Fleas?

[malexis]

I have recently started taking my guinea pig outside, within the last month and am worried about her getting fleas. Is there a medicine i can use to prevent her from getting them? How often would i use it and how much?

Thank you

[Haley0489]

Fleas are not common in guinea pigs, but Revolution or Advantage is a flea and tick preventive for dogs and cats. I know both are safe to use on pigs to treat lice, but that's the extent of my knowledge!

This thread at the GL forum may be of some interest to you:
Guinea Lynx :: Topic - Prob with Fleas

[malexis]

So if i got advantage for dog or cats how much would i use? Also would i do it once a month?

Even if fleas aren't common i would like to be on the safe side and prevent it, because it would be a lot worse if she got them.

[RainKindle]

I don't ever trust flea prevention. Whenever we would put any on my dog she would ALWAYS get sick. I believe the brands we tried were the ones you mentioned. I would never subject my guinea to flea prevention chemicals. I've just had too many bad experiences.
Also, from what I hear, guineas tend to get other illnesses more often than fleas.

[malexis]

Okay, so its best not to do it im guessing... What if she does get them? Hopefully she wont, but i really enjoy letting her go outside i just dont want her to get sick though

[RainKindle]

I feel bad for not having the answer now that I've scared you away from preventative flea protection.
I've just never had any pets with fleas; I've been lucky.
I'm going to watch for the answer like you because I don't know either.
I think it is great that you take your guinea outside by the way.
I'm jealous because I can't do it here due to the pesticides.
(I live in a community town-home area, and don't have a choice about the pesticides.)

[salana]

Revolution and Advantage are safe for guinea pigs at the recommended doses. Hartz brand flea products are well-known to be dangerous or deadly--do not confuse them with advantage and revolution!

[malexis]

So i would use as much as a small dog would on my guinea pig?

Do i get the dog, puppy, or kitten version?

[Haley0489]

I imagine you would have to calculate the dosage based on your pigs weight. There was a link within the link I posted you earlier that contains dosing information. Guinea Lynx :: Antiparasitics

[petal]

To my knowledge guinea pigs do not get fleas, if say a cat had fleas and one jumped of and went onto your guinea pig the flea would say yuck and try to find yours or another cat to be on.
Our rabbit got fleas once and we bought Advantage for puppies and dogs up to 4kgs as it does say safe for rabbits and ferrets.
But I don't think you have anything to worry about hoping this link helps you
Guinea Pigs: Skin Parasites That Cause Scratching
good luck and keep us posted. On what treatment you do use.

[Ly&Pigs]

Pigs can and do get fleas but it's not as common a problem as mites and other parasites are.

Here is a page from gl about the different types of parasites that pigs can get.
Guinea Lynx :: Parasites

They don't need preventatives like cats and dogs may need. If your pig has fleas then you may need to do a treatment with advantage or revolution but don't treat just for treatments sake or as a preventative measure.

And newbies- please don't reply on threads here in the medical section with guesses. Only those members with medical knowledge should reply. If you don't know then don't guess.

[malexis]

Okay thank you everyone i will not use flea medicine as a preventative but only as a treatment if she gets them.

I havent looked at the links yet, but i am going to right now. Thanks

[Drawingwords]

My guinea pigs got treated with revolution when I suspected one of them maybe had mites. At the time, one of them was pregnant and it was safe to use on her then. He used the kitten phial. And yes, you have to go by weight and that calculator would help. When they got treated I took them outside and never saw a flea on them. I haven't heard of any guinea's picking up fleas though from being outside.

[malexis]

Iv'e heard of advantage before but never of revolution. Does revolution treat fleas and mites, or just mites? Are both advantage and revolution avaliable at the store?

[Haley0489]

Once again, the answer was in the link I provided. =/
Guinea Lynx :: Antiparasitics


Imidacloprid -- (Advantage) for lice only [it does NOT kill mange mites]

Selamectin -- (Revolution)
A newer treatment for mites and lice requiring a prescription.

[malexis]

Okay, sorry for not reading closer. I just went to the link and clicked on the dosing calculator.

Fleas and lice are the same, right?

[Haley0489]

No, not exactly; fleas suck blood, lice bite. They're two different beasties.
But as far as treatment goes, they're "the same" because they're treated the same way, with Advantage or Revolution.

Are you still planning on doing a preventative treatment?

[Angelgal]

Hm I was always worried flea medications such as Revolution and Advantage wouldn't be safe for a small animal such as guinea pigs, even with careful dosing. We learn something new everyday.

Its very uncommon to find fleas on guinea pigs.
My hourse has been infested with fleas on a few occassions due to the dog (and our old dog) and I NEVER found a flea on my guinea pig or in her bedding, I checked regularly. We treated the house with all-natural sprays from our groomer and the dog was treated with Revolution. I never treated the guinea pig because I thought it was unsafe and didn't want to risk it.

I have a question I would like to ask though related to this general topic. I have seen sprays in petstores for flea prevention for small animals (hamsters, guinea pigs etc.) Are these safe?
My dad has one downstairs actually, which he bought during a flea infestation to use on my pig but I only sprayed her cage and aired it out for a few hours (during a cleaning) because I was so unsure about it and didn't want to loose her to a possibly harmful product. I can get the name and brand if needed. Just wanted to ask :)