Loud Squeaking from pain

[Lauziiedauziie]

Hi everyone,
So, me and my partner rescued a very ill piggie last Sunday, he was badly treated and the vets confirmed that he is suffering with mange. Luckily his treatment is working and the vet has confirmed that the mites should be mostly gone now but it has left our boy with extremely dry and itchy skin, he has already scratched enough to cause scabbing and this is causing his pain.
He seems to get the worse of his itching at night and its causing him to let out extremely loud squeaks of pain. We have tried many things to get him to settle. Everything from anti anxiety meds, pain meds, covering the area... we are at a loss on how to get him to settle. In fact we are both exhausted from our lack of sleep/ sleep constantly being disturbed.
Does anyone have any advice? I currently have him sat in his carrier with hay in it because it seems to be the only thing that is keeping him calm but I feel bad leaving him overnight in such a small space.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi everyone,
So, me and my partner rescued a very ill piggie last Sunday, he was badly treated and the vets confirmed that he is suffering with mange. Luckily his treatment is working and the vet has confirmed that the mites should be mostly gone now but it has left our boy with extremely dry and itchy skin, he has already scratched enough to cause scabbing and this is causing his pain.
He seems to get the worse of his itching at night and its causing him to let out extremely loud squeaks of pain. We have tried many things to get him to settle. Everything from anti anxiety meds, pain meds, covering the area... we are at a loss on how to get him to settle. In fact we are both exhausted from our lack of sleep/ sleep constantly being disturbed.
Does anyone have any advice? I currently have him sat in his carrier with hay in it because it seems to be the only thing that is keeping him calm but I feel bad leaving him overnight in such a small space.

Hi and welcome

What treatment/strength is he on exactly and how many rounds of ivermectin has he had by now? Severe mange mites will take more than just the usual three rounds. The skin is very painfully inflamed and is obviously still extremely sore.

Has your vet checked whether your boy could also have a fungal skin infection concurrent? That is not rare in neglect cases.

It would also help if you please added a picture via the Attach files button underneath the post you are writing that would help our members with experience in treating advanced cases of mange mites and ringworm.

Without knowing more, I am hesitant to recommend anything that could likely make things worse rather than better.

PS: He is obviously feeling more secure and comfortable in the carrier - this may be due to the conditions he has come from. Please leave him there but change the bedding daily. He may not squeal so much in your presence if his prey animal instincts are on high and he is suppressing symptoms as much as possible.

@VickiA @Pound Shilling & Pig @eileen

 

[Pound Shilling & Pig]

Well done for rescuing the poor piggy. It is good the mite treatment is working. If it is severe he will most likely need repeated treatment for several weeks to stop the life cycle and prevent reoccurrence. In the meantime the dead mites under his skin can, unfortunately, still cause a lot of irritation for a while. As said above it is also possible he may have a secondary fungal infection as broken skin provides a place for spores to take hold. If he has been badly neglected and fed an improper diet he may also have a vitamin c deficiency, which again can cause skin damage and prolong healing but with correct treatment, diet and time he will get better. Sadly, in the short term I dont know what else you can do to ease his itching.

 

[weepweeps]

It’s brilliant you have taken him on and he’s now going to live his best life with you. I hope he’s soon on the mend.

 

[PiggyPoo]

Aww this is so sad! Poor piggy! I hope he feels better soon. He’s so lucky to have found you. Hope you get some sleep soon xx

 

[Lauziiedauziie]

Hi and welcome

What treatment/strength is he on exactly and how many rounds of ivermectin has he had by now? Severe mange mites will take more than just the usual three rounds. The skin is very painfully inflamed and is obviously still extremely sore.

Has your vet checked whether your boy could also have a fungal skin infection concurrent? That is not rare in neglect cases.

It would also help if you please added a picture via the Attach files button underneath the post you are writing that would help our members with experience in treating advanced cases of mange mites and ringworm.

Without knowing more, I am hesitant to recommend anything that could likely make things worse rather than better.

PS: He is obviously feeling more secure and comfortable in the carrier - this may be due to the conditions he has come from. Please leave him there but change the bedding daily. He may not squeal so much in your presence if his prey animal instincts are on high and he is suppressing symptoms as much as possible.

