Worried about pigs

[Piggylet]

I have two guinea pigs. I took them to the vets two weeks ago as I suspected they had mites due to the amount of scratching they were doing and the few sore areas on them. They've just had their second dose (they had it yesterday) of xeno spot on, which was the recommendation from the vet ( 3 doses, two weeks apart). However they're still scratching, and today I've noticed some scabby areas on one of them, the other is a little dandruffy and a few bits of hair come out in a lump attached by a bit of skin/scab.

I know I need to see out the end of the treatment before panicking, so I have two more weeks to wait before taking them back to the vet,but has anyone got any ideas on what I could do to ease their itchiness and anything I could put on the sore patches to help them.

Also, anything it could be except mites? I've had a thorough look at them and can't see anything crawling,mainly just flakeyness. Thanks in advance, sorry its not very grammatically correct, I'm using my phone.

 

[lauralucy]

xeno spot on should be used 7-10 days apart not 2 weeks, 2 weeks is too long to leave in between and your starting from the beginning each time.

 

[Toffeewoffee]

Also you'll need to bath with nizoral shampoo (or similar) 48 hours after the xeno application, wet the piggies apply shampoo into a lather and leave for 4 - 5 mins then rinse thoroughly and dry thoroughly, you can apply sudocream to the affected area's this will help with healing, you can also put a tubigrip around them to act as a bandage and stop them from scratching it and making it worse, can you tell us where you are so we can recomend a savy vet?

You will need to disinfect the cage and toys thoroughly too.

Good luck to your boys.

 

[Piggylet]

xeno spot on should be used 7-10 days apart not 2 weeks, 2 weeks is too long to leave in between and your starting from the beginning each time.

Thanks. I'll know for the next dose. 2 weeks was the recommendation given by the vet, and alsothe instructions on the back of the pack - I didn't realise this wasn't the case.

Also you'll need to bath with nizoral shampoo (or similar) 48 hours after the xeno application, wet the piggies apply shampoo into a lather and leave for 4 - 5 mins then rinse thoroughly and dry thoroughly, you can apply sudocream to the affected area's this will help with healing, you can also put a tubigrip around them to act as a bandage and stop them from scratching it and making it worse, can you tell us where you are so we can recomend a savy vet?

I've done a quick google on Nizoral shampoo - is it a human shampoo? But presumably safe for guineas? I'll try and get some as soon as poss and get them bathed which hopefully shall soothe them. Sudocrem is great, we always have that about so will pop some on Suzy's sore areas. Emily just seems to be dandruffy really, I haven't seen any sore spots on her since the first application.

I live on the Norfolk/Suffolk border The vets I used was my local one, a friend of mine keeps small animals and recommended them as she felt they were capable and always done a good job with her animals. They also support a local rescue so I assumed them to be fine. However I'm open to any well recommended vets in my area from anyone else. I'm very much hoping that it'll clear up soon, I don't like to think of the piggys being uncomfortable

 

[Toffeewoffee]

Taverham Vets is fantastic, i cant rate them highly enough, but that is a fair trek from where you are i guess?

Yes it is a human shampoo but is safe for piggies, i used it on my Toffee earlier this year when she had problems, with that, the sudocream, stronghold (like spot on treatment) it worked a treat, she was also on Baytril at the time for an ear infection so no doubt that may have helped aswell.

The tubigrip would be a good investment aswell.

 

[Piggylet]

It is a little. I'll think I'll stick with what I've got, and try the shampoo if things don't improve then I'll re-investigate the vets.

Do I literally just rub in a little sudocrem, as I would do on a human? No need to dilute or wash off or anything? I may do that tonight and look at getting some Nizoral tomorrow for them both. I haven't actually bathed them yet, so it should be an experience!

 

[Toffeewoffee]

Yes just rub it in well, try to make sure they dont lick it as i;m not sure if it would do them any good, they probably wont like the taste anyway.

Run the bath fairly shallow, do them both together so they have each other for company, they'll be more likely to just sit there then, wet them, rub the shampoo in and leave for 4 - 5 mins, what i did was got a bucket full of warm water to one side and a jug and rinsed them using the clean water from the bucket, when your ready to rinse let the water out of the bath and leave the plug out and use the water from the bucket to rinse them. Dont get their heads wet especially their eyes and ears. If you have a non slip mat put this in for them to stand on, because they will try to shake and will slip on the bottom of the bath. Get a warm towel ready on the floor ready to wrap them in.

 

[Piggylet]

Thanks for your help. Couldn't find any Nizoral today, so going into town tomorrow to look in Boots.

Suzy is itching like *mad* today. I've had her out a lot on my lap because if she's distracted she seems to do it less. Not liking this.

 

[Wiebke]

I want to state two things:
a) the proper inteveral between mites treatment is 10-14 days; at least 3 rounds are needed and it can take longer than the first application for the itching to full subside. It also takes time for the destroyed skin to recover and regrow. Flakiness is normal at that stage when old skin is shed.

b) Nizoral shampoo is for fungal treatment, not mites treatment. A bath (with non medical shampoo) is recommended at the end of mites treatment to help remove any debris from the skin and promote regeneration, but not during treatment, as it can further irritate already inflamed and painful skin. Combined fungal/mites treatment is only advisable in those cases where guinea pigs suffer from both complaints and should not be administered just for the sake of it!

http://www.guinealynx.info/mites.html
http://www.guinealynx.info/fungus.html

I would urge members of this forum to only post in this section if they stick to recommend proper treatment.

 

[Piggylet]

So, do I abandon the bath plan until the end of the mites treatment completely? If they haven't improved then, I'll be going back to the vets anyway, and seeing what they recommend next.

 

[Toffeewoffee]

Well nizoral, sudocream and stronghold treatment cleared up the mites problem one of my pigges had earlier this year, very quickly.

 

[willow]

I have had 4 rescued guinea pigs for about a month now. They had been fed (not a good quality food, but better than nothing), but rarely cleaned out and not handled.
I recently brought their cages into the house for warmth, and have noticed that they do scratch quite a bit. They don't have flaky skin or sore spots, but do you think i should give them the xeno treatment anyway? ?/
I'm guessing that guineas like to have a little scratch now and again anyway, but your advice would be very welcome.
I have just bought the pack of 6 little tubes of xeno from amazon, just in case.