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
3 URI (Upper respiratory tract infection) and sensitivities
- Typical symptoms in order of development
- What to do immediately
- Sensitivity to hay dust and pollen
4 Ringworm (highly contagious fungal skin infection)
5 Species specific skin parasites
- Mange mites (invisible)
- Hay mites (egg cases visible and tangible)
- Guinea pig lice (parasites visible)
1 Vets and your customer rights
What makes newly bought guinea pigs so vulnerable?
The immune system in baby guinea pigs is still under construction when they are ripped away from the families. They have their lives upturned several times in quick succession and are kept at very close quarters in shops, especially in the holding area behind the shop front. A weak immune system, stress, close proximity and exposure are the ideal conditions for bugs to be picked up and spread around. There is no licensing or control for for-sale breeders.
The only place you can avoid this is by adopting from a good standard guinea pig rescue with a mandatory quarantine, a pregnancy watch for all incoming sows and a health check before any guinea pigs are being put up for adoptions. Since many sows coming into rescue are pregnant, there are often babies to be found in rescue, too. We can provide lists for recommended safe rescues in several countries if wished.
Do I need to see a vet?
We strongly recommend to see a vet for a diagnosis and appropriate vet strength products. Please do not home treat on spec with low dosed broad spectrum pet shop products that can only at the best temporarily suppress but not cure an acute outbreak.
It is overall cheaper and quicker to do it properly once instead of starting a long running saga that is hard (and potentially deadly) on your piggies and frustrating for you. Some corners are simply not worth cutting!
Documenting illness and your customer rights
You are within your customer rights to reclaim any vet cost for an ongoing problem within 2-3 weeks (UK) or 30 days (USA/Canada) of purchase if transmission/infection must have likely happened at the pet shop. Some pet shops will only allow connected vet chains but if you have seen another vet, they still have to honour your rights. Don't let yourself be fobbed off and demand to see the manager.
Documentation is key for pushing your claim successfully. Make sure that you have both pictures and videos that include clearly visible; ideally more than one so it is clear that this is not stolen or faked material:
- The ill guinea pig with their visible or audible health problem
- A piece of paper with the date inside the cage
- Your sales receipt
- Any vet bill with the date and fee
- The claiming person in contact with the cage or guinea pig
With pregnant/mis-sexed babies or surprise pups you can claim support for the extra moutha but brace yourself that you will be fobbed off with the smallest cage and cheapest food they can get away with.
2 Respiratory tract infection (URI) and sensitivity
Respiratory infections in guinea pigs are bacterial and NOT viral like human flu. They require a full course of antibiotics.
If not treated at all, wrongly or undertreated, URI can kill or cause permanent damage.
See a vet promptly; the sooner treatment kicks in, the greater the chances of a smooth and quick recovery!
Typical symptoms in order of development
Onset:
- very frequent and/or persistent sneezing (much more than 5 times a day or a one-off sneezing fit) - Note: could be rather a sensitivity
- crackly or raspy breathing - often the first symptom
- clicking in the chest is a symptom for pneumonia. Please see a vet asap.
Symptoms of an advanced, un- or undertreated URI:
- yellow/greenish gunky eyes
- coughing
- loss of appetite
- apathy.
Guinea Lynx :: URI
Any piggy that is lethargic and not eating much or not at all is a life and death emergency and needs to see a vet ASAP at any time fo the day or night!
Please try to make a vet appointment first - if possible - before opening a support thread in our Health/Illness section.
What to do immediately
Switch to weighing daily first thing in the morning on our normal cheap kitchen scales in order to monitor the daily food intake. The weight does swing in a ca. 30g band over the course of 24 hours but it is always lowest in the morning.
Step in with syringe feeding fibre and water as soon as you notice your piggy not being quite well. Over 80% of the food intake is unlimited hay, so nibbling on a leaf of lettuce is just not enough to keep a piggy alive! The need to breathe comes before the need to drink and only thirdly the need to eat.
A guinea pig that is struggling to breathe will have no appetite and grow weak very quickly. The guts will slow down and then close down. Feeding lukewarm water doesn't contain any calories and won't save a guinea pig that has stopped eating! Your care is vital to keep your piggy alive until the antibiotic is kicking in, breathing has freed up and the appetite has come back. This can take several days.
Sensitivity to hay dust and pollen
Persistent sneezing without any other more advanced symptoms developing can be caused by hay dust, pollen allergy, dusty bedding (please no pine shavings!), dry air from air conditioning or radiator heat, perfumes from air fresheners, scented human body care products and perfumes as well as scent sticks. Please never smoke in a room with guinea pigs!
Allergies and sensitivities can only be diagnosed by default after a URI has been exlcuded by a vet. True allergies to pollen and dust are rare in guinea pigs but not unknown. They should be looked at in extreme cases.
