Is this a V shape for mange mites?

[naguya]

Well, Momo underwent treatment for 5 weeks for mites in june plus Baytril. He stopped itching at that time, and was diagnosed with "parasites" the vet didn't know which parasite it was. His company (Bijou) arrived shortly after and was treated for mites for 3 weeks. Every week 1 tablet in the dose appropriate for weight (ivermectin).

Well, in August, another trip to the vet, Bijou was diagnosed with parasites. I asked which one and the vet didn't know how to tell me (this was diagnosed by another vet), he was given an injection of ivermectin and the vet said he didn't need to come back. Momo was diagnosed without mites so no meds for him.

Now, at the end of August, I see both of them scratching themselves. I took them to another vet, and he said they both had hay mites. Ivermectin was again prescribed once weekly for 5 weeks. I threw the whole bag of hay in the trash and I already have another one supplier.

I don't really trust the vets here, as none of them seem to be qualified to treat guinea pigs, I've already taken them to more than 5 vets at the moment. I've been searching the forum lately, and I saw that it could be something else like mange mites. I'm cleaning the whole place daily and disinfecting, the cage, hiding places and cloths too. They started treatment on Tuesday last week, and took another pill yesterday.

They have no other symptoms, they show no pain, they are eating, drinking water, running, normal poop and urine. It's just the itching. I noticed that Momo mainly scratches his back. Is this the "V-shape"? Should I bathe them with chlorhexidine? Or just keep the ivermectin?

Honestly, after the last two consultations I am very hopeless about veterinarians.

 

[Wiebke]

Well, Momo underwent treatment for 5 weeks for mites in june plus Baytril. He stopped itching at that time, and was diagnosed with "parasites" the vet didn't know which parasite it was. His company (Bijou) arrived shortly after and was treated for mites for 3 weeks. Every week 1 tablet in the dose appropriate for weight (ivermectin).

Well, in August, another trip to the vet, Bijou was diagnosed with parasites. I asked which one and the vet didn't know how to tell me (this was diagnosed by another vet), he was given an injection of ivermectin and the vet said he didn't need to come back. Momo was diagnosed without mites so no meds for him.

Now, at the end of August, I see both of them scratching themselves. I took them to another vet, and he said they both had hay mites. Ivermectin was again prescribed once weekly for 5 weeks. I threw the whole bag of hay in the trash and I already have another one supplier.

I don't really trust the vets here, as none of them seem to be qualified to treat guinea pigs, I've already taken them to more than 5 vets at the moment. I've been searching the forum lately, and I saw that it could be something else like mange mites. I'm cleaning the whole place daily and disinfecting, the cage, hiding places and cloths too. They started treatment on Tuesday last week, and took another pill yesterday.

They have no other symptoms, they show no pain, they are eating, drinking water, running, normal poop and urine. It's just the itching. I noticed that Momo mainly scratches his back. Is this the "V-shape"? Should I bathe them with chlorhexidine? Or just keep the ivermectin?

Honestly, after the last two consultations I am very hopeless about veterinarians.

View attachment 255579View attachment 255580

Hi

No, it is not a classic V yet but it could be the start of one.

In view of his head tilt (so he cannot reach the back from both sides) and underlying health issues/subdued immune system it could be the very start of a new outbreak from the reservoir of impenetrable eggs he has in his skin. The problem with being a very observant owner is that you are often picking up on things before symptoms are fully developed.

See whether it becomes more noticeable by tomorrow (both the scratching and the skin biting) and step in if needed so it cannot get as bad as last time. You will need to treat both Momo and Bijou according to their body weight.

Below is the reference picture of my Macsen with the classic mange mites V. He is my own piggy with a mange mites reservoir (which is also on his official vet file since I have followed our forum advice myself) that can go live whenever he is stressed or under the weather; the reservoir predates the adoption.
He is now 5 years old and I have had him since he was 10 months old. He has an outbreak about once each year at some point or other.

But because of that and because of the number of piggies I have in close contact of each other, I always have ivermectin at home so I can treat him and the whole Tribe before the mange mites (or other skin parasites) can really take hold and spread round.
I don't need a new vet diagnosis each time for a guinea pig with a known mange mites reservoir and repeated outbreaks but it is important that the mange mites are properly diagnosed and treated the first time round.
My other piggies have their fully operational immune system on their side for fighting off the parasites so the mites never get past nuisance level for a few days.

I would recommend that you do the same once you have learned to spot the signs of a new outbreak.




Here is the link: New piggy problems: URI - ringworm - skin parasites

 

[naguya]

Are outbreaks normal? Does this mean that when I start to notice symptoms (if they are the exact same as now - no lethargy/nothing different besides the itchy) and if they persist for a while I should start the ivermectin treatment again? If so, what is the safety window time between full treatments?

In Momo he bites his back, sometimes the side of his belly and scratches his right ear, the one who has a dark spot in the edge (this dark spot in the edge is there since I got him) and sometimes left ear. For Bijou he only scratches his ear, he doesn't bite any of his skin or other places. I noticed Momo's immune system is weaker compared to Bijou. They took ivermectin last week on Tuesday from last week and yesterday, for their weight, vet told 5 weeks for both of them.

Bijou stopped scratching himself almost completely since yesterday's night, but Momo keeps doing it just a little bit less, but still scratches himself a lot. Gladly, both of them are gaining lots of weight since I got them.

