Blind Guinea Pig with big wound on back

[Zaynlovespiggies]

Hello fellow Guinea pig lovers! I have a 6 month old Guinea pig who is blind and had mites (we put ivermectin on him) , but now pretty sure he has been getting bullied by his brother who’s able to see. He has a huge wound on his back and he constantly gets irritated by it and scratches it. He then gives himself tremendous pain and starts jumping erratically all over the place. He never gives it time to scab up and heal. I tried making a little vest thing with an old stocking that I saw from another post. But he is so skittish and untrusting of humans because of his old home. So it was hard to put on but once I did, he hated it and started kicking and jumping trying to get it off. It was painful to watch so I took it off. Hearing him shriek from the pain is so heartbreaking for me and I currently don’t have enough money to see a vet. Does any one have some advice for me ? Thanks very much for reading.

 

[poggle]

I really think he needs a vet. From your description, I worry that you need to rule out mange: Guinea Lynx :: Mange Mites

I am of course not a vet and am not in any way diagnosing your boy, but mange kills a horrid, torturous death without appropriate treatment and I do worry. Was the ivermectin prescribed by a vet, and how many treatments was he given?

I'm sure one of the forum experts will be along shortly, but there are a few guides on boar behaviour which might be helpful also:
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
Bonds In Trouble
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?

 

[VickiA]

I’m afraid that it sounds like your guinea pig is suffering. In accordance with U.K. animal welfare laws the only thing we can recommend is that you take him to see a vet for diagnosis and treatment. Please speak to your vets to see if they offer payment plans or deferred payment terms and I would recommend that you perhaps start saving into a vet account as pet ownership comes with financial responsibility for vets bills (that can be eye watering at times) as well as the daily care etc.

 

[Zaynlovespiggies]

I really think he needs a vet. From your description, I worry that you need to rule out mange: Guinea Lynx :: Mange Mites

I am of course not a vet and am not in any way diagnosing your boy, but mange kills a horrid, torturous death without appropriate treatment and I do worry. Was the ivermectin prescribed by a vet, and how many treatments was he given?

I'm sure one of the forum experts will be along shortly, but there are a few guides on boar behaviour which might be helpful also:
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
Bonds In Trouble
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?

Thank you for the links and advice!

 

[Zaynlovespiggies]

I’m afraid that it sounds like your guinea pig is suffering. In accordance with U.K. animal welfare laws the only thing we can recommend is that you take him to see a vet for diagnosis and treatment. Please speak to your vets to see if they offer payment plans or deferred payment terms and I would recommend that you perhaps start saving into a vet account as pet ownership comes with financial responsibility for vets bills (that can be eye watering at times) as well as the daily care etc.

Thank you so much VickiA. I will have a talk to my vet as soon as possible.

 

[poggle]

Thank you so much VickiA. I will have a talk to my vet as soon as possible.

Good luck!

 

[Bill & Ted]

Hope your vet can help him make a full recovery, you need proper vet strength treatment me thinks

 

[Zaynlovespiggies]

Good luck!

Thank you!

 

[Zaynlovespiggies]

Hope your vet can help him make a full recovery, you need proper vet strength treatment me thinks

I think so aswell! The day Chip sees the vet will be a very relieving day for both of us. Thank you for the comment

 

[Zaynlovespiggies]

Hello all, I was finally able to take Chip to the vet two days ago! They shaved his back and prescribed me with pain killers and antibiotics. And he has in fact been confirmed to be blind. Chip has not been scratching and I feel tremendous relief. When chip came back home, his brother, Choc, started licking his wound. I was a bit worried that choc would put germs onto his wound but I knew that Choc did it out of affection. His wound is finally starting to scab up and I hope Chip can finally be happy. Thank you all for your advice

 

[Siikibam]

It’s good to hear that your boy is doing better. What did the vet think it was in the end?

For continuity, I’m going to merge this with your other thread. Just so people understand the ‘back story’. Otherwise it’s a bit random

 

[Bill & Ted]

Hello all, I was finally able to take Chip to the vet two days ago! They shaved his back and prescribed me with pain killers and antibiotics. And he has in fact been confirmed to be blind. Chip has not been scratching and I feel tremendous relief. When chip came back home, his brother, Choc, started licking his wound. I was a bit worried that choc would put germs onto his wound but I knew that Choc did it out of affection. His wound is finally starting to scab up and I hope Chip can finally be happy. Thank you all for your advice

Oh poor little man, that looks so sore, did you find out what the problem was?

 

[Wiebke]

Hello all, I was finally able to take Chip to the vet two days ago! They shaved his back and prescribed me with pain killers and antibiotics. And he has in fact been confirmed to be blind. Chip has not been scratching and I feel tremendous relief. When chip came back home, his brother, Choc, started licking his wound. I was a bit worried that choc would put germs onto his wound but I knew that Choc did it out of affection. His wound is finally starting to scab up and I hope Chip can finally be happy. Thank you all for your advice

Saliva has actually antibiotic qualities; piggies can lick themselves or each other as their natural way to medicate a wound/sore. They also spread their saliva with their (licked) paws all over the body several times a day in their piggy cleans. Watching mates diligently and repeatedly licking a certain spot, especially an eye as often alerted me to an eye injury or the fact that the companion was ill before they were showing clear symptoms.

All the best for the recovery. Did the vet say what has caused the wound?

 

[Zaynlovespiggies]

Saliva has actually antibiotic qualities; piggies can lick themselves or each other as their natural way to medicate a wound/sore. They also spread their saliva with their (licked) paws all over the body several times a day in their piggy cleans. Watching mates diligently and repeatedly licking a certain spot, especially an eye as often alerted me to an eye injury or the fact that the companion was ill before they were showing clear symptoms.

All the best for the recovery. Did the vet say what has caused the wound?

The vet didn’t actually really tell us what caused the wound, to be honest, I don’t think she was that familiar with Guinea pigs. But that vet was the only one open and close to us due to it being late at night. And thank you for the advice about saliva, I did know about it, but my concern for Chip getting better just took over me in that moment haha.

 

[Zaynlovespiggies]

It’s good to hear that your boy is doing better. What did the vet think it was in the end?

For continuity, I’m going to merge this with your other thread. Just so people understand the ‘back story’. Otherwise it’s a bit random

I’m new to this forum so I didn’t know you could merge posts hahaha. Thanks for that!

And sadly the vet didn’t say anything about what could have caused the wound, we told her that he had mites and his brother might have bit him. But she didn’t mention what could have done it. She only was talking to us about the antibiotics and painkillers she prescribed us. I think she was more of a dog and cat vet more than a small animal vet. But they were the only vet open and close to us due to it being late at night.

 

[Zaynlovespiggies]

Oh poor little man, that looks so sore, did you find out what the problem was?

Poor little man indeed, I always feel sorry for him due to the house we got him from and also the fact that he is blind and always skittish. We sadly did not find out what the problem was, the vet only mentioned the medications she prescribed us with.

 

[Siikibam]

What medications were you given? And did she get you to book a follow-up appointment? Sorry you didn’t really get any answers but I hope he starts feeling better soon.