Please never place shop guinea pigs in an unprotected and unheated outdoors hutch during the time frosts can happen or during hot weather. Guinea pigs need to be treated like tender plants.
Guinea pigs need to spend the winter months especially in frost areas under cover and with extra protection and should be brought indoors during heat waves/spikes and extreme weather events.
URI can result if your guinea pigs are exposed to wide temperature swings without being acclimatised.
It is also worth considering that sensitivity can be a result of guinea pigs being kept in too sterile conditions and that their immune system is quite simply not prepared for a complex home environment.
We have noticed that owners feeding not dust extracted farmers hay have very little to no persistent sensitivity problems past the odd short term bunged up nose from a speck of dust getting in there, generally cleared within a few hours at latest by a nose-clearing sneeze.
3 Ringworm (fungal skin infection)
Highly infectious and transmittable to humans and other pets. Requires scrupulous hygiene and a vet strength disinfectant. Please see a vet promptly and ask for a preferably oral systemic fungal treatment, which is prescription-only. If not available, ask for an efficient dip.
Typically first noticed as little crusty, bloody or bald patches on the head and ears. In later stages patches can appear all over the body as they are spread around by shed ringworm spores.
If ringworm has been diagnosed, please follow the hygiene measures in our very practical ringworm guide in order to get on top it once and for all. We have ample proof that our method really works.
Do not cream; it will not prevent ringworm from spreading further as you do not reach the affected area around the bald spot, catch all spores and prevent other areas from getting infected!
Never treat skin problems on spec before seeing a vet. It is the same as wiping a crime scene. Your vet will be grateful if you leave them plenty of evidence for an informed diagnosis and allow them to start immediately with good quality treatment.
4 Guinea pig specific parasites
Mange mites
(trixacarus caviae: invisible mites burrowing their eggs in the skin)
Mange mites will kill slowly and agonisingly if left untreated or undertreated!
Mange mites typically appear in the small of the back as a v-shaped bald patch but they can manifest in other parts of the body, too. Very intense, frequent scratching and biting of the skin; real discomfort/refusal to being held; fitting in advanced stages.
Please note that not all fungal infections and mites manifest in textbook form and that they can look very similar in the early stages, especially if they do not happen in a classic place.
Please disinfect the cage and any contents with a vet-grade disinfectant. Change the hay supply.
No guinea pig skin parasite can survive on humans. They are species specific. Mange mites can in rare cases affect humans shortly.
Please do not treat on spec with low dosed shop products that will only suppress the symptoms temporarily but won't cure. See a vet for a diagnosis and a good quality ivermectin or selamectin-based treatment; it requires at least 3 applications at the product specific interval to make sure that they are not coming back.
Hay/fur mites
(chirodiscoides caviae: invisible mites that fix their tiny egg cases to the hairs first around the back end but in advanced cases all over the body).
Eventually small bald or scurfy patches on the body if present for a longer time. The least harmful of the three species specific skin parasites that guinea pigs have.
Hay mites usually arrive in hay bags. They have become much more common in recent years due to imported branded hay from abroad. Please get rid of any hay, disinfect the cage and hard furnishings and wash any fabrics at a higher temperature (60 C/ 140 F).
The visible egg cases look like somebody has turned a pepper mill over the back end of your guinea pig; the eggs are tiny nodules like beads strung up on a hair if you feel for them. Always check the deeper layers of the hairs at the bum end for hay mite eggs during the regular weekly health check and weigh-in.
Treatment is the same as for mange mites. With major infestations it can be helpful to give your piggy a very short haircut or shave to remove as many eggs as possible mechanically; the hairs will grow back even in short haired guinea pigs. Throw away the hay (which they usually come in) and disinfect the cage with a vet strength deep cleaning product.
In very persistent cases, a two-pronged approach with ivermectin and a course of medicated lice shampoo can help. Please ask your vet for a suitable product. Lice'n'easy shampoo from Gorgeous Guineas may also help but is not necessarily able to clean out an infestation on its own.
Lice
Guinea pig lice are small pale things crawling around the coat. They live off the blood of guinea pigs. Treatment is with a vet strength ivermectin/selamectin product. Untreated lice in weakened guinea pigs can kill!
Lice are occasionally found in backyard/farm breeder piggies that are not receiving any vet care. Please be aware that any breeder piggies with bald patches need to see a vet for treatment promptly (parasitic and/or fungal). Healthy guinea pigs only have symmetrical bald patches behind the ears!
Guinea pigs don't have fleas and should not be treated for fleas - products can be fatally toxic.
Fleas And Flea Powders
More information on guinea pig parasites via this link here: Guinea Lynx :: Parasites
- What makes newly bought guinea pigs so vulnerable?
