Ivermectin A few (slightly urgent) questions

[SnickersD]

I treated my babies with Ivermectin today (topical Pour on .5%-5.ml solution is what I used, sorry if it isn't written properly) I didn't dilute it because I did the dosage from the GL site (I used their caculator and it didn't say under the intructions to dilute it) thats just some background info. I have a few different questions about the medication. I pray I did everything correctly (I'm a nervous mother pig!)

1. I had my mother help me give them the medication, we under dosed the alittle just to be safe. We applied the medicine around 11am. They've been acting like their normal selves so I believe if they had reacted badly or we over dosed we could be able to tell by now right?

2. I noticed a few mintues ago that both pigs have a dark (brown on one pig, but black on the other) pigment around the area we applied the medicine to (Just behind the ear) is this normal on light skinned pigs? At first I thought maybe it was a result of the mites, but it was on both pigs on both ears in the area the Ivermectin was applied to so I'm quite sure its from the medicine. Should I be concerned? Also their hair looks oily around the area, its completely dry to the touch but it looks wet, is this normal as well? (sorry if I sound completely stupid, I looked through the GL site as well as here before applying the medicine and never saw these things mentioned, I just want to know if I should worry or even take them to a vet if this a very bad thing)

3. Last question I promise! How long be for I should be able to tell if the medication worked? I know their scratching will get worse before it gets better but I was just wondering about how long should I be able tell. (We aren't sure its mites, but a mod told me it wouldn't hurt to treat them and see if it stopped the itching so I went ahead and treated them. However this is my first pet medical expierence ever and like I said I'm quite anxious to make sure I did everything right) Thank you guys for any and all help/advice!

 

[foggycreekcavy]

You will need at least one more treatment in a week, and maybe one more after that, depending if you see any improvement.

 

[Shahbazin]

Yes, bad reactions usually show up pretty quickly; spot-on treatments do leave an "oily" look on the fur for a few days, even after they've dried; & many critters have a bit of pigment or mottling on bare skin areas - getting those areas wet tends to make it show up better.

A minimum of 2 treatments is recommended, but 3-5 is often mentioned; I thought mine might be itching a bit more than normal, so did a round of 4 treatments, just in case (mine are long haired, & I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything). I used the Pour on .5% per the GL charts.

Sounds like you are doing just fine! Doing stuff for these little guys makes me nervous sometimes too, & I've a lot of other animal experience - it's just these are a new species to me, & I'm still learning about them.

 

[SnickersD]

Thank you Shahbazin, I read your response a few days ago (I just haven't had time to sit down and thank you!) and I felt much better! So thank you for your response. Both boys still have the little spots behind their ears but have been acting like their normal piggy selves. I have already noticed less frequent scratching and they seem even more active and I'm not sure thats a good thing! Lol, everytime someone walks by their cage (which is set-up in the living room which is always occupied by atleast one person) they are standing up or climbing the grid walls and wheeking extemely loudly. They didn't beg or climb the grids nearly as much before the Ivermectin treatment. I guess that means it was mites and that the medicine is doing its job.

 

[zephirus]

I used drop on ivermectin every three weeks to keep chronic mites away. Since my boys are big they get .1 ml.

Initially the first outbreak was hard to get under control so I got a scrip for revolution and that cleared the persistent mites up. We manager with ivermectin.

The key is frequent cage changes and a good scrubbing. clean the toys and homes too.