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help- advice needed

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mia

Hi,

I have an indoor rescued guinea pig that I got four months ago and I adore him. His name is Hamish and he is about 5.
On weds. evening my partner brought some flea treament from the vets called insecticiadal zenex spot on for rabbits, guinea pigs and rodents. We weighed him on some kitchen scales and he was over 1kg so we put on 15 drops as stated, but I put on an extra two. The next evening when I got home from work he was acting really strange, running around room and not interested in the fridge which he normally is. This morning I took him to the vet and he explained I had overdosed him and should have only given him 12 drops (as he always went less than stated). An overdose can affect the central nervous system. Not once was this mentioned to my partner when we brought it. The vet said he's not sure he'll be 'normal' again, but just to give him a good life. I'm devastated that I have done this too him and so angry with the nurse for not telling my partner.
I'm waiting now to see how he is over the weekend. All he is doing is sleeping. He is eating wet food and going to the toilet.
I don't have any other experience of guinea pigs and wonder if any one else has any advice?
please also be careful of this flea treament. I'd never use it again.
Mia :...
 
mia said:
Hi,

I have an indoor rescued guinea pig that I got four months ago and I adore him. His name is Hamish and he is about 5.
On weds. evening my partner brought some flea treament from the vets called insecticiadal zenex spot on for rabbits, guinea pigs and rodents. We weighed him on some kitchen scales and he was over 1kg so we put on 15 drops as stated, but I put on an extra two. The next evening when I got home from work he was acting really strange, running around room and not interested in the fridge which he normally is. This morning I took him to the vet and he explained I had overdosed him and should have only given him 12 drops (as he always went less than stated). An overdose can affect the central nervous system. Not once was this mentioned to my partner when we brought it. The vet said he's not sure he'll be 'normal' again, but just to give him a good life. I'm devastated that I have done this too him and so angry with the nurse for not telling my partner.
I'm waiting now to see how he is over the weekend. All he is doing is sleeping. He is eating wet food and going to the toilet.
I don't have any other experience of guinea pigs and wonder if any one else has any advice?
please also be careful of this flea treament. I'd never use it again.
Mia :...
Click to expand...

I'm sorry this happened! But you must not blame yourself you were told otherwise! I see that if your piggy is eating and going to the toilet as a good sign but I don't have much knowledge about this particular problem I tried googling some info but nothing really helpful came up.
 
i find it very strange you were given flea treatment for your piggies. Its usually things like Lice and Mites that piggies get, rarely fleas.

The vets shouls have advised you better and if overdosing could cause such damage, it should not be given out willy nilly for anyone to guess dosage - it should have proper instructions.

please dont blame yourself. its not your fault. Hopefullly Hamish will get better soon. x
 
moonie8404 said:
i find it very strange you were given flea treatment for your piggies. Its usually things like Lice and Mites that piggies get, rarely fleas.

The vets shouls have advised you better and if overdosing could cause such damage, it should not be given out willy nilly for anyone to guess dosage - it should have proper instructions.

please dont blame yourself. its not your fault. Hopefullly Hamish will get better soon. x
Click to expand...

Yeah I've also heard how rare it is for guinea pigs to be treated for fleas
 
How awful for you, hope he's soon on the mend.. scarey that such a small overdose could be so dangerous, but sometimes animals have reactions even to the correct dose, I've seen it with Frontline on cats / dogs occasionally.

Fingers crossed!

Sophie
x
 
Hels said:
Humphrey one of our rescue boys - (who is going to live with Katiep off the forum on Sunday) - he came to me and when I bathed him - 6 cat fleas were in the water. Ivermectin sorted all that out.

H.
x
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really, oh my god. not nice!
 
Just like us animals can have reactions from a normal dose. I'm sorry this has happened. I personally would take it further. Perhaps see another vet as there is no guarantee that the treatment caused this problem, he may have a hidden problem.

Good luck, keep us posted on him.

Louise
x
 
I am sorry to hear about Hamish.

Obviously any chemical can have adverse effects, especially if no advice was given at the time of purchase if you bought it at your vet's practice. I don't think many petshops would offer advice. Did it say it was ok for guinea pigs?

Time is a great healer and hopefully if Hamish is eating plenty of veg and fruit and drinking then it will eventually get removed from his system.

There are plenty of shampoos on the market specially for guinea pigs or the Gorgeous Guineas website are well recommended by members on here. But I would not try anything again yet.

You were only doing what you thought was right for Hamish so don't blame yourself and let us know how he gets on.
 
Firstly, welcome to the forum.

I'm so sorry to hear this has happened. Guineas hardly ever have fleas, especially if they don't live with other flea-bearing animals.

I would get a second opinion.
 
Hi there. I'm sorry your piggie is not well. I've never heard of piggies having fleas. They either get mites which is treated by a vet using Ivermection (spelling?). If they have lice you can buy something called Lice and Easy I think from Chrissie at www.gorgeousguineas.com. They also sell some nice shampoos which you can use to bathe your piggie. I would personally make a complaint as you were incorrectly informed or not informed about how to use the product so please don't blame yourself. If he's eating and drinking this is a good sign.
 
Hi and welcome
I am sorry that to say that your vet is obviously incompetent with guineas. They are classed as exotic pets and not too many vets are experienced with them unfortunately. For future reference, you may find a good guinea vet in your area from the list we have on this forum.

As has been said, fleas are rare in guineas. Email Chrissie at www.gorgeousguineas.com she is a rodentologist as well as guinea skincare expert and is very helpful. She can advise you further.
Ivermectin is given for mites, lice n easy shampoo from GG is best for other nasties.

Hope your piggy will be ok :)
 
The product you may have used is Xenox spot on made by Genitrix?

This is a safe product to use on piggies and is usually prescribed for lice/mites and as a preventative measure against fly strike. Many people use it although it is highly toxic to cats.

If you go to the manufacturers website it gives you lots of information about this product, they also make Xeno 50 and 450 for use in piggies with lice and mites. I would give them a ring too, their number is on the website, they are very helpful and may give you more information.

It is very unusual for a product like this not to be sold in it's original packaging along with written instructions - if it was given to you without them then you should pursue this further as they have failed in their duty of care to your piggy.

However, if the original package and instructions were sold to you then it is our responsibility to follow them as advised. This applies to all medicines.

I'm sorry that your pig has been unwell, this must be very upsetting for you all. Hope things improve, I would definately contact the manufacturer though, it may prevent this from happening again.
 
Hi, Hamish appears to be a bit better and has started to mooch round the back room.

The spot on is from genitrix. I did follow the instructions, but when I took Hamish to the vets the vets said he would have recomommeded a lower dosage and to be weighed at a vets to work out dosage. I followed the guidelines, but stupidley but on two extra drops which was my fault. My issue is that the vet thinks the dosage on the pack it too high and can cause problems (which did with Hamish) and he said he would haved only put 12 on. I did read the pack properly and it did say do not overdose, but the dose they are giving is too high according to my vet and judging by the way Hamish has been I would agree. My vet thinks one extra drop canmake a difference.

I have to say my vet is really good and I don't have an issue with him. I have an issue with the nurse who sold the product to my partner without giving any advice/warnings.

I wouldn't use it again and would rather go for something more natural, plus I have a beautiful cat called Polly, so while we treated Hamish we kept them in seperate rooms for 24 hrs. I also treated him because Polly had fleas and I had just treated her with Frontline.

He's eating lots of veg and going to the toilet so I am keeping my fingers crossed that he'll fully recover but I will never use it again.

Thanks so much for advice and support.

I'll keep you posted about Hamish

Mia x
 
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