Itching guinea pig

[JunJun2019]

Hi everyone, our lovely 5yo guinea pig has been itching for more than a week. She gets these attacks where she bends and sometimes falls on her back to scratch. It’s terrible to see that she is in distress.

We’ve seen the vet twice for this and they gave her antibiotics, a cortisone injection and an injection of ivermectin. None of this has worked really, although there might have been a slight improvement after the injections.

The vet now wants us to see another vet, as she has no idea what it could be. This is quite concerning for us as our vet usually is very knowledgeable regarding guinea pigs. No evidence of parasites and poops checked out ok.

Pig is eating ok thankfully. Can anyone give some advice?

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m sorry to hear this.

You say she has had an ivermectin injection - so presumably that means that she has only had one.
Have more been considered to see if that helps - I’m just wondering if she had mange mites and that means one treatment just isn’t going to be enough.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi and welcome

A single ivermectin injection is enough enough to clear mange mange mites. For any skin parasites you will need a course of at least three rounds at the product specific interval. Ivermectin or selamectin can be overdosed so the dosage and strength of the product needs to be adjusted to the body weight. The higher the concentration/quality of the brand used, the longer the interval. Vet quality is usually a 2 weeks interval.

You can find some helpful information and an overview over cavy specific skin parasites as well as ringworm in this guide here:

Thread 'New piggy health problems: URI - Ringworm - Skin Parasites'

Nov 4, 2018

1 Vets and your customer rights
- What makes newly bought guinea pigs so vulnerable?
- Do I need to see a vet?
- Documenting illness and your customer rights
2 URI (Upper respiratory tract infection) and sensitivities
- Typical symptoms in order of development
- What to do immediately
- Sensitivity to hay dust and pollen
3 Ringworm (highly contagious fungal...

• Wiebke
• Replies: 0
• Forum: Wiebke's Home Care Guides

• 

 

[JunJun2019]

Hi and welcome

A single ivermectin injection is enough enough to clear mange mange mites. For any skin parasites you will need a course of at least three rounds at the product specific interval. Ivermectin or selamectin can be overdosed so the dosage and strength of the product needs to be adjusted to the body weight. The higher the concentration/quality of the brand used, the longer the interval. Vet quality is usually a 2 weeks interval.

You can find some helpful information and an overview over cavy specific skin parasites as well as ringworm in this guide here:

Thread 'New piggy health problems: URI - Ringworm - Skin Parasites'

Nov 4, 2018

1 Vets and your customer rights
- What makes newly bought guinea pigs so vulnerable?
- Do I need to see a vet?
- Documenting illness and your customer rights
2 URI (Upper respiratory tract infection) and sensitivities
- Typical symptoms in order of development
- What to do immediately
- Sensitivity to hay dust and pollen
3 Ringworm (highly contagious fungal...

• Wiebke
• Replies: 0
• Forum: Wiebke's Home Care Guides

• 

Thank you Wiebke. We just returned from the animal hospital and the vet there said that it might be mange mites. She is a bit of a sickly pig and might just have a particularly hard time with it.
She received a dose of Bravecto, more as a trial but they have seen success with this.
I will read up on the resources on here.

Pig is still scratching and scratching but she is going back to the animal hospital in two days. Ivermectin might take more time to kick in. Just looking to make piggy more comfortable now.

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you Wiebke. We just returned from the animal hospital and the vet there said that it might be mange mites. She is a bit of a sickly pig and might just have a particularly hard time with it.
She received a dose of Bravecto, more as a trial but they have seen success with this.
I will read up on the resources on here.

Pig is still scratching and scratching but she is going back to the animal hospital in two days. Ivermectin might take more time to kick in. Just looking to make piggy more comfortable now.

Unfortunately, it takes about 48 hours of any treatment to be absorbed through the skin and to get into the mites, so you have to sit it out. The itching is going to get rather a bit worse as it acts on the mites but try to see it as arriving where it should.

Mange mites treatment is still very limited and because of overuse there have been issues with resistancies so vets are desperate to find alternatives.

Most mites piggies are actually born with them. Some with a lowered/weaker immune system can have a reservoir of mites eggs (which cannot be killed although they can become resistant to long term low maintenance 'preventative' ivermectin exposure). This reservoir can break open whenever there is added stress/illness. My Macsen is currently my own reservoir piggy. I treat him as soon as he gets the itches and the characteristic V on his back again before it can spread and become a problem - he is the piggy in the picture.