Fleas?

[Winniethepiggy]

Hello,

This morning i checked my adult fuinea pigs fur as the 5 week old baby and the 2 year old adult have been itching a lot.

I saw something crawling and it was a orange/brown bug. Is this fleas?

I went to the vet to get some anti parasite stuff and some small animal shampoo. I spoke to a vet but it is so expensive to have them checked, which i dont have the money to do so unfortunately.
I got told by someone that the anti parasite stuff from pet shops are not strong enough to kill the parasites. But that is all my dad could afford and some shampoo.

We are going to bathe both the guinea pigs tomorrow and clean the whole cage out and see if it helps.

What can anyone suggest i do? I cannot afford the vet bill and my parents wont pay that much

 

[Wiebke]

Hello,

This morning i checked my adult fuinea pigs fur as the 5 week old baby and the 2 year old adult have been itching a lot.

I saw something crawling and it was a orange/brown bug. Is this fleas?

I went to the vet to get some anti parasite stuff and some small animal shampoo. I spoke to a vet but it is so expensive to have them checked, which i dont have the money to do so unfortunately.
I got told by someone that the anti parasite stuff from pet shops are not strong enough to kill the parasites. But that is all my dad could afford and some shampoo.

We are going to bathe both the guinea pigs tomorrow and clean the whole cage out and see if it helps.

What can anyone suggest i do? I cannot afford the vet bill and my parents wont pay that much

Hi!

Guinea pigs DO NOT have species specific fleas. Please be aware that a general antiparasitic product is a) not getting on top of the parasites and b) can contain substances that are toxic to guinea pigs with potentially fatal consquences.

What you are more likely dealing with his lice - but again, your home DIY treatment is not effective and basically a waste of money as the lice will simply keep coming back and back and back...

It is much cheeper to spend once for good quality treatment than put your piggies through a long drawn out battle with too low dosed products that at the best can temporarily suppress issues but not get on top of them - at the end, you'll still need to treat with an appropriate vet grade product if you want to get rid of them.

More information on guinea pig specific parasites and treatment:
Fleas And Flea Powders - Warning!
New piggy problems: URI - ringworm - skin parasites

 

[Claire W]

Guinea pigs don’t get fleas. The bugs that you are describing sounds more like lice? Shop brought products aren’t strong enough to get rid of an infestation, only prescription strength products prescribed by the vets. It’s far better to pay a cheaper vet bill now rather than leave the problem until it gets worse meaning a higher vets bill. Please show your parents this thread and ask them to reconsider

 

[Piggies&buns]

I appreciate you are in a difficult situation, but I can only agree - you will be wasting time and money by using pet shop products instead of getting the proper prescription strength treatment from the vet straight from the beginning.

Guinea pigs are unfortunately not cheap pets when it comes to vet care. It’s advisable to save into a vet fund bank account regularly so you always have funds available. Medical issues and particularly emergencies never crop up at a convenient time and an out of hours emergency can be over £100 just for the consultation.

 

[Winniethepiggy]

Thank you everyone. Theres a free consultation vet near me so ive booked them in there for friday and they will be seen and treated.

 

[Piggies&buns]

That’s good.
Don’t use any of the products or shampoos you’ve already got as they will potentially hide evidence a vet needs to make a diagnosis

 

[Claire W]

All the best for Friday

 

[Wiebke]

All the best for Friday!

Please don't use anything before that - it is like you are wiping a crime scene bcause it makes the cirrect diagnosis much more difficult. The correct treatment for skin parasites is with an ivermectin or selamectin based vet strength product .