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Penny has sores on her backside

Hope4gem

Hope4gem

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Penny has two sores on her backside. We just noticed it now. I don't think it was there yesterday. Does anyone think it looks like another guinea pig bit her? (Penny's cagemate is Sandy). Penny is the dominant one and has had what seems to be strong seasons for a while now. But I've never seen aggression between Sandy and Penny. 20220111_182745.webp
 
Hope4gem said:
Penny has two sores on her backside. We just noticed it now. I don't think it was there yesterday. Does anyone think it looks like another guinea pig bit her? (Penny's cagemate is Sandy). Penny is the dominant one and has had what seems to be strong seasons for a while now. But I've never seen aggression between Sandy and Penny. View attachment 193890
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Hi!

Please have her checked for potential mange mites; they are opportunists that can hit whenever the immune system is lowered and cannot keep any eggs in the skin (which cannot be reached medically) under control. In frailer and older piggies they can unfortunately hit very quickly.

A full course of three applications (if necessary four) at the product specific interval with a vet strength brand (please do not buy any pet shop products) should do the trick. Don't be fooled; we have done some digging around but the dosage in pets@home 'vet strength' products only applies to prevention strength and not to what you need in an acute case. You will need to treat with xeno and not beaphar.

While people instinctively seem to go for bites from a bites, in most cases the wounds are from self-barbering due to discomfort/pain - yours definitely don't like bite marks in the first place.
New piggy problems: URI - ringworm - skin parasites
 
Wiebke said:
Hi!

Please have her checked for potential mange mites; they are opportunists that can hit whenever the immune system is lowered and cannot keep any eggs in the skin (which cannot be reached medically) under control. In frailer and older piggies they can unfortunately hit very quickly.

A full course of three applications (if necessary four) at the product specific interval with a vet strength brand (please do not buy any pet shop products) should do the trick. Don't be fooled; we have done some digging around but the dosage in pets@home 'vet strength' products only applies to prevention strength and not to what you need in an acute case. You will need to treat with xeno and not beaphar.

While people instinctively seem to go for bites from a bites, in most cases the wounds are from self-barbering due to discomfort/pain - yours definitely don't like bite marks in the first place.
New piggy problems: URI - ringworm - skin parasites
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Thank you very much for the advice. We've had other piggies tested for ringworm, mites, etc before and it has always been negative so we assumed it was over-barbering perhaps due to pain, but we were never really sure of the cause. This is the first time I've seen it in Penny though. I don't know how soon we'll be able to get an appointment, but I will certainly call the vet in the morning. Thanks again!
 
Hope4gem said:
Thank you very much for the advice. We've had other piggies tested for ringworm, mites, etc before and it has always been negative so we assumed it was over-barbering perhaps due to pain, but we were never really sure of the cause. This is the first time I've seen it in Penny though. I don't know how soon we'll be able to get an appointment, but I will certainly call the vet in the morning. Thanks again!
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Here is the mange mites link with suitable US products: Guinea Lynx :: Mange Mites

PS: Mange mite eggs don't show up if they are dormant; you can only test for emerged mites.
 
Wiebke said:
Here is the mange mites link with suitable US products: Guinea Lynx :: Mange Mites

PS: Mange mite eggs don't show up if they are dormant; you can only test for emerged mites.
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Thank you for the tip. Penny has been chewing on the coro a lot recently and never did that this much before. Not sure if that means anything, but I'm worried about her. I hope our vet didn't miss anything with Chippy and Lilly when they were tested because they have both since passed 😞
 
@Wiebke

Hope it's ok to put this in the same thread, but do you think Suzy could have a problem too? It's hard to tell with her long fur, but she looks like she has a bald spot too. She doesn't share a cage with Penny or Sandy but she was cagemates with Lilly and Chippy before they passed.
20220112_063419.webp
 
Yes, it rather looks like mange mites to me. The v-pattern on the back (although more commonly in the middle of back) is rather indicative. All the best!
 
Wiebke said:
Yes, it rather looks like mange mites to me. The v-pattern on the back (although more commonly in the middle of back) is rather indicative. All the best!
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Thank you. I will work to get Suzy scheduled as well. Thanks again! I really appreciate the help!
 
