proud new piggie mommie =0)

[Satins Destiny704]

proud new piggie mommie =0)

Today i adopted two female pigges (mom and daughter) they're both beautiful, a silkie and an abyssian/silkie mix, i had gotten them both from a very kind woman who needed to find a new home for her babies, she carefully screened each new potential owner for her piggies, some of the people she told me that answered had actually wanted her to ship her babies to florida :| . i was shocked that a person acutally asked her to do that, i never liked the idea of shipping a piggie on a plane or any animal for that matter. so now i have them, i also noticed that they have small itchy spots of dry skin and hair that is falling out from that area, not alot but enough to notice it. i would like to know if that sounds like a case of mites or just really dry skin, and what can i do myself to cure it?, cause i really don't wanna take my piggies to my vet, who charges $60 just for a consultation plus the cost of the medicine that is needed to cure it only to find out i could have used a home remedie, sry about that, its just ive been through the run around already once with my dog when he had a tummy ache only later to be cured with a little bit of pepto bismol, i'd like to save the trip to the vet when its really bad. the patches arent red or puss-filled looking, it just looks really itchy and dry. please help if you can??

 

[2steps]

Re: proud new piggie mommie =0)

Sounds like they may have mites which are very painful for pigs. The hair will continue to come out and the pigs can cut themselves with all the itching which is obvisiouly not nice for them. They both need to be treated with ivomectin. They will need three treatments 10 days apart to be sure they are gone. One treatment is not enough. I took in three, 3 week old babies who had mites, one lost almost all her fur and was almost constantly scratching. It was awfull. Also the cage and equipment needs to be cleaned throughly.
I don't mean to sound harsh or unkind, but didn't you think about the vets cost before getting the pigs?

 

[michaelince]

Re: proud new piggie mommie =0)

It does sound very much like mites as 2steps said. They need treatment with invomectin as he said, this is the best treatment - there are no effective DIY remedies.
You can administer invomectin yourself but you need to be very careful about dosages, DON'T try it without expert advice.
When you take them to a vet he may want to do a 'skin scrape' this is painful for the pig and unneccessary as it often gives incorrect results (it'll also cost you money) - a really savy vet will just treat them as it is cheap and will not harm your piggies as long as they are old enough.

I suggest you post this on the medical forum at www.guinealynx.com, there are lots of experts there who may be able to help with a good local vet or administering invomectin and the safe age for teatment etc.

 

[Satins Destiny704]

Re: proud new piggie mommie =0)

ty everyone, i took my piggies to a vet in manhattan (my regular vet dosen't treat guinea pigs), she was really nice. she took a look at them, she didn't give them the shot that they needed (Ivomectin), since she said that they just look like they have a case of really dry hair. she did however draw some blood just to make sure they're alright internally (my poor babies). so now i have to wait until monday to get the results *crossing my fingers that they're ok*, she told me to wash all of their bowls and water bottles and use carefresh bedding and not aspen (wood might iritate them), give them all of the greens that they'll eat and to bathe them with a little bit of oatmeal bath shampoo made for puppies (to relieve the itching) and wash them 0nce a week with it and she also gave me a sweater-like sleeve to put them in so they wont scratch themselves too hard. the cost wasn't so bad ($160.00 thank god i have a job ), i'm glad the worst is over, now just gotta wait for the blood work to come in.

 

[2steps]

Re: proud new piggie mommie =0)

I took my pigs to one vet who told me the same, which I knew didn't think was true. Though it maybe right in your case, you may want to get a second opinion just incase.

I treated my pigs myself, though I used Noromectin (I'm in the uk)