- Do I need to see a vet?
- Documenting illness and your customer rights
3 URI (Upper respiratory tract infection) and sensitivities
- Typical symptoms in order of development
- What to do immediately
- Sensitivity to hay dust and pollen
4 Ringworm (highly contagious fungal skin infection)
5 Species specific skin parasites
- Mange mites (invisible)
- Hay mites (egg cases visible and tangible)
- Guinea pig lice (parasites visible)
1 Vets and your customer rights
What makes newly bought guinea pigs so vulnerable?
The immune system in baby guinea pigs is still under construction when they are ripped away from the families. They have their lives upturned several times in quick succession and are kept at very close quarters in shops, especially in the holding area behind the shop front. A weak immune system, stress, close proximity and exposure are the ideal conditions for bugs to be picked up and spread around. There is no licensing or control for for-sale breeders.
The only place you can avoid this is by adopting from a good standard guinea pig rescue with a mandatory quarantine, a pregnancy watch for all incoming sows and a health check before any guinea pigs are being put up for adoptions. Since many sows coming into rescue are pregnant, there are often babies to be found in rescue, too. We can provide lists for recommended safe rescues in several countries if wished.
Do I need to see a vet?
We strongly recommend to see a vet for a diagnosis and appropriate vet strength products. Please do not home treat on spec with low dosed broad spectrum pet shop products that can only at the best temporarily suppress but not cure an acute outbreak.
It is overall cheaper and quicker to do it properly once instead of starting a long running saga that is hard (and potentially deadly) on your piggies and frustrating for you. Some corners are simply not worth cutting!
Documenting illness and your customer rights
You are within your customer rights to reclaim any vet cost for an ongoing problem within 2-3 weeks (UK) or 30 days (USA/Canada) of purchase if transmission/infection must have likely happened at the pet shop. Some pet shops will only allow connected vet chains but if you have seen another vet, they still have to honour your rights. Don't let yourself be fobbed off and demand to see the manager.
Documentation is key for pushing your claim successfully. Make sure that you have both pictures and videos that include clearly visible; ideally more than one so it is clear that this is not stolen or faked material:
- The ill guinea pig with their visible or audible health problem
- A piece of paper with the date inside the cage
- Your sales receipt
- Any vet bill with the date and fee
- The claiming person in contact with the cage or guinea pig
With pregnant/mis-sexed babies or surprise pups you can claim support for the extra moutha but brace yourself that you will be fobbed off with the smallest cage and cheapest food they can get away with.
2 Respiratory tract infection (URI) and sensitivity
Respiratory infections in guinea pigs are bacterial and NOT viral like human flu. They require a full course of antibiotics.
If not treated at all, wrongly or undertreated, URI can kill or cause permanent damage.
See a vet promptly; the sooner treatment kicks in, the greater the chances of a smooth and quick recovery!
Typical symptoms in order of development
Onset:
- very frequent and/or persistent sneezing (much more than 5 times a day or a one-off sneezing fit) - Note: could be rather a sensitivity
- crackly or raspy breathing - often the first symptom
- clicking in the chest is a symptom for pneumonia. Please see a vet asap.
Symptoms of an advanced, un- or undertreated URI:
- yellow/greenish gunky eyes
- coughing
- loss of appetite
- apathy.
Guinea Lynx :: URI
Any piggy that is lethargic and not eating much or not at all is a life and death emergency and needs to see a vet ASAP at any time fo the day or night!
Please try to make a vet appointment first - if possible - before opening a support thread in our Health/Illness section.
What to do immediately
Switch to weighing daily first thing in the morning on our normal cheap kitchen scales in order to monitor the daily food intake. The weight does swing in a ca. 30g band over the course of 24 hours but it is always lowest in the morning.
Step in with syringe feeding fibre and water as soon as you notice your piggy not being quite well. Over 80% of the food intake is unlimited hay, so nibbling on a leaf of lettuce is just not enough to keep a piggy alive! The need to breathe comes before the need to drink and only thirdly the need to eat.
A guinea pig that is struggling to breathe will have no appetite and grow weak very quickly. The guts will slow down and then close down. Feeding lukewarm water doesn't contain any calories and won't save a guinea pig that has stopped eating! Your care is vital to keep your piggy alive until the antibiotic is kicking in, breathing has freed up and the appetite has come back. This can take several days.
Sensitivity to hay dust and pollen
Persistent sneezing without any other more advanced symptoms developing can be caused by hay dust, pollen allergy, dusty bedding (please no pine shavings!), dry air from air conditioning or radiator heat, perfumes from air fresheners, scented human body care products and perfumes as well as scent sticks. Please never smoke in a room with guinea pigs!