Hope4gem said:
Thank you. I will work to get Suzy scheduled as well. Thanks again! I really appreciate the help!
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Hi!

If one of your piggies has skin parasites, then you need to treat all other piggies in contact with them.

No need to see a vet separately with every piggy; if necessary, take Suzy as companion 'paw holder' so you can just show her to help with the diagnosis or make a note/tell your vet that more of your piggies have developed v-shaped patches on their back.
 
Wiebke said:
Hi!

If one of your piggies has skin parasites, then you need to treat all other piggies in contact with them.

No need to see a vet separately with every piggy; if necessary, take Suzy as companion 'paw holder' so you can just show her to help with the diagnosis or make a note/tell your vet that more of your piggies have developed v-shaped patches on their back.
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Will do! Thank you.
 
All done at the vets. Penny and Suzy were checked. No sign of mites, but vet agreed to treat all of our pigs just in case. She will also be testing for ringworm, but that will take some time to get those results back.
 
They prescribed Selamectin. Is that safe for piggies? They assured me that it is, but was hoping someone on here might know as well.
 
Hope4gem said:
They prescribed Selamectin. Is that safe for piggies? They assured me that it is, but was hoping someone on here might know as well.
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I can't seem to edit my original post, but I wanted to correct my post to say that I found info on guinea lynx saying that Selamectin can be used with piggies so I feel safe using it now. My vet didn't say anything about deep cleaning their cage. Should I do so anyway? Any special cleaners or just my usual weekly cleaning?
 
Piggies&buns said:
Yes selamectin is fine.
As you are treating then it would be worth following all recommendations for mites and disinfecting anyway. F10 is the recommended product for deep cleaning

New Guinea Pig Problems: Sexing & Pregnancy; URI, Ringworm & Parasites; Vet Checks & Customer Rights
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Betsy said:
When my piggies had mites, I deep cleaned their cage 2 or 3 days after each treatment and did the normal poop pick and cage cleans in between.
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Thank you for the advice. I bought some F10 a while back to have on hand for just such an occasion. So I will get to work on that. Thanks again.
 
Hopefully the ringworm test will be negative and the mites treatment will work quickly and Penny will soon be back to her usual self. It's a good idea to do an F10 clean sporadically anyway.
 
VickiA said:
Hopefully the ringworm test will be negative and the mites treatment will work quickly and Penny will soon be back to her usual self. It's a good idea to do an F10 clean sporadically anyway.
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Good to know about the sporadic F10 clean. Thank you.
 
A few more questions. I have never used F10 before. I'll check out the instructions on the bottle, but is there anything else I should know? I'm guessing that I should take apart the cages and clean all the grids and connectors as well?
 
Just a little update. We cleaned everything piggy-related with F10. The piggies had their first Selamectin treatment and the second treatment will happen in 2 to 3 weeks, according to the vet. Penny's sores healed so if it is a mite problem hopefully that's a sign that things are headed in the right direction.
 
Hope4gem said:
Just a little update. We cleaned everything piggy-related with F10. The piggies had their first Selamectin treatment and the second treatment will happen in 2 to 3 weeks, according to the vet. Penny's sores healed so if it is a mite problem hopefully that's a sign that things are headed in the right direction.
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Good to hear Penny is on the mend x
 
The ringworm test is negative and Penny and Suzy were starting to look a bit better. But just today I noticed that Penny has a new sore on her backside. And now our newest piggy, Peanut, has a similar marking. Peanut is on her own in a cage. We hadn't introduced her to the other pigs and had treated everything with F10 in hopes of keeping her from getting whatever this is. Penny, Sandy, and Suzy just had their second Selamectin dose. Peanut never had any treatment because we got her after this all started and she came to us without this issue. I feel so bad that Peanut has this now too. We can't even figure out for sure what it is. Mites test was negative, but we're treating since multiple pigs have these markings. Will call the vet in the morning. Maybe there's something stronger that she can prescribe. And Peanut will need treatment now too. So frustrating and I feel so bad for my piggies.
 
Left two messages for my vet, but haven't heard back and now they're closed for the day. Will try again tomorrow.
 
I called the vet again today and was able to talk to her. We're going to try another dose or two of the Selamectin. If they still have hairloss and/or sores after that then we'll try xrays or ultrasounds to look for potential ovarian cysts.
 
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