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Bruising and I'm feeling like the worst mom

C

chicagopigfarm4

New Born Pup
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She’s been struggling with a skin infection with a patch of fur loss on her back since thanksgiving. She’s seen 2 separate vets (duke animal hospital in Chicago, and VCA Fleming Island). Duke gave us wipes for fungal infection. VCA Fleming Island gave us antibiotics for possible secondary and revolution for mites as she was self inflicting wounds. She was gashing herself so deeply I was getting really concerned so I covered her with some vet wrap. It worked great for the original bald spot, hair has grown over the entire area. However, I had it on too tight and the two spots under her front leg, there’s patches of fur missing, along with a bit of broken skin and bruising. I immediately stopped bandaging her and started her on children’s Benadryl and it’s been working well. Her appetite is great, she's running around and very alert and happy.

We won't be able to see our regular, guinea pig savvy vet, until after Christmas. Should I bring her in to see VCA Fleming Island just in case? Is it more serious than just waiting for bruises to go away ?

I feel like the worst please no judgement.
 
I’m sorry your girl isn’t well. First thing I wouldn’t do is to give her Benadryl though. Was it the vet who recommended you give it to her?

I’m not sure that antibiotics work if it’s a fungal infection. And wipes wouldn’t really help with it either. What did the vets suspect was wrong? I’d advise you get her seen again. I’m not too experienced with this area but scratching a lot can be linked to mites. I’ll tag @PigglePuggle @Piggies&buns hopefully they can help you further and confirm/deny my thinking. Have a read of the guide below and maybe see if there is another vet you could perhaps see. Good luck.
New guinea pigs: Sexing, vet checks&customer rights, URI, ringworm and parasites
Guinea Lynx :: GL's Vet List
 
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Hi Siikibam,

Yes, I was told children's Benadryl is very well tolerated by piggies at 0.1cc every 4-6 hours. I also checked on guinea pig lynx and saw many posting about their vets saying the same thing.

She's being treated for both mites(revolution) and fungal(wipes) as they couldn't definitively diagnose for both (skin scrape and culture both inconclusive). Tho as it progressed i became 99% certain it was mites by the way she started to itch. The antibiotics were for the open wounds she was opening up but not for mites/fungal. Whichever she has it's definitely getting better as there's no more crusties and hair has grown back in the bald spot. I'm just worried about another secondary infection in the spot where I had the wrap too tight and it irritated her skin :( I feel so incredibly guilty.

Thanks for the tags!
 
I don’t think wipes will help if it’s a fungal infection. I would also leave the wounds exposed and hope she doesn’t reopen them. Was she given an anti inflammatory for pain?
 
She was not given anti inflammatory. I think the initial issue is definitely under control and on the way to recovery.
 
Siikibam said:
I don’t think wipes will help if it’s a fungal infection. I would also leave the wounds exposed and hope she doesn’t reopen them. Was she given an anti inflammatory for pain?
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the original spot is looking good. a layer of hair has completely grown back over and the skin looks pink and healthy. With the Benadryl she has not been attempting to self-inflict more wounds either and her appetite has bounced back to pre-quanrantine levels.

My major concern now is caring for those two spots where the wrap caused irritation :(
 
If she is already on antibiotics, they will stop any new wounds getting infected so best just to let them heal now.

It sounds like she is getting a lot better so I'd keep an eye on the area and see if it gets any worse or if she bites or scratches it, in which case go to the vet. If it doesn't bother her it will hopefully heal over.
 
Pigwhisperer said:
If she is already on antibiotics, they will stop any new wounds getting infected so best just to let them heal now.

It sounds like she is getting a lot better so I'd keep an eye on the area and see if it gets any worse or if she bites or scratches it, in which case go to the vet. If it doesn't bother her it will hopefully heal over.
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thanks for responding. So she runs out of her antibiotics tomorrow should I ask for another round?
 
As long as the original issue is properly treated and clearing up, then the other wounds should hopefully heal well as long as she doesn’t reopen them. I would absolutely have a vet check them over though to be sure .
 
Piggies&buns said:
As long as the original issue is properly treated and clearing up, then the other wounds should hopefully heal well as long as she doesn’t reopen them. I would absolutely have a vet check them over though to be sure .
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Even if the only option at the moment is a non-piggy savvy vet? I'm trying to weigh the pros and cons of possibility of them giving something that could make it worse.
 
chicagopigfarm4 said:
thanks for responding. So she runs out of her antibiotics tomorrow should I ask for another round?
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That's really a question for the vet, and they'll probably want to see her to give a proper answer so you'll probably need to take her in.
 
chicagopigfarm4 said:
Even if the only option at the moment is a non-piggy savvy vet? I'm trying to weigh the pros and cons of possibility of them giving something that could make it worse.
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They'll want to see how bad the wounds are now to decide if it's worth starting a whole new round of antibiotics, or if they are healing well enough already.
 
Pigwhisperer said:
They'll want to see how bad the wounds are now to decide if it's worth starting a whole new round of antibiotics, or if they are healing well enough already.
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ok that make sense. I guess something like skin irritation is pretty standard across all vets and they should be able to handle it ok.

Thanks for your input i really appreciate it :)
 
chicagopigfarm4 said:
Even if the only option at the moment is a non-piggy savvy vet? I'm trying to weigh the pros and cons of possibility of them giving something that could make it worse.
Click to expand...

I would have thought non exotic vet can still look at a wound and know how to deal with it. We can’t see it to know how bad it looks, but treatment could vary from - it’s healing well so just being kept dry and clean to needing antibiotics/pain meds If it is bad and at risk of infection.
 
It does look like it could be a bruise. Hopefully it'll just be a case of time for healing but a vet really should see it
 
chicagopigfarm4 said:
She’s been struggling with a skin infection with a patch of fur loss on her back since thanksgiving. She’s seen 2 separate vets (duke animal hospital in Chicago, and VCA Fleming Island). Duke gave us wipes for fungal infection. VCA Fleming Island gave us antibiotics for possible secondary and revolution for mites as she was self inflicting wounds. She was gashing herself so deeply I was getting really concerned so I covered her with some vet wrap. It worked great for the original bald spot, hair has grown over the entire area. However, I had it on too tight and the two spots under her front leg, there’s patches of fur missing, along with a bit of broken skin and bruising. I immediately stopped bandaging her and started her on children’s Benadryl and it’s been working well. Her appetite is great, she's running around and very alert and happy.

We won't be able to see our regular, guinea pig savvy vet, until after Christmas. Should I bring her in to see VCA Fleming Island just in case? Is it more serious than just waiting for bruises to go away ?

I feel like the worst please no judgement.
Click to expand...

Hi!

I am very sorry; it is not your fault. You are doing exactly the right thing by having her vet checked. How piggy savvy are they?

A) Has your vet checked for ringworm - fungal wipes may not be enough to tackle tjat?
B) How many rounds of revolution has your piggy had? You need to have at least 3-4 at the correct interval to get on top of mange/selnic mites because no treatment can reach the eggs that are burrowed in the painfully inflamed skin (please be aware that painkiller doesn't work in this instance so don't be tempted to use human medication). All you can do is catch any emerging mites. Hence the several rounds to make sure that you catch any stragglers. It is an appropriate vet grade medication for any skin parasite, though.

You can find more information on both issues via the links below. I hope that this will help you.
New guinea pigs: Sexing, vet checks&customer rights, URI, ringworm and parasites
Guinea Lynx :: Mange Mites
Ringworm: Hygiene And Pictures
 
we are on our second round of revolution. i went back they prescribe a topical cream in addition to the wipes for the fungal as well I totally forgot to mention.
 
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