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Mites? Open Wound

MeganSambrook

MeganSambrook

New Born Pup
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Location
Chesterfield, UK
Hello, I’m new to the forum so I hope I am posting in the correct place. We’ve recently adopted a guineapig who we were told is 8 months old and had been attacked by a female guineapig in his cage. He has a superficial wound on his back which unfortunately he can reach with his back leg. He also has scabs around his ears and a further one on his back which he is said to have got from this attack. We have now had him 8 days.. the day after we got him we took him to the vets as he scratches a lot and cries when he knocks his scab. We were given pain killers for him once daily, as well as topical treatment for mites.

His wound was healing nicely even though he kept catching it, until last night when he has knocked his whole scab off again. He has been scratching particularly bad tonight so has opened up other marks as well. There seems to be a lot of ‘dandruff’ on him.
He is otherwise fit and well- eating and drinking well. The vet agrees that apart from these marks he is fine. Under the vets guidance we gave him mite treatment last week and now have to wait a further week from today to give him his second dose. Does anybody know if this intense itching is a result of further eggs hatching? And if it gets better after the second dose? Or if there could be a different problem the vet has missed

I’m not sure what to do at this point - the wounds look clean, it’s just so upsetting hearing and seeing him hurt himself!

Any advice is much appreciated on how I can stop the itching and/or protect these scabs.
many thanks.
 
What treatment has the vet prescribed? Have they been given also any pain killers and antibiotics?
 
Xeno 450? Metacam - that is good.

Mites often look worse before they get better

When was first treatment?
 
Xeno50 and put 5 tubes on was what we were told for his size. The first treatment was a week ago today so we were told to wait two weeks until the follow up so one more week to go.

When you say mites look worse before they get better, does that mean the itching that can look worse for him? I can’t see visible mites just this dandruff he has.
 
The three applications of the xeno 450 should do the trick. As it works with the cycles of the mites hatching
Just a single application is not enough; it kills the current mites, but not any emerging mites - that is what the two follow-up rounds do in order to catch any stragglers and prevent a return.

Is the effected area the back?
 
MeganSambrook said:
Xeno50 and put 5 tubes on was what we were told for his size. The first treatment was a week ago today so we were told to wait two weeks until the follow up so one more week to go.

When you say mites look worse before they get better, does that mean the itching that can look worse for him? I can’t see visible mites just this dandruff he has.
Click to expand...
How old are they?
 
Could you give me a town or city? 8 months - what do they weigh please?
 
Thanks. Hopefully someone will be along shortly. Xeno 450 is for 1.2kg piggies

the xeno 50 was it just one pipette?
 
Good piggy vet you way


Kathryn Reed
Chapel House Vets
Hady Hill
Chesterfield
Derbyshire
S410DZ
 
From what I can see online dose looks correct
 
If the scratching is too much then I would want them to see the vet again for sure
 
Which metacam is he on - dog or cat - and what is the dosage? Guinea pigs have a fast metabolism so they should have it twice daily. I would speak to the vet about that and see what they say.

I’ve no experience with mites though. Was he diagnosed with mange or hay mites? The former shows as hair loss near the back and other symptoms such as excessive scratching. The latter looks like bits of pepper on the hair at the back end - they’re the egg casings.

You will need to thoroughly clean out his cage. If he’s bedded on fleece then you’ll need to wash it at a high temp. Clean the cage base using a (pet safe) disinfectant. F10 is recommended here and you can get the concentrate (to dilute) or an already mixed up solution. Any cardboard should be thrown away but wooden hides can be soaked in the F10. Have a read of the guide I’ve put below and also wait for someone else to come along and help you out.

New guinea pigs: Sexing, vet checks&customer rights, URI, ringworm and parasites

Is he getting one or two more treatments?
 
MeganSambrook said:
Hello, I’m new to the forum so I hope I am posting in the correct place. We’ve recently adopted a guineapig who we were told is 8 months old and had been attacked by a female guineapig in his cage. He has a superficial wound on his back which unfortunately he can reach with his back leg. He also has scabs around his ears and a further one on his back which he is said to have got from this attack. We have now had him 8 days.. the day after we got him we took him to the vets as he scratches a lot and cries when he knocks his scab. We were given pain killers for him once daily, as well as topical treatment for mites.

