Mites question

[A4PigHome]

My cavies received their shots yesterday for mites. I see today they are still scratching. Does anyone know how long it will take for the medicine to start working?

 

[Piglet]

Not to worry - Ivermectin will definately work. The pigs need at least three doses of it, with at least a week seperating each dose.

 

[A4PigHome]

I thought it was only 2 doses of ivermectin??

The vet recommended thoroughly cleaning the cage every 2 days while on the treatment. Does that sound right?

 

[Piglet]

My mistake - it can be 2 or 3:

"Ivermectin is usually administered in two or more doses, by injection or orally, spaced 7 to 14 days apart"

I don't know about the cleaning - when my pigs had mites, I continued to clean once a week as per usual, but I cleaned the cage thoroughly (with a brush and strong vinegar/water solution).

 

[Ly&Pigs]

1) It depends on how bad of a mite infestation they have as to whether they need 2 or 3 doses. Usually when they have mites, 3 doses will completely take care of it. I use 2 doses as a preventative measure.

2) You should start to see results in as little as 2-3 days. It takes at least 24 hours for the medicine to get into their system to really start working.

 

[A4PigHome]

Good to know, Piglet and Ly. Thank you so much for your help!

 

[rabbitsncavyluv]

Are you sure it is mites and not fungal?

 

[A4PigHome]

They did a few skin scrapings on Friday and found eggs, so we know for sure they have mites. Where they did the scrapings still look aweful. I wish they hadn't done the scrapings, but I guess at least they proved what was causing the sores and scratching. I was just so surprised with how fast the sores showed up. Also, you should have seen how much hair came off the fleece I washed yesterday. Poor babies!

 

[Piglet]

Eek! Skin scrapings shouldn't be done...just a note for the future.

 

[A4PigHome]

Yep, yet another thing I learned the hard way. When they did the scrapings on Buster, I could hear him squealing through two sets of closed doors. It was awful! I felt so horrible, especially when two of my boys came back with big bleeding sores from the scrapings. At least they put them on antibiotics so they won't get infections, which I swear is made of sugar because they all love the stuff, thankfully. Anyway, hopefully someone will learn from my mistakes instead of making their own and putting their cavies through what I had to.


Mistake #1...buying cavies from a pet store (I did not know about this site or adoptions when I went to Petco). At least one of my babies had dormant mites on them when I bought them.

Mistake #2...don't let the pet store employees talk you into one of their cages, because no they are NOT big enough!

Mistake #3...when they are scratching so much that they have sores and the washing machine is full of their hair, they probably have mites so skip putting them through scrapings and go right to the ivermectin shots!

Mistake #4...don't trust teenage boys around a boar and a bunch of sows...oh wait, that wasn't my mistake. Just teasing, Ly! Sorry I couldn't resist. It was just such a cute story! I'm sure my 6-year old boy will give me a few stories to tell as well when he is a teenager! .... Is there anyway to keep kids small?

 

[Piglet]

Don't be so harsh on yourself! Your learning from your mistakes, which I guess, is something. Ha! I thought mistake 4 sounds familiar

 

[shannie7]

If I may ask, was it very expensive to have a vet give the piggies a shot? What may I expect as far as vet bills to have two piggies given treatment/

 

[Piglet]

You can treat at home which usually ends up being cheaper

 

[A4PigHome]

It was about $110 for the vet bill, which included examination of 4 cavies, 4 ivermectin shots, and a bottle of antibiotics. The shots are $7 each, of which I have to bring them in again for in another week.