Can guinea pigs lick themselves with spot on treatment on?

[Winniethepiggy]

Hello,

I put some spot on treatment I received from the vets on my 2 Female guinea pigs. One is 2 and the other is 5 weeks old.

Is it okay if they groom themselves and lick themselves and eachother after Ive put it on? As i dont want them to lick all the treatment off or anything?

Also, my 2 year old guinea pig hates her back being touched and screams when its touched. Why could this be?

Thank you

 

[Wiebke]

Hello,

I put some spot on treatment I received from the vets on my 2 Female guinea pigs. One is 2 and the other is 5 weeks old.

Is it okay if they groom themselves and lick themselves and eachother after Ive put it on? As i dont want them to lick all the treatment off or anything?

Also, my 2 year old guinea pig hates her back being touched and screams when its touched. Why could this be?

Thank you

Hi

Ivermectin can be given in any way, either as a spot on, orally or by subcutaneous injection. It is therefore safe to lick and ingest. I assume that you have been given xeno 50/450?

What is your vet treating for? Mange mites typically start emerging and burrowing their eggs into the increasingly inflamed and painful skin in the middle of back. Often a sudden refusal of being touched and petted in the back can be the very first sign of a mange mites outbreak, especially when it is then followed by increasing very vigorous scratching and eventually skin biting due to the discomfort.

You aim the drops for the skin between hairs. Once themites and the discomfort in the skin has gone, your piggies will be fine with petting again. Please do not touch the areas for two days so you do not get the invermectin on your own fingers instead of into your guinea pig. You will need three applications at the product specific interval to catch all emergencing mites and make sure that they stay put and you need to treat all companions and piggy neighbours, too.

Here is more information on species specific skin parasites and fungal skin infections in guinea pigs: New Guinea Pig Problems: Sexing & Pregnancy; URI, Ringworm & Parasites; Vet Checks & Customer Rights

 

[Free Ranger]

The spot-on (presumably Xeno?) is usually put onto the skin rather than rubbed into the fur. It is absorbed into the skin and goes systemic that way. Mine groom a bit after but I usually spot it on the bald patches behind the ears, along the spine at the root of the fur (where it's harder to reach) or in the middle of some convenient rosettes! My long haired girl ends up looking a bit like a pineapple but no-one has ever come to any harm from normal grooming after Xeno.

I've never had a piggy as young as 5 weeks though - presumably she got a lower dose because it's according to bodyweight?

The skin is sensitive at the best of times and more so if they have mites or lice. The vet will have checked her all over and if they haven't flagged anything more serious she might just be letting you know she's not comfortable.

They will have given you repeat doses..? Usually we treat with xeno 3 times, each 2 weeks apart. It kills the live critters but not the eggs so they have to hatch out before they can be killed off.

Good luck itchy piggies x

 

[Winniethepiggy]

Hi

Ivermectin can be given in any way, either as a spot on, orally or by subcutaneous injection. It is therefore safe to lick and ingest. I assume that you have been given xeno 50/450?

What is your vet treating for? Mange mites typically start emerging and burrowing their eggs into the increasingly inflamed and painful skin in the middle of back. Often a sudden refusal of being touched and petted in the back can be the very first sign of a mange mites outbreak, especially when it is then followed by increasing very vigorous scratching and eventually skin biting due to the discomfort.

You aim the drops for the skin between hairs. Once themites and the discomfort in the skin has gone, your piggies will be fine with petting again. Please do not touch the areas for two days so you do not get the invermectin on your own fingers instead of into your guinea pig. You will need three applications at the product specific interval to catch all emergencing mites and make sure that they stay put and you need to treat all companions and piggy neighbours, too.

Here is more information on species specific skin parasites and fungal skin infections in guinea pigs: New Guinea Pig Problems: Sexing & Pregnancy; URI, Ringworm & Parasites; Vet Checks & Customer Rights

They are being treated for lice!
Thank you for giving me advice. It really helps.

 

[Winniethepiggy]

The spot-on (presumably Xeno?) is usually put onto the skin rather than rubbed into the fur. It is absorbed into the skin and goes systemic that way. Mine groom a bit after but I usually spot it on the bald patches behind the ears, along the spine at the root of the fur (where it's harder to reach) or in the middle of some convenient rosettes! My long haired girl ends up looking a bit like a pineapple but no-one has ever come to any harm from normal grooming after Xeno.

I've never had a piggy as young as 5 weeks though - presumably she got a lower dose because it's according to bodyweight?

The skin is sensitive at the best of times and more so if they have mites or lice. The vet will have checked her all over and if they haven't flagged anything more serious she might just be letting you know she's not comfortable.

They will have given you repeat doses..? Usually we treat with xeno 3 times, each 2 weeks apart. It kills the live critters but not the eggs so they have to hatch out before they can be killed off.

Good luck itchy piggies x

It is Xeno and i give my 2 year old 4 pipettes and my 5 week old 2 pipettes. They didnt check them, i checked them and saw lice in their fur so went to vets and they prescribed some spot on for both of them!

Thank you

 

[Free Ranger]

Lice are in some ways 'better' because they can be seen whereas mites are invisible to the eye and more insidious. But xeno treats both