His wound was healing nicely even though he kept catching it, until last night when he has knocked his whole scab off again. He has been scratching particularly bad tonight so has opened up other marks as well. There seems to be a lot of ‘dandruff’ on him.
He is otherwise fit and well- eating and drinking well. The vet agrees that apart from these marks he is fine. Under the vets guidance we gave him mite treatment last week and now have to wait a further week from today to give him his second dose. Does anybody know if this intense itching is a result of further eggs hatching? And if it gets better after the second dose? Or if there could be a different problem the vet has missed

I’m not sure what to do at this point - the wounds look clean, it’s just so upsetting hearing and seeing him hurt himself!

Any advice is much appreciated on how I can stop the itching and/or protect these scabs.
many thanks.
Click to expand...

Hi!

Ivermectin cannot kill the mange mites eggs sitting in the skin. The first application kills all the already emerged eggs but over the course of the next two weeks there will be more and more mites emerging from the eggs and causing more discomfort. It is tough sitting by and not being able to do anything about it because bathing can cause fitting due to the very sensitive skin. the discomfort is usually greatest within the first two days after the second application as the emerged mites are killed but this should be the very worst of it. This is unfortunately the worst week during the whole course of treatment.
A third and if necessary fourth application two and four weeks down the line are there to deal with any stragglers emerging from any still burrowed egg cases and to prevent a return of the mites infestations.

Normally mange mite eggs in the skin (which many piggies have) are perfectly controlled by a healthy immune system but they can make an appearance when the immune system is lowered, either through illness or stress. You can very very gently dab on some F10 antiseptic on the sore areas.

If you have the experience or can ask a vet nurse at the clinic to bandage the bitten/scratched open areas so your boy cannot reach them and cannot injure himself, that would be best. Guinea pigs are however master wiggle-outers so it takes a lot of experience to keep things on.

Please be careful in giving exactly the dosage you have been told. Ivermectin should not be overdosed.
Please also be aware that metacam is unfortunately not effective in the case of a mange mites attack.
New piggy problems: URI - ringworm - skin parasites
 
Sometimes the topical treatment isn't effective and injections are needed. In my experience the itching usually settles quickly after the first dose.
I recommend contacting your vet again, maybe asking for the dose of metacam to be increased.
The guinea pig vet, Ellie Whitehead isn't far from you, l recommend that you contact her. The Guinea Pig Vet | Matlock, UK | The Guinea Pig Vet
 
I posted at the same time as wiebke and it sounds as if we are giving contradictory advice. Sorry to confuse you but we all have different experiences.
 
We've recently used the xeno450 on 1 kilo pigs. You can cut the pipette and carefully measure out the total volume then use part of it according to weight but you have to be confident of your maths and measuring, and ideally your vet will be in agreement. Multiple pipettes of the xeno 50 is the prescribed way to deal with it but I'm not sure what the total volume of liquid is there that needs to be absorbed by the skin. It's just finding enough skin to soak it up (even behind the ears!)

With a significant infestation there's usually a bit of a scratching frenzy for a few hours (or more) immediately after application as the mites 'spasm' as they die but then the itching should ease off quickly. It may possibly increase again over the next two weeks as new eggs hatch but we've never seen it so bad as before the first dose. Xeno doesn't kill the eggs. 2nd treatment 2 weeks after first should wipe out the mites before they reach breeding age and lay eggs themselves but we always also go for a 3rd treatment two weeks after 2nd to make sure (and with more than one pig it's best to treat all at once).

It's always possible you have something else - maybe fungal - and vet is just ruling out mites first? With mites we've seen hair shedding and 'debris' around the back end but nothing so much at the front. When people report small bald patches appearing with mites they are typically round the rump. With some fungal infections there seems to be scabbing round the eyes/ears but we've been fortunate and not had personal experience here (just a few mites from the occasional new piggy) but the descriptions of the itching appearing on the forum have been severe and distressing in fungal pigs. @Wiebke , is the mention of 'a lot of dandruff' in the first post a warning sign for fungal? If the vet had known about the attack might they have looked at the ear scabs and back wound as bites? Perhaps the attack was an unfortunate coincidence?

