Poor guinea pigs – mites

[Lintini]

Some of you might know that I have 3 guinea pigs. I bought them all from Petco before I knew that I should have adopted. Anyways, I learned how sick they could be and all that jazz. I was told to treat them for mites, I thought they scratched often, but I never noticed hair loss or any other symptoms. I’ve had them now 2 years. Thai recently started losing her hair and having seizures today I saw one and thought she died.  My mom brought me home some ivermectrim and I treated all 3. Clean cage, and retreat in 7 days. I should have done this after learning how sick petstore animals can be but I thought they were okay and didn’t want to risk hurting them incase I gave them too much. Why break something when it’s not broken is how I thought. So now my question. Indy likes to visit them often through the cage. Is he at risk for getting them too? I keep them in my closet in a C&C cage and he likes to hang out with them and steal their hay through the cage. They haven’t been together, just kept in the same room.

 

I feel really guilty to not listen to people when they said to treat them anyways. Thai is my most outgoing and noisy pigger and I love her to death. I know this stuff is really serious and If it doesn’t clear up after the second treatment I am bringing her into the vet. Also, since only 1 pig is affected I thought it couldn’t be mites because I figured all 3 would…but I don’t know what all of a sudden set them off. I keep their cage clean, they have timothy hay, carrots, lettuce, cilantro and fresh water. Why would they all of a sudden show symptoms?

 

Anyways, please let me know any precautions I need for my rabbits. Thanks

 

Linz.

[MimzMum]

I do know that bunnies can get mites, but I don’t know if they are the same mite species to species.

I’m sorry to hear your piggie is ill, Lin…I will keep good healing vibes going for her and ‘no-catch’ vibes for your bunnies. ((((((((((((hugs)))))))

[rosalie68]

aww im sorry your piggy is sick :o( i love guinea pigs! esp the noisy squeaky ones!! im sorry i dont know about mites or if there are different kinds for different animals. i do know that when i kept hermit crabs they would get them and i saw them in other parts of my house so it may be possible but im not sure. i hope everyone gets better!

kim

[Lintini]

Thanks, it’s just so weird that just NOW I am seeing serious problems and only on Thai poor girl.

This is a photo of her with my pom Wickett…obviously up to no good. You should see him when he tries to come into my room. All these rodents in here and he KNOWS he shouldn’t be in here!!! He puts his ears back and tries to hide under my desk or bed in hopes I don’t notice him. I’ve tried to indroduce him to Indy but Indy gets too upset and thumps so we keep them seperate.

chai and thai when I first brought them home. Chai was pretty tiny!

I hope I can see improvements in Thai soon.

Thanks

[MimzMum]

Well I’m certain the dog can get mites, so Pom needs to keep some distance too. *wags finger*
What a cute pair! ^_^ Now, I don’t know much about guinea pigs, but aren’t the red piggies more prone to things like seizures? Or does this come from the mites or the medicine that treats them? Could Thai have been given something at the pet store that would’ve caused this? How long have you had them now?
She’s a dear thing…I can see how she’s got hold of your heart. How sweet!

[rosalie68]

aww they are soooo cute!! chai looks like the pig i had when i was little. his name was piggy lol. when i got my bunnies i was having a hard time deciding whether i wanted a bunny or a piggy.

i dont know why it would just start doing that now with her. i would call the vet and see what they think about the whole thing.

[Lintini]

I read that this could be dormant until they are stressed out? These photos are old, even before I had rabbits. Pom pom isn’t aloud in my room anymore since Indy is free in it. I read this at the guinealynx page. I didn’t even know it was mites until I saw that it was seizures, I just thought my pig all of a sudden was deathly ill and then to learn she had this all along.

“they” say because the breeders who supply petstores with the small animals keep them in bad conditions and these mites seem to be extremely common in petstore animals. It’s just what I picked up from the cavy forums. I used to have 10 guinea pigs when I was a kid but we got them from mom and pop stores, not a chain. I really don’t know but I should have just gone with my gut and knew that they didn’t itch themselves as much as they have been. I think it’s been 2 years now. They would itch about every 10min.

[Lintini]

Yeah my mom said that I should probably just bring her into the vet. Better safe that sorry. And then I can ask about the bunnies.

[MimzMum]

I think that’s a good idea too. No point in stressing over it when the fix could be easy.
I’ll keep you in my prayers, Lin. Please keep us posted on how Thai does.

