Itchy Guinea Pigs

[luckyandsammy]

About 4 weeks ago now my two guinea pigs started scratching a lot. They scratched about every 3 minutes and I thought it was kind of weird. I checked their fur and I didn't see anything (lice or fleas) so I thought it was mites. So on my way back from college I bought some Beaphar anti-parasite spot on. I weighed them and put the correct amount of the spot on on the back of their heads. A few days later, Sammy and Lucky were still scratching. I decided to wait a day or two to see if maybe the spot on needs more time to work. It didn't so I gave them a bath (in pets at home small animal shampoo) because I thought something in their fur might be making them itchy. They didn't get any better. I made an appointment with a vet because I had no idea what it could be as I couldn't see anything in their fur, they were just scratching very often. We had to wait a few days for the appointment so while we were waiting I made a post about it on instagram. I got loads of advice, from brushing them to remove any hairs that might be making them itchy to not feeding them tomatoes to cleaning their cage more often (everything is washed every other day) The advice was good but it didn't help. Last Monday Sammy and Lucky went to the vets. He looked at them and said they have mites. He gave them Xeno 450 and said it should help. He also told us to come back in 2 weeks for another dose. It's been over a week and the piggies are still scratching, it didn't get any better. I should be making another appointment for Monday but I'm not sure if it will do any good.

So today I went on the gorgeous guinea website and I looked at the "Identification" page. It says that if a piggie has a fungal infection their hair will fall out with a gentle tug. I went to check this straight away. I gently pulled on a bit of Lucky's fur and some of it came out. When I pulled on Sammy's, loads fell out. So my question is, do they have a fungal infection or is it something else? I took a few pictures of Sammy's skin yesterday because I noticed little dry bits of skin so I can post them if it will help.

Has anyone dealt with something similar before?

 

[Veggies Galore]

We don't recommend over the counter treatments for conditions that may be fungal or mites. It is much better to get a vet to check them .

 

[luckyandsammy]

We don't recommend over the counter treatments for conditions that may be fungal or mites. It is much better to get a vet to check them .

Thank you but they went to the vets last week and it didn't help so I'm looking for some advice before I make them go in their carrier and the car again (it was really stressful for them)

 

[Veggies Galore]

Thank you but they went to the vets last week and it didn't help so I'm looking for some advice before I make them go in their carrier and the car again (it was really stressful for them)

I appreciate it's not easy sometimes .


It took me a long time to find a vet I am happy with.

 

[luckyandsammy]

Sammy's fur.

 

[Veggies Galore]

@helen105281 is online ...

 

[helen105281]

It is so hard to diagnose over the internet and so I would go back to the vet, but I am more inclined to think fungal especially if the hair is coming out easily when tugged. They can however, get a combination of both mites and fungal. Mange mites cannot be seen on the pig as they burrow under the skin but they can cause skin debris and sometimes you will see that the hairs are broken half way down the shaft. If it is mange mites, and the spot on has not helped I would ask the vet about a round of Ivermectin injections instead, but the vet will need to take the spot on doses he has already had into account.

For fungal, I usually treat with a fungal shampoo and/or a dip in a product called Imaverol (Enilconazole). I dip once a week for 4 weeks, but some people dip every few days. The dip is not rinsed off and so stays working between dips. It can be bought online but you need a diagnosis from the vets ideally. Please note though that there are many types of fungal but only Ringworm tends to show up in any cultures that a vet would take, so if the result is negative it does not mean it isn't fungal.