• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Scab On Guinea Pig's Back

Status
Not open for further replies.
Amy1788

Amy1788

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Jul 23, 2014
Messages
10
Reaction score
3
Points
130
Location
Hull, UK
I came home from work today and found a scab on my guinea pig's back, pictures attached below.

Guinea pig scab.webp Guinea Pig scab 2.webp
Its about the size of pound coin and about half way down her back on the right hand side. I'm really worried as I have no idea what's caused it. I've checked all around the cage and can't find any blood or anything sharp she could have cut herself on. Sometimes her and her cage mate bicker but I've never seen them fight, just the odd nip so I can't imagine that's what's caused it. They both had a check at the vets about a month ago as I was concerned about finding tiny black specks in the water after bathing them but he had a good check of their fur and skin and couldn't find any mites or lice and said it was probably just tiny bits of general dirt. If it was mites/lice would they present like this? Any ideas about what it might be or any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.
 
If it was mange mites they are invisible to the naked eye as they are under the skin, has she got any hairloss or does the hair look shorter in some places like it is broken hald way down the shaft? It could also be fungal especially with the humid weather we have had recently. Only a vet can diagnose though. A bite is also a possibility but it could be self inflicted if she has parasites or a skin issue.
 
Thank you for your reply. I've not noticed any obvious hair loss but around the area of the scab there's definitely some broken hairs. She seems quite normal and happy in herself, eating and drinking and running around the cage but I do think it's irritating her as she knocked a part of the scab off scratching last night. They're both booked into the vets this afternoon so hopefully he'll be able to shed some light.
 
It's worth keeping an eye out for scratching. Sunrise had mange, and one of the first symptoms was dandruff, which I foolishly dismissed as I had read previously that Teddies are prone to flakey skin. The next thing I noticed was that she was itchy, closely followed by a nasty cut on her back, just like that one. She was treated with Ivermectin injections (I made the mistake of trying to home-treat her with spot on but it didn't work and only delayed the proper treatment - poor little love)
There could be several reasons for a cut back, but it is worth keeping a very close eye for other signs, just in case it is mites..

Cleaning with salt in cool boiled water is an effective antiseptic, but don't make the solution so strong that it stings her.
 
Thanks for your advice :) we've been to the vets this afternoon, he's pretty certain it's a bite from the other piggy living with her which is upsetting but he said it's healing nicely. They're not the closest of pigs, they don't cuddle up together like some do but I'm very surprised that she's been bitten, they often bicker but I've never seen them fight or look like they're going to. He did mention mange looking similar to this but as there's only one patch he doesn't think that's what it is. I'll just keep a really close eye on her and take her straight back if it gets any worse or she deteriorates in anyway.
 
I think the term is 'broken back' and it's not what it sounds like. It's usually mite related, and if you rub it slightly, and the piggy starts to try and scratch it like crazy, and turn their head as though they want to groom it fast, that's usually a sure fire sign it's mites. If she doesn't respond to your rubbing the area with your finger, then it's most likely a bite wound.
Hope she heals ok, i'd bath her in insecticidal shampoo for guinea pigs just in case.
 
Broken back is a fungal condition. You would notice a v forming in the hair similar to the v that can be seen with mange mites.
 
I have had this on a pig his name is Hover,
Hover developed the same as above a year or so ago,
Vet tested for most of the common strains of fungal infection , results came back clear,
vet took a skin scrape to test for parasites , clear !

A melanoma (skin cancer) was even considerd but as melanomas have no success full treatment in G P, s testing would have been a wast of time!

Vet said best leave well inough alown,,

It eventually stated to disappear , and now it is practicaly gone
 
A little update on the scab situation. It looked to me like it was getting worse and I could see a tiny new patch higher up on her back so I took her to another vet for a second opinion. She said she thought it might be an itchy skin infection of some sort but didn't specify exactly what. She prescribed Surolan to rub on the scabs twice a day. I've used this on her yesterday and this morning. Her skin now looks like this;image.webp

The scab looks like it's healing but the patch has definitely gotten bigger and spread up to the small bald patch you can see and also downwards too.

I've also spotted another new patch today; image.webp

Any ideas? I'm worried the fact it's spread makes it more likely to be mites; should I persist with the cream with only using it for a day and a half or should I take her back to the vets?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top