[Lintini]

Thank you, hopefully my treatment will work, its the same the vet would do, or my other option is revolution – which requires a vet to give you. The only other thing was that I saw on some piggers in far worse conditions of skin, they got huge bandaids on. So maybe they can give me some ointment and it will keep her from scratching it and making it worse. Thank you for thinking of her, im quite worried.

[KatnipCrzy]

I would call and ask your vet about it- a phone call is free!  I would have to think all 3 pigs would be affected if they have contact- even if they are not showing signs.  there are different types of mites- and sometimes stress of a change in immune system can allow them to become active and not controlled by the body.

Are you giving the Ivermectin orally- I had to give some to rats once at work and they were NOT PLEASED with the taste- but I think Ivermectin comes in different forms I suppose- injectable (can be given oral), as wormer, etc

[Lintini]

I put it behind the ear as guinea lynx advised. I got home off work at 11pm, so the vet wasn’t open. I guess I could have called an ER vet but the guinea lynx site is pretty thorough with diagnoses and treatment, not that I am saying I am better than a vet but it’s what I could do at the time. My mom brought the ivermec around 7pm and waited for me to come home to treat all 3. I’ve been sitting here in my room all night, and haven’t heard one seizure (thank god) and no scratching. Can it work that quickly?

[Lintini]

PS, on a side note about the vet, a few weeks ago my 7th month old puppy was stung by a bee and her face swelled like a balloon. I called them and they had no vets in. (wow really? awesome vet office with no vets available.) So I told them I would take her to “such and such vet” and then they advised me not to and told me to take them to their sister vet. I don’t know what type of deal they are running there but I think that was pretty messed up considering I needed to make sure the bee sting wasn’t affecting her breathing. Anyways, I want to look around for a new vet. Sorry this just reminded me of last time I was so ticked that they had no vets available to treat Leia.

[kralspace]

I love your piggies LIntini,

I have two I took in because they were in horrible shape 2 years ago. One had severe hair loss, both scratched a lot and had awful diets, pellets only.
I did what you did, put them on a good diet and read where using the ivectum behind the ears and bathing with that other dandruff shampoo, not Head and Shoulders (crap, I’m losing my memory, the blue one that is very expensive) would help clear up a lot of skin problems.

It worked wonders on mine. I read where their nervous systems are so hyper that intense itching can drive them into a seizure. One was a lethal and had to get her tooth clipped every now and then, but she turned into a longhair beauty with a few weeks of TLC.

I asked why Snowflake (the lethal) was so much worse off, I mean she had huge bald red spots than the normal one and she said the same thing you did. That it can remain dormant until stressed. Since Snowflake was also deaf and blind and had so many other problems it just came out worse in her.

They’re gorgeous piggies, let us know how it goes.

[Beka27]

They are very cute! Chai (the gray one, right?) has such beautiful colors!

[Lintini]

She seems to be scratching far less, and no more seizures since the treatment. Looks like it’s working and mom was good on the dosage for them! I cleaned the cage again today, so hopefully I can get rid of this stuff!

[Monkeybun]

Woo hoo! Go piggies go! Get well sooon!!

[Lintini]

Thanks guys

[kralspace]

Yay for mom! Glad the piggies are doing so much better.

[Lintini]

So I found out my question:

Burrowing Mange Mite
Also worthy of mention is a nasty, though fairly uncommon (in rabbits) mite, the Burrowing Mange Mite (Trixacarus caviae) that can cause extremely painful itching. These may be quite difficult to visualize, even with skin biopsy. Although they are more common in Guinea Pigs (in which they can cause fatal seizures) than rabbits, these mites have been rarely reported on rabbits. Rabbits affected with Trixacarus caviae may itch so badly that they become aggressive and sullen, while showing no apparent symptoms of illness other than scratching. Fortunately, treatment with selamectin will kill these nasty parasites, affording the rabbit relief within 24 hours of medication. We have heard of several cases in which a formerly sweet-natured rabbit (already neutered) became inexplicably vicious. Attending veterinarians could find nothing obviously wrong, but it was only treatment with selamectin that solved the problem and allowed the rabbit to become his old, sweet self again. A mite infestation was never confirmed, but the circumstantial evidence leads us to wonder.

Still doesn’t answer how contagious it could be, I guess if I ever see lots scratching I’ll treat them. The invermectrin is super cheap. I moved them out into the insulated aviary because I didn’t want to risk anything if the dogs or rabbits can catch it. Better safe the sorry.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Just catching this now! Scary But glad things are coming around now and Thai is feeling better!! Keep us posted!!

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