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Scratching

Princess_Harriet

Princess_Harriet

Junior Guinea Pig
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So lately my piggies have been scratching a lot. It might be because of their bedding so I'm switching to fleece liners. I've looked in their fur for lice and didn't find any. I keep the bedding in a cold room so all bugs will be killed so IDK where they would've picked it up. Any advice welcome. Thank you!
 
Ok so I can’t see a vet until at least April 9. Can the vet visit wait until after that? Easter week is busy.
 
A cold room will not kill the bugs. If they are otherwise ok then the vet visit is not urgent but obviously you need to bear in mind that it can quickly get a lot worse the longer you wait and if any of the piggies scratch so badly they create an open wound they will need to be seen urgently. Unfortunately pets always pick busy times to get ill
 
They aren't scratching super bad I just noticed that they were scratching more than usual. So I'll call the vet and schedule an appointment. Just wasn't sure if I had to do an emergency appointment. Thank you!
 
So I took her to the vet and he said he didn't see any signs of mites or find any mites but gave me meds just to be sure. Thank you!
 
It's called Revolution. You rub it on top of her head. The vet put on the first dose and I'm supposed to put on the second dose in two weeks. I'll post pics of the package in a while. My phone's dead right now.
 
Did he check for mites on a sample under a microscope? And are you to treat just once more in two weeks’ time? I guess you’ll have to see if that gets rid of it, if it’s mites. If I remember correctly it’s three treatments every two weeks. You put the drops on the back of the neck, though don’t rub it in.
 
I had to wait in the car so IDK what he did but I assume so. He said he didn't see any signs of mites "rub" is very loose term. My apologies. He said he put some on her and I should put some on in two weeks. He only gave me one packet for on dose in two weeks.
 
If it's a 'topical' application it goes onto the skin. Of course most small furries are just that so it's hard to find skin! I use a liquid spot-on lotion (Xeno) and I put much of it onto the bald spots behind the ears and the rest can be spotted, for example, down the spine but lift the fur first so it goes direct onto the skin of you can. Try and put it places where they don't lick it off directly, so avoid the flanks where they can reach. Insecticides kill off the adults but not the eggs - they have to hatch out first. They assume a 3 week life cycle to reach breeding maturity so the repeat dose after 2 weeks is to catch out all those hatched eggs! For the Xeno we are usually given a third dose for 2 weeks after that just in case anything has slipped through, but the active ingredients might be different and to be honest the first 2 doses should be doing the business. The Xeno dose given depends on bodyweight - the pigs are weighed so they know how much to apply.

When you spot it on it might trigger a scratching frenzy if they had a lot of mites but this should calm down within a few hours as they die off. I leave my cages a couple of days after the application and then blitz the lot with hot water/white vinegar - anything to clean plastic and metal thoroughly - and wash all fleeces and get rid of any cardboard hideys so no eggs survive in the environment. I do the same after the repeat dose(s).

They can have mites and the vets can't always find them. Scratching is a tricky one because some seem to scratch more than others anyway but shedding is a pretty good indicator. I've had pigs before that we couldn't see anything on but they were shedding more than I was happy with. I treated with Xeno and the shedding calmed right down - that says enough for me. It might not cease until after the second dose though as more mites will be hatching out over the next two weeks before they're killed off. BTW if I'm going to treat I treat everyone at the same time!

If this stuff doesn't make a difference consider the other causes of scratching like fungus - if it's this you might start to see scabs round the head and face areas as they scratch, but I bet it's mites. They are pretty common. Good luck!
 
tempImagetwTPZa.webpHere's the package of the second dose. @Free Ranger unfortunately the vet only gave me enough for the one pig I brought and the vet isn't super close so I wasn't planning on going back soon. Thank you!
 
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