guinea pig problem

[Skyespirit86]

I went to feed my two female guineas the other day and when one popped out from under her little bridge in her cage i was shocked to see a large bald patch on her back end. it extends up her back a bit, and she has taken a good chunk out of herself too. i assumed she was itchy, so might have mites or something. however id cleaned her out literally 3-4 days before and nothing was amiss then. so its happened very quick. i obviously took her to the vet today and he said he doesnt think its anything serious, and that maybe shes bored...? She is blind due to cataracts and i was wondering if this could affect her mental health perhaps, especially since she is reaching her senior years now. I'm worried its the start of her going downhill. She doesnt seem miserable though. Shes eating and responding well. the vet said it looked nice and clean so just gave her some antiotics and some drops for mites. Anyone had something like this? Do you think the vet's right?

[*Liil-Roo*]

Have you joined a guineapig forum? i have got 2 sows & they have given me lots of information that i needed for them. join up to it & put a post up like you did on this one. lots of people will reply hunnie!!!

Hope this helped & i hope your little girls gets better soon

She is a beauty by the way!!!!

[Frogmad]

looks like it could be mites, have you changed the sort of hay you use or the supplier?
how old is she?
not to worry you, it could be cancer, my first g-pig had a similar problem back in the mid 80's when she was coming up 5 (i.e. aincent back then!) and it turned out to be cancer (not sure which type as only got told by my parents fairly recently, they kept telling me it was mites....I was only 8 at the time!!!)
I'd just keep an eye on her, make sure that she has plenty of things to chew on to keep her disctracted

[pigglywiggly]

i`ve bred guineas for 25+ years and it looks like mites to me, ( it dosnt look fungal ) especially as she`s taken a chunk out of herself.

is she really itchy? if she`s still biting herself you can put some Eurax cream from the chemist/asda around the itchy bits ( not on the broken skin ) once a day to stop her biting helself.

what was in the drops the vet gave you, was it Ivermectin?

its a good idea to bath guinea pigs occasionally to prevent any fungal or mite problems, you can use products from the chemist

for fungal problems where you get dandfuff/hairloss and itching use Selsun shampoo

for parasites you can use all sorts of different products, prioderm nit stuff is fine if you cant get ivomec.

or if you arnt sure which problem you have, Seleen for dogs is a good one, but wear gloves.

[LisaLQ]

Nizoral works for fungal infections really well, but I dont think it's fungal either. Fungal is scaly/oozy and scabby:




We tried several different things, including canestan cream, GSE etc, but when it came down to it - Nizoral and beaphar anti-fungal spray worked very well. We now bath our two in Nizoral every month or so to be safe, and it's not returned.

[pigglywiggly]

my `cupboard` is scary, it has soooo many bottles of stuff in, its like the one at the vets!

nizoral has got a bit expensive latly, i`ve got norclear now instead it was a lot cheaper

[LisaLQ]

Norclear? Not heard of that - will have to look for it - my Nizoral cost me £9-£10 a bottle (yikes!), but luckily only having two piggies, it's lasted ages

[corny girl]

Originally Posted by LisaLQ

Nizoral works for fungal infections really well, but I dont think it's fungal either. Fungal is scaly/oozy and scabby:
image

image

We tried several different things, including canestan cream, GSE etc, but when it came down to it - Nizoral and beaphar anti-fungal spray worked very well. We now bath our two in Nizoral every month or so to be safe, and it's not returned.

Oh Teddies . I have a Teddy Boar 2x 3/4 Rex 1/4 Teddy Sows & a Rex Sow, love my little bog brushes .

That does look like mites to me, i use Ivermec & it usually clears up within a couple of weeks.

[pigglywiggly]

i have loads a piggers

i alternate shampoos, find if i use the same one all the time it stops working,
i have
norclear ( its for dogs )
seleen
imaverol - cattle ringworm stuff!
nizoral
selsun etc

and the amount of ivomec i get through is scary.



no, hedgehog rexes are bestest!

or longhairs

these are my current babies

[LisaLQ]

He's a rex, not a teddy. He's from Julie O at Asgard Cavies (Valhalla Rats!). His hutch-mate is a satin sheltie.