Allergies and sensitivities can only be diagnosed by default after a URI has been exlcuded by a vet. True allergies to pollen and dust are rare in guinea pigs but not unknown. They should be looked at in extreme cases.
Please never place shop guinea pigs in an unprotected and unheated outdoors hutch during the time frosts can happen or during hot weather. Guinea pigs need to be treated like tender plants.
Guinea pigs need to spend the winter months especially in frost areas under cover and with extra protection and should be brought indoors during heat waves/spikes and extreme weather events.
URI can result if your guinea pigs are exposed to wide temperature swings without being acclimatised.
It is also worth considering that sensitivity can be a result of guinea pigs being kept in too sterile conditions and that their immune system is quite simply not prepared for a complex home environment.
We have noticed that owners feeding not dust extracted farmers hay have very little to no persistent sensitivity problems past the odd short term bunged up nose from a speck of dust getting in there, generally cleared within a few hours at latest by a nose-clearing sneeze.
3 Ringworm (fungal skin infection)
Highly infectious and transmittable to humans and other pets. Requires scrupulous hygiene and a vet strength disinfectant. Please see a vet promptly and ask for a preferably oral systemic fungal treatment, which is prescription-only. If not available, ask for an efficient dip.
Typically first noticed as little crusty, bloody or bald patches on the head and ears. In later stages patches can appear all over the body as they are spread around by shed ringworm spores.
If ringworm has been diagnosed, please follow the hygiene measures in our very practical ringworm guide in order to get on top it once and for all. We have ample proof that our method really works.
Do not cream; it will not prevent ringworm from spreading further as you do not reach the affected area around the bald spot, catch all spores and prevent other areas from getting infected!
Never treat skin problems on spec before seeing a vet. It is the same as wiping a crime scene. Your vet will be grateful if you leave them plenty of evidence for an informed diagnosis and allow them to start immediately with good quality treatment.
4 Guinea pig specific parasites
Mange mites
(trixacarus caviae: invisible mites burrowing their eggs in the skin)
Mange mites will kill slowly and agonisingly if left untreated or undertreated!
Mange mites typically appear in the small of the back as a v-shaped bald patch but they can manifest in other parts of the body, too. Very intense, frequent scratching and biting of the skin; real discomfort/refusal to being held; fitting in advanced stages.
Please note that not all fungal infections and mites manifest in textbook form and that they can look very similar in the early stages, especially if they do not happen in a classic place.
Please disinfect the cage and any contents with a vet-grade disinfectant. Change the hay supply.
No guinea pig skin parasite can survive on humans. They are species specific. Mange mites can in rare cases affect humans shortly.
Please do not treat on spec with low dosed shop products that will only suppress the symptoms temporarily but won't cure. See a vet for a diagnosis and a good quality ivermectin or selamectin-based treatment; it requires at least 3 applications at the product specific interval to make sure that they are not coming back.
Hay/fur mites
(chirodiscoides caviae: invisible mites that fix their tiny egg cases to the hairs first around the back end but in advanced cases all over the body).
Eventually small bald or scurfy patches on the body if present for a longer time. The least harmful of the three species specific skin parasites that guinea pigs have.
Hay mites usually arrive in hay bags. They have become much more common in recent years due to imported branded hay from abroad. Please get rid of any hay, disinfect the cage and hard furnishings and wash any fabrics at a higher temperature (60 C/ 140 F).
The visible egg cases look like somebody has turned a pepper mill over the back end of your guinea pig; the eggs are tiny nodules like beads strung up on a hair if you feel for them. Always check the deeper layers of the hairs at the bum end for hay mite eggs during the regular weekly health check and weigh-in.
Treatment is the same as for mange mites. With major infestations it can be helpful to give your piggy a very short haircut or shave to remove as many eggs as possible mechanically; the hairs will grow back even in short haired guinea pigs. Throw away the hay (which they usually come in) and disinfect the cage with a vet strength deep cleaning product.
In very persistent cases, a two-pronged approach with ivermectin and a course of medicated lice shampoo can help. Please ask your vet for a suitable product. Lice'n'easy shampoo from Gorgeous Guineas may also help but is not necessarily able to clean out an infestation on its own.
Lice
Guinea pig lice are small pale things crawling around the coat. They live off the blood of guinea pigs. Treatment is with a vet strength ivermectin/selamectin product. Untreated lice in weakened guinea pigs can kill!
Lice are occasionally found in backyard/farm breeder piggies that are not receiving any vet care. Please be aware that any breeder piggies with bald patches need to see a vet for treatment promptly (parasitic and/or fungal). Healthy guinea pigs only have symmetrical bald patches behind the ears!
Guinea pigs don't have fleas and should not be treated for fleas - products can be fatally toxic.
Fleas And Flea Powders
More information on guinea pig parasites via this link here: Guinea Lynx :: Parasites