers who would mortgage their home to get a guinea with a rare blood group a transfusion in California.

If my views have broken any forum rules, please let me know and I will of course respect that and withdraw my membership from it.

Again, I am very appreciative of the time you have taken to give your advice, and your care and concern for our guinea (who appears to be improving now, thanks!)
 
You need to take her to the vet, you can't keep treating your piggy with whatever you think, according to advice on line. We all know when looking online we can twist advice, to suit.
Now don't take this the wrong way, but when you got your piggy, you also took onboard the vet, & vet bills. You really are playing with fire, by going online to find what what's wrong. You have to remember that all these meds & creams are soaking into her skin, so god knows what you are doing to your piggy. It may be best if you surrender her to a rescue. Where your piggy will get expert care.
 
Mite infestation is often not apparent, even when a sample of skin is observed under a microscope, so my understanding is that the vet begins with a course of anti-mite treatment. The most popular at the moment is Invermicin. We have given her a full course of that treatment, with a gap of 10 days between doses as per instructions. Now that course has finished, we have given her a precautionary squirt of anti-fungal treatment (the second most likely cause as I understand it) and some natural moisturiser. Her weight is steady at around 970g. She is still scratching a bit, but not excessively. She doesn't appear distressed. There are no open wounds, her skin is normal colour. Her appetite is fine, her behaviour normal. I respect greatly your passion for animals, but I simply cannot understand how I am being cruel. The guineas, all from rescue, are having a ball compared to the wild or couped up with 20 others in a small cage in a rescue centre! They're loving it!
 
I did not say you were cruel & never inferred it. What about a change of hay from the norm I know the dam things live in there. We always use xeno 450 for mites. Did you use a pet shop mite treatment.
 
No one is trying to accuse you of anything.

You are a dedicated piggie owner and I appreciate your effort in researching. BUT your pig needs treatment/diagnosis from a professional (and piggy-savvy) vet. Nothing "over-the-counter" can replace professional treatment.

I'm truly sorry about your financial issues, and I'm not insinuating you rushed into being an owner, but what was your plan if your pig needed an emergency surgery or something along those lines?

Everyone has your animal's best interest at heart and so do you, but this forum and the rest of what you find online can only do so much.
 
You know I did wonder about that. I know every guinea has a lot of contact with hay but she LIVES beneath the manger. I am sorry if I misunderstood what you were saying and again really appreciate the time you and others take to reply to us. We will perhaps try and source some from somewhere else as a precaution. Rest assured if our precious Caramella appears to be in any distress I will seek out further expert help. I'm not against them per se. They are brilliant people. It probably isn't something that is often said, but things aren't always black and white. My remark about blood transfusions and California might seem facetious but in reality everyone has a limit however much they love their pets. Imagine someone said yes there is someone who can cure this,some professor halfway round the world who will make Caramella all better but it will cost you ten grand.... Does owning a pet mean a blank cheque? I'm not trying to be argumentative, I really appreciate the views expressed. I just want to dig a bit deeper so I know whether or not I am suitable to continue to keep pets or not.
 
Hey. Good news guys! Caramella appears to have made a full recovery! Not seen her scratching for several days now. Weight has now been stable for three weeks and her coat has all grown back. We thought we were going to have to knit her a pair of leggings for a while there. Thanks again everyone for your love and concern for her. Will post a pic finally now I know how to do it!
 
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