skin problem?

[joanne marie]

Hi i posted a while ago regarding this but it seems to be getting worse not better. Basically one of my guinea pigs was very happy being handled and was the easiest one to handle but almost overnight she has completely changed and cannot bare to be touched. She has had a health check at the vet and they said she is in perfect health, i have also treated her for mites and nothing has changed. Can anyone advise what may be causing this? I dont think its just a random change in personality it must be something. Eating and drinking fine. Thanks

 

[Piggies&buns]

Please have her vet checked again if you are concerned.
when you say you treated her for mites, was it part of a vet prescribed course or just a one off dose of an off the shelf pet shop anti parasite treatment? If it was such an off the shelf treatment, then do be aware that they aren’t strong enough to deal with the problem and any mite treatments need to be done as part of a full course at the correct interval between each dose. If you only give one dose all you do is kill the mites which are currently live, but as treatment doesn’t kill the eggs, they then hatch and restart the infestation so the treatment is effectively pointless.

also though, it’s rather normal for piggies to not like being touched but ruling out a medical issue is the first step

 

[joanne marie]

Please have her vet checked again if you are concerned.
when you say you treated her for mites, was it part of a vet prescribed course or just a one off dose of an off the shelf pet shop anti parasite treatment? If it was such an off the shelf treatment, then do be aware that they aren’t strong enough to deal with the problem and any mite treatments need to be done as part of a full course at the correct interval between each dose. If you only give one dose all you do is kill the mites which are currently live, but as treatment doesn’t kill the eggs, they then hatch and restart the infestation so the treatment is effectively pointless.

also though, it’s rather normal for piggies to not like being touched but ruling out a medical issue is the first step

thanks for your advice. she has another appointment on saturday hope i can get to the bottom of it, i know a lot of guinea pigs dont like being handled but i just sense this is different as i have a very close bond with all my pigs and i can tell something is not right

 

[Cosmic_Shadow]

I agree with the above, perhaps find a second opinion. Did you take her to somebody who deals with exotics? Guinea pigs are classed as exotics. So would need to be seen by an exotics vet for accurate diagnosis. Her behavior seems very peculiar and sudden. I don't want to alarm you, I just know from my separate experience when this happened to my past piggie, the next day he stopped eating too and I took him to the vet and he was diagnosed with a nasty, very aggressive tumor.
Touch wood, that is not the case at all for your sweet pea, that experience is still horrifying to this day. I wouldn't wish it on anybody. Just they can hide sickness well.


Is everything sound between her and any cage mates if she has any? She may feel insecure too? Perhaps, if theres been a rift or change in stability.

 

[Free Ranger]

With mites we've usually seen scratching and hair loss, and it's usually been all of them although some were not so overtly affected. Do you see these symptoms?

How is she with the other pigs - is she the same as she was or less tolerant of them? Has the power dynamic changed?

Is she an old girl who might be getting a touch of piggie-dementia or a young one entering her teenage phase?

I'm not a vet - but is there any argument for trying a modest dose of pain relief like metacam and seeing how she is in the hours afterwards? Check this with the experts first of course. If she has had it before and you know she has no problem with it so much the better.

My husband doesn't trust himself to pick up George. George is nervous but enjoys a little fuzzle on his own terms and knows hubs is the bringer of grass so he will stand while hubs strokes him gently on the head because he knows he won't be scooped. However, because I catch him, check him over, give him meds etc he's wary of me (I don't care George, you're still lovely) and will only let me stroke him if I 'walk' my fingers along the floor and come in under the chin and cheeks. He's not daft! When we first got him the rescue said he was getting used to being handled every day because he would sit in their lap... but he actually used to freeze with fear (even his mouth would freeze open) and it took some time before he trusted us enough to become difficult to handle ☺ Oh George!