A mange mite reservoir cannot be cured? Do you think a bath would be a good choice? Sorry if am asking too much, I am going to read the link you sent right now.

Macsen is such a cutie guy, he seems to be the exact body shape as Momo! He is so lucky to have you in his life! Ahh, the "V-shape" is very noticeable in his back, in this stage, do we use ivermectin plus metacam? Does him feels pain from it? Why do these mites make a "V-shape"?

Here in my country we can buy any animal medication without a vet prescription, so I already bought last week three boxes of ivermectin for future uses if it does happens again, but I went to the vet this time because I was worried about the bugs being harmful to them, but as always no luck with vets, at least this time with other vet clinic wasn't stressful as before for them.

I just discovered reading posts here on this forum that we cannot see the mites on the hay (I didn't do any research previously about this), recently I saw some very very very tiny bugs in the hay, and the vet told they were hay mites. But after a while, asking the ID for the insect, I discovered it was booklice, I don't know if they are harmful for guinea pigs (they aren't harmful for humans from what I have read) but the whole hay bag went to bin.

Thank you so much as always for taking time and answering every post we make, you are a life saver for any owner and guinea pigs!

 

[naguya]

"Very intense, frequent scratching and biting of the skin; real discomfort/refusal to being held; fitting in advanced stages."

From the link you sent, it seems a lot as mange mites for Momo. Last week he was refusing to be held, then he took ivermectin on Tuesday from last week, and then, yesterday, now he is accepting to be held again, just the scratch seems to be improved just a little bit but not too much, still, lots of scratch on ears and bites on back and sides.

Bijou is the same as ever, it almost disappeared completely the scratch since yesterday's night from him.

 

[naguya]

Hi

No, it is not a classic V yet but it could be the start of one.

In view of his head tilt (so he cannot reach the back from both sides) and underlying health issues/subdued immune system it could be the very start of a new outbreak from the reservoir of impenetrable eggs he has in his skin. The problem with being a very observant owner is that you are often picking up on things before symptoms are fully developed.

See whether it becomes more noticeable by tomorrow (both the scratching and the skin biting) and step in if needed so it cannot get as bad as last time. You will need to treat both Momo and Bijou according to their body weight.

Below is the reference picture of my Macsen with the classic mange mites V. He is my own piggy with a mange mites reservoir (which is also on his official vet file since I have followed our forum advice myself) that can go live whenever he is stressed or under the weather; the reservoir predates the adoption.
He is now 5 years old and I have had him since he was 10 months old. He has an outbreak about once each year at some point or other.

But because of that and because of the number of piggies I have in close contact of each other, I always have ivermectin at home so I can treat him and the whole Tribe before the mange mites (or other skin parasites) can really take hold and spread round.
I don't need a new vet diagnosis each time for a guinea pig with a known mange mites reservoir and repeated outbreaks but it is important that the mange mites are properly diagnosed and treated the first time round.
My other piggies have their fully operational immune system on their side for fighting off the parasites so the mites never get past nuisance level for a few days.

I would recommend that you do the same once you have learned to spot the signs of a new outbreak.

View attachment 255586


Here is the link: New piggy problems: URI - ringworm - skin parasites

Update: They are scratching less, almost unnoticeable. The thing in Momo's back disappeared!

I wrote the previous updates up here on this post, but I think you didn't see it @Wiebke ! Thank you again ! ! !

 

[Wiebke]

Update: They are scratching less, almost unnoticeable. The thing in Momo's back disappeared!

I wrote the previous updates up here on this post, but I think you didn't see it @Wiebke ! Thank you again ! ! !

Hi

That is wonderful news!

PS: I won't necessarily get alerts all the time in longer running threads and do not catch all of them in the new posts file on a busy day.

If needed, tag me in but please accept that I am walking a somewhat tight balance between getting too many alerts to keep up with if everybody is linking me into their own threads and missing out on posts in ongoing threads.
Our other advising members are all perfectly competent or actually even more experienced than me since I cover a wide range but not always in-depth. They have their own areas of greater personal experience and deeper background.

Just bump up your thread if necessary. None of us can online all the time and every day all year round. We all have a job, a private life and our own guinea pigs and we all need to take a bit of time off from time to time for a breather in order to keep being around for the long term.
A lot of the emotional care and support comes from inside of us; our own batteries are not limitless. But we make sure that somebody is usually around and will pick up threads in our monitored sections within a reasonable time.

 

[naguya]

Hi

That is wonderful news!

PS: I won't necessarily get alerts all the time in longer running threads and do not catch all of them in the new posts file on a busy day.

If needed, tag me in but please accept that I am walking a somewhat tight balance between getting too many alerts to keep up with if everybody is linking me into their own threads and missing out on posts in ongoing threads.
Our other advising members are all perfectly competent or actually even more experienced than me since I cover a wide range but not always in-depth. They have their own areas of greater personal experience and deeper background.

Just bump up your thread if necessary. None of us can online all the time and every day all year round. We all have a job, a private life and our own guinea pigs and we all need to take a bit of time off from time to time for a breather in order to keep being around for the long term.
A lot of the emotional care and support comes from inside of us; our own batteries are not limitless. But we make sure that somebody is usually around and will pick up threads in our monitored sections within a reasonable time.

Of course! I know this and I appreciate so much your help when you give some of your time to help me !