Please help - not sure what else we can do!

[HannahT]

Hello everyone,
I have had 2 male guinea pigs since sept 2020, back then we were told they would have been about 3 months old. Everything was great at first they settled in well and got along well together (they were together in pets at home where we got them). Rewind a few months ago we caught them fighting for dominance and split them up, we tried bringing them back together a few times but one just wouldn’t admit defeat so they have been separated for months now. They were both beaten up, cuts on their backs/noses so we got them treated at the vets and one of our pigs, Ace healed well. Terry, however never has. We are going round and round in a circle of the wounds healing then he scratches at them and they re open, causing fresh red bloody wounds again. Recent trip to vets was for a steroid shot which seemed to help but here we are again just over a week later and he’s opened them again. He sounds like he’s screaming in pain when he scratches and we distract with food but we are at our wits end. It’s becoming a fortnightly problem with a vets bill of £50-£100 each time. Not good! Any help would be very grateful. Thank you

 

[Sammoo101]

To be honest that's a tough one. I have few ideas but I am definitely not a professional and I would ask your vet before doing any of these suggestions or anything else really. The first thing that comes to mind is asking your vet if pain meds would be helpful something like a short course of meloxicam or gabbapentin(I did not spell that right) to try to make it bother him less. You could also see if your vet has a laser machine( it is a machine that helps wounds heal faster).

 

[Piggies&buns]

Welcome to the forum.
I'm sorry to hear they haven’t been able to have a functioning relationship. Unfortunately it’s a risk with pet shop piggies that they end up not being compatible when the teenage months hit.

Could you explain a little more about what has been tried so far - has he been given antibiotics and pain relief for example?

Is your vet piggy knowledgeable?
Perhaps you could try another vet to get to the bottom of why things aren’t improving if your vet isn’t particularly piggy knowledgeable. This is our vet locator which may help you Vet Locator

 

[HannahT]

Welcome to the forum.
I'm sorry to hear they haven’t been able to have a functioning relationship. Unfortunately it’s a risk with pet shop piggies that they end up not being compatible when the teenage months hit.

Could you explain a little more about what has been tried so far - has he been given antibiotics and pain relief for example?

Is your vet piggy knowledgeable?
Perhaps you could try another vet to get to the bottom of why things aren’t improving if your vet isn’t particularly piggy knowledgeable. This is our vet locator which may help you Vet Locator

Thanks for your reply!
Yes, they have both had 2 lots of antibiotics and pain relief in the past. Last week Terry was given a steroid & an ointment treatment from the vet. They also gave him a mite treatment and gave me one to take home and administer to Ace. The vet said whether they have mites or not the treatment won’t harm them.

The vet remembers us every time as we are there at least once a month lol. Guessing from her reaction she’s shocked at the state he gets his skin into as well as us.
I’ll have a look at the vet locator, thanks

 

[Merab]

So sorry for your situation.
I can’t add anything but wanted to offer support.

 

[Bill & Ted]

Aw, it’s such a shame poor lad. Hope you can find a solution to get him to stop scratching his wounds open x

 

[Wiebke]

Hello everyone,
I have had 2 male guinea pigs since sept 2020, back then we were told they would have been about 3 months old. Everything was great at first they settled in well and got along well together (they were together in pets at home where we got them). Rewind a few months ago we caught them fighting for dominance and split them up, we tried bringing them back together a few times but one just wouldn’t admit defeat so they have been separated for months now. They were both beaten up, cuts on their backs/noses so we got them treated at the vets and one of our pigs, Ace healed well. Terry, however never has. We are going round and round in a circle of the wounds healing then he scratches at them and they re open, causing fresh red bloody wounds again. Recent trip to vets was for a steroid shot which seemed to help but here we are again just over a week later and he’s opened them again. He sounds like he’s screaming in pain when he scratches and we distract with food but we are at our wits end. It’s becoming a fortnightly problem with a vets bill of £50-£100 each time. Not good! Any help would be very grateful. Thank you

Hi!

What mange mites treatment have you been prescribed? It sounds like a rather advanced case of it to me.
New piggy problems: URI - ringworm - skin parasites

Ideally you wrap the body in cover that your piggy cannot gnaw open in order to get at the pain/discomfort from highly irritated skin into which the mites eggs are burrowed but it is not at all easy as piggies are past masters at wiggling out. You may require more than the usual 3 rounds of a vet strength ivermectin product. Injectable ivermectin would be best but small animals only clinics won't often stock it.

Please be aware that rodents do have a different reaction to steroids, which is why they should not be used with guinea pigs. How piggy savvy is your vet?
The Problems With Steroids And Why They Shouldn't Be Used.

 

[HannahT]

Hi!

What mange mites treatment have you been prescribed? It sounds like a rather advanced case of it to me.
New piggy problems: URI - ringworm - skin parasites

Ideally you wrap the body in cover that your piggy cannot gnaw open in order to get at the pain/discomfort from highly irritated skin into which the mites eggs are burrowed but it is not at all easy as piggies are past masters at wiggling out. You may require more than the usual 3 rounds of a vet strength ivermectin product. Injectable ivermectin would be best but small animals only clinics won't often stock it.

Please be aware that rodents do have a different reaction to steroids, which is why they should not be used with guinea pigs. How piggy savvy is your vet?
The Problems With Steroids And Why They Shouldn't Be Used.

Thanks! I’m not sure what the mite treatment was called I just administered it to ace when I got home, the vet did Terry’s when I took him in. She did tell me the steroid isn’t licensed for guniea pigs but they do use it so she seemed pretty knowledge on that & that she couldn’t pluck any hairs to test for mites as where she would pluck was just covered in open wounds so said she’d hope the steroid would work (which it did, but now back at square one)

 

[tabelmabel]

The name of the medication would have been on the pack you got from the vet - it should have a dispensing label with your pig's name, date, amount to give and name of med.

If you have thrown it out, call your vet and they will tell you what it was.