@VickiA @Pound Shilling & Pig @eileen

Hi!

He is on metacam but I can't quite remember what strength it is, he also has an vetasept ointment for his cuts and he's taking half a nutracalm to calm him down. He has had one round of ivermectin so far and due his next on the 17th.

He has been checked for everything, we didn't know exactly what condition he was in when we got him so we asked the vet to check everything, apparently it is just severe mange right now and some previous attack marks from other guinea pigs he was living with, the vet even showed us the mites under a microscope from a scrape they took. They have told us that they will keep an eye out for any further issues though during his second treatment
I have tried to get some pictures, he doesn't seem to like anything around bum or side and hes still very nervous so the pictures I got are the best I can do right now, hope they are helpful!

We have moved him into a bigger cage, the one we received him in wasn't great for room and now he seems to be a little more happier and confident but he is having a few shrieking fits.
Thank you for easing our mind with the carrier, we let him sleep in it over night and he was completely fine, we have since moved the carrier into the cage with him which is acting as his hide, he definitely seems more comfortable, just hoping he doesn't get worse for the little guy.

 

[Lauziiedauziie]

Aww this is so sad! Poor piggy! I hope he feels better soon. He’s so lucky to have found you. Hope you get some sleep soon xx

Thank you lovely! We are definitely trying to give him everything he needs xx

 

[Lauziiedauziie]

Well done for rescuing the poor piggy. It is good the mite treatment is working. If it is severe he will most likely need repeated treatment for several weeks to stop the life cycle and prevent reoccurrence. In the meantime the dead mites under his skin can, unfortunately, still cause a lot of irritation for a while. As said above it is also possible he may have a secondary fungal infection as broken skin provides a place for spores to take hold. If he has been badly neglected and fed an improper diet he may also have a vitamin c deficiency, which again can cause skin damage and prolong healing but with correct treatment, diet and time he will get better. Sadly, in the short term I dont know what else you can do to ease his itching.

We seem to think he had a vitamin C deficiency, he is apparently a 1 year old but he's almost half the size of my 10 month old pig. I'm not surprised though, we were informed that he has grown up on a diet of poor quality muesli and has never had fresh vegetable.
Luckily he has had plenty of fresh veg in the few days we have had him and he does have a vitamin C solution for his water too so hopefully we see him bulk out some more soon.

 

[eileen]

You have had some excellent advise.Metacam should help to relieve the pain.my vet uses an antihistamine if it's itching that's intolerable.
As mentioned above if fungal involved to maybe ask for intrafungal.
As an absolute last resort,malaseb shampoo,if the skin is irritated with a secondary bacterial infection.maybe antibiotics for any Infection.
I'm so sorry you are dealing with this.

 

[Wiebke]

Poor guy!

Please try to avoid any baths with guinea pigs with a severe mange mites infestation as it can send them fitting.

Also please be aware that it takes around 2 days for the ivermectin to be absorbed into the skin unless your vet has injected it.

The mites in the skin are not happy about being poisoned, which can initially make the discomfort worse but it should hopefully settle more in the coming days. It is only the first round after all. The discomfort is going to build up again towards the second round but things should get noticeably better after the second round. It will take at least a third and possibly even a fourth round to make absolutely sure of any stragglers.

If there are bloody scratches, you can gently wipe them with very diluted F10 antiseptic (which is not a cure for ringworm in this form). We have seen this being successfully used in a guinea pig with very severe mites and major sores from biting the skin open. The crusty skin is hopefully just dead skin cells from the mange mites infestation but we cannot tell from the pictures. Personally, I would leave the skin be until the mites are majorly under control and there is no longer any risk of fitting, which is very bad for the heart. Thanks to you having your boy seen promptly, you can hopefully avoid him biting himself sore and needing a bandage to prevent that and any fits.

You can however find ringworm reference pictures at the end of this guide here so you can do a comparison yourself: Ringworm: Hygiene, Care And Pictures

 

[Betsy]

Poor boy. I'm pleased he's he found a loving home with you.