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Vet Says There Is Nothing To Do

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Amishia

Amishia

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi everyone

Over the last month, my 1 year old male piggie napoleon has lost a lot of hair and has tiny wounds where the hair is missing. I took him to the vet, my main concern being mites. The vet tested the skin, and there were no living mites on napoleon, so he gave him an injection for mites under the skin. Now it's a week ago, and it is getting worse and worse. He is losing more hair.
So I called my vet today, where he started out saying that it did not seem very positive with Napoleons health, and that I should be prepared for that it could be allergies. And guinea pig allergies could be a very difficult thing to deal with. He told me that there was really nothing more that I could do.


Can this be true? I am devastated in tears, because I can see that Napoleon is not feeling well. Do you guys have any experience with this? Advice are greatly appriciated.
 
Do you have any pictures? It could be fungal, or as he says allergy, does he have a cage mate? Could they have been fighting? There is also barbering to consider where a piggy chews their hair when they are bored or there is a lack of fibre in their diet.

Has he been eating, weeing and pooing as normal, has he lost any weight?

Please take a look at the vet locater, this is a list of highly recommended cavy savvy vets:

http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/pages/guinea-pig-vet-locator/

I am sure we can get to the bottom of this.

x
 
Hi and welcome!

I am very sorry that Napoleon is in such a bad state! Please be aware that mange mites are not visible to the naked eye and that a kin scrape or fluoresence test may not be conclusive. It usually takes a full course of 3-4 injections spaced about 10-14 days apart to catch all the emerging eggs. The injections should be ivermectin. Things can still get worse after the first treatment. If I were you'd not give up yet.

Has your vet considered a fungal issue other than allergy? They can look much more similar than text books suggest. Is your vet a general vet and could you get a second opinion from a small animal/exotics specialist?
http://www.guinealynx.info/mites.html
http://www.guinealynx.info/fungus.html
http://gorgeousguineas.com/indentification.html
http://gorgeousguineas.com/photogallery.html

Please weigh Napoleon daily to make sure that he is eating and drinking enough, and hand feed if necessary. You will need to treat any companion piggy, too, as both issues are transmittable.
http://www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html
 
i don't agree with your vet to be honest. i think there are other options to consider, especially because true allergies are quite rare. are they exotics vets? if not, i would switch vets. did they take a skin scraping to send to the lab? it's really quick and easy and can tell you if it's fungal and what type. ches had one done. also, if they looked for mites under the microscope and didn't see any, this isn't unusual either, so it could be mites. is your piggy scratching? because during mite treatment, and fungal treatment, things can look worse before looking better. so hair loss can happen and skin can look worse before it heals.

gorgeous guineas is a good site to look at and you could even email the lady who owns it. she is good with things like this and may beable to recommend something. obviously aswell as vets advice.

i wouldn't give up just yet. x
 
I agree it could be fungal. If you could post photos that would be good and we can then maybe suggest what to say to your vet based on what the photos show.
 
Toffee: Thank you for your answer. Well yes he has his brother. They do nip eachother once in a while, but it has never been as violent as making sores or ripping hair of eachother. I try to keep them entertained everyday, and they have floortime at least once a day. Also they get plenty of hay with additional fresh water, occaisionally veggies and guinea pig mix. And yes, he is eating as he has always been, and both wee and poo looks normal. I dont live in anywhere near thos places on the pet locater, I come drom Denmark. Picture below

Wiebke: Thank you for your answer as well. We dont really have those kind of vets in Denmark. He is an ordinary vet. But do you suggest I try another one? I have been weighing him daily, and it doesn't seem like he is losing any.

wp_003387_by_klarahh-d729rkp.jpg



wp_003388_by_klarahh-d729s2z.jpg


wp_003390_by_klarahh-d729s4k.jpg
 
Should I go out and buy ivermectin, and try to cure him my self? I've just google searched, and there is absolutely no vets in Denmarks who specializes in rodents or small pet. I am desperate to try everything to save him from whatever is happening.