In your shoes I would be asking myself one serious question: Has the xeno treatment actually made a difference to the poor piggy's symptoms and if the answer is basically 'No' I'd be back at a vet with pig experience tomorrow to chase up the fungal route. There is an injection of something (is it Itrafungol?) that is supposed to be very effective (along with a lot of deep cleaning) but this is beyond my experience. Best of Luck 💕
 
pig in the city said:
Sometimes the topical treatment isn't effective and injections are needed. In my experience the itching usually settles quickly after the first dose.
I recommend contacting your vet again, maybe asking for the dose of metacam to be increased.
The guinea pig vet, Ellie Whitehead isn't far from you, l recommend that you contact her. The Guinea Pig Vet | Matlock, UK | The Guinea Pig Vet
Click to expand...

Unfortunately my experience is that not all vets, especially small animal vets, do have injectable panomec available and only have spot-on pipettes available. What you describe is the normal reaction for injected ivermectin; what I describe is what you are more likely to get on spot-ons.

The damage to the skin can cause a lot of dead skin flakes if the mange mites are well entrenched and have been left untreated by the previous owners.

It would be good to see a picture to just whether it looks more like mange mites or ringworm. Ivermectin can suppress ringworm to a degree. The green link I have added to my first post also contains information on ringworm.
 
Thanks so much for the reply - this is what the area around the wound looks like, it was shaved by the vet. He keeps scratching his scab off and there is a small scab above this which he opens up, hidden by fur.
It’s hard to get a photo of the ‘dandruff’ he seems to leave it on me when he’s sat on me. He’s just in his bed at the moment so will try and get a picture later. Hopefully it is a case of further eggs hatching and we can clear this after his next treatment.
 

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Free Ranger said:
We've recently used the xeno450 on 1 kilo pigs. You can cut the pipette and carefully measure out the total volume then use part of it according to weight but you have to be confident of your maths and measuring, and ideally your vet will be in agreement. Multiple pipettes of the xeno 50 is the prescribed way to deal with it but I'm not sure what the total volume of liquid is there that needs to be absorbed by the skin. It's just finding enough skin to soak it up (even behind the ears!)

With a significant infestation there's usually a bit of a scratching frenzy for a few hours (or more) immediately after application as the mites 'spasm' as they die but then the itching should ease off quickly. It may possibly increase again over the next two weeks as new eggs hatch but we've never seen it so bad as before the first dose. Xeno doesn't kill the eggs. 2nd treatment 2 weeks after first should wipe out the mites before they reach breeding age and lay eggs themselves but we always also go for a 3rd treatment two weeks after 2nd to make sure (and with more than one pig it's best to treat all at once).

It's always possible you have something else - maybe fungal - and vet is just ruling out mites first? With mites we've seen hair shedding and 'debris' around the back end but nothing so much at the front. When people report small bald patches appearing with mites they are typically round the rump. With some fungal infections there seems to be scabbing round the eyes/ears but we've been fortunate and not had personal experience here (just a few mites from the occasional new piggy) but the descriptions of the itching appearing on the forum have been severe and distressing in fungal pigs. @Wiebke , is the mention of 'a lot of dandruff' in the first post a warning sign for fungal? If the vet had known about the attack might they have looked at the ear scabs and back wound as bites? Perhaps the attack was an unfortunate coincidence?

In your shoes I would be asking myself one serious question: Has the xeno treatment actually made a difference to the poor piggy's symptoms and if the answer is basically 'No' I'd be back at a vet with pig experience tomorrow to chase up the fungal route. There is an injection of something (is it Itrafungol?) that is supposed to be very effective (along with a lot of deep cleaning) but this is beyond my experience. Best of Luck 💕
Click to expand...
Thank you so much - yes we are going to see how we go after the next treatment. He did get significantly better but has just took a step back again so hopefully we can get on top of it after the next treatment on Wednesday. In the mean time if he gets worse or does not improve after second it will be straight back to the vets!
 
Poor thing, that does look sore. Hope the next treatment will see an improvement.
 
Ooh that does look sore - poor lad. Well done you, for all your kind care and concern for him. We'll keep everything crossed for a better start to the new year!
 
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