Can I buy medicine for fungal infections as a home remedy? I'm saying this because I don't want another vet to just turn me down, and if necesarry I will do it my self.

Well, he did put a peice of tape on the skin of Napoleon, and looked at it under the microscope, but it didn't seem like there was any mites or fungus
 
You can use over the counter shampoos but it is important to get the right diagnosis first. To me it looks more fungal. My late Nigel was losing hair like that when his immune system was compromised due to him being in the end stages of heart failure (not saying that is what is wrong here - don't panic) and it meant that he developed an overload of Candida albicans and he was given an oral medication called Nystatin from the vets.

Shampoos that can be used for fungal in the UK are Nizoral, Alphosyl and Polytar and you can also treat with Imaverol dips, but am not sure if any of these products are available in Denmark. Send me a message if you need any further information and I will see if I can help, but it is important that the right dignosis is given by the vet, though that is proving difficult.

Does the hair come out easily when tugged gently?
 
Also, if he is scratching they can have Children's Piriton syrup at a dose of 0.2ml twice a day. In bad cases though a steroid injection from the vets is needed instead.
 
Thank you for the picture.

It could be both mites or fungal, and perhaps your vet may decide to treat for both. Please continue the course of ivermectin inejctions and also have the brother treated.

If the ivermectin doesn't do the trick within the next 2-3 weeks, ask your vet to investigate "broken back" fungal, which ideally would need a systematic fungal like itrafungol (the correct dose for this is 0.1ml per 100g of body weight once daily as a 1 week on 1 week off interval course). if it is fungal, his brother would need a course of three anti-fungal baths with an interval of 3 days to prevent him from coming down with it.

However, you should be able to get on top of it with the right treatment. Your boy is not at death's door yet by a long margin!
 
I agree with Wiebke on the mites diagnosis and the need for the full course of injections, especially going by the photo where you are parting the hair as it looks broken half way down the shaft. However, the photo of his side makes me think there may be fungal going on aswell but go with the injections for mites first and then see what happens. My own pigs have also had "broken back" and were treated with Itrafungol.
 
i think i would also complete the mite treatment and then see where you are at. it's so hard not to worry i know. x
 
Thank you all for your answers

The problem is, that according to my vet, there is nothing to 'complete'. He said himself, that one injection should be enough. Should I find anohter vet for this?
 
Yes I would either try to persuade your original vet or find another one. It is standard practice to give a course of injections, not just he one.
 
Mites treatment is always a course of 3-4 rounds, never just a single round. Injections are most effective, specially in a severe acute case rather than topical treatment, which is better for prevention.

All the best for your new vet!
 
Okay, so I also tried to call my original vet. He said that he did use ivermectin, and that it is normal procedure to give it over 3-4 round. BUT you normally have to see a small progression after the first treatment, before you give the rest.

If the guinea pigs condition is worsening, you normally do not give any more ivermectine. And he also said that it did not look like a fungal infection.
 
I would definitely go and have a second opinion. The course of ivermectin must be completed in order for it to work!

I once thought that one of my piggies had mites. Both her and her friend were treated with invermectin as a precaution (it thankfully turned out there was nothing wrong) and had 3 rounds each spaced 11 days apart. I even had to make the appointments there and then.

Whether it is mites or fungal, he will need a proper diagnosis before proper treatment can be carried out x
 
Do you have any guinea pig rescues in your area? You may be able to get more advice from one of these or they may be able to put you in touch with a vet that they trust.
 
The rescue that had my pig dosed her with ivermectin as a precaution before she gave her to me. She had no symptoms. Two days later her hair was falling out and she was scratching herself silly. Second injection at vets sorted her. And we got a third just to be sure. Definitely he might need two doses or more. Germaine wasnt even bad enough that she had any sign of mites and she needed two injections to clear it. Good luck!
 
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