What have I done?

[OSUCavies]

I know it was vital for my guinea pig to see a vet (because of itching) and to change her cage situation from a medium size aquarium to a 2x4 C&C cage.

However, she does not seem to be adjusting very well. To the cage, she is. She is using the ramp, going up to the hayloft. The last few days she's been eating her cilantro fine and everything has been fine aside from her attitude. She doesn't seem to act like she knows me anymore. When I had her in her aquarium she would always let me pick her up with no fuss at all, she was always nosey to see what was going on.

In the new cage, she hides under her ramp, everytime we reach in there (even getting on her level on our knees) she chatters her teeth and "talks" (aka squeaks a little) like she's deathly afraid of us. (She's acted like that ever since the vet visit)

I just want my guinea pig back! It's like she doesn't know who I am anymore. And today she isn't eating as much. I'm worried and wondering if anyone else had this problem at all when they changed their piggies living situations.

 

[Mummy]

Did she ever see a vet? Did you treat her for mites?

 

[OSUCavies]

Yeah she got treated.

She said everything else looked fine.

She's still itching and scratching a bit but not as much.

 

[Mummy]

If she's still itching and scratching, then she isn't finished with being treated.

It can take multiple treatments to kill mites.

She'll be much happier when she isn't so uncomfortable.

 

[OSUCavies]

If she's still itching and scratching, then she isn't finished with being treated.

It can take multiple treatments to kill mites.

She'll be much happier when she isn't so uncomfortable.

Well the scratching isn't as bad as I've heard other people go through so it's hard for me to think that's the factor.

She only scratches maybe 5-10 times a day so I've seen.

So I don't know.

 

[Mummy]

She's all alone? She needs a friend!

But not until the mites are gone.

If she's only had one treatment, then this won't be enough.

 

[OSUCavies]

The vet said it was a one time treatment.

And I believe I read online it was, too.

She's got a friend that's recovering from URI right now and will be with her in a few weeks!

 

[Mummy]

he vet said it was a one time treatment.

No, it's not necessarily. Your vet is mistaken.

 

[TheQueen]

Besides the mites, which would obviously make her uncomfortable and not want to be handled, she's probably overwhelmed by the new cage and all the space. When did you put her into her new cage? She probably doesn't know what to do with all the surplus cage space; she's still getting acclimated. That is, assuming the mites are all gone, which they very well may not be.

Try the obvious, low, soothing tones, offering veggies from your hands, etc. In time, she'll get used to the new cage and her new surroundings, and hopefully she'll get more comfortable and active, and she'll come running for some lovin's! I bet once she gets her friend, that will help as well. They'll keep each other active, and, which is what happened in my case, they'll "encourage" each other to try new things, including trusting the big pink think with thumbs again!

I would say to keep an eye on her, and if the itching doesn't subside, call the vet again. Hopefully she'll improve, and soon she'll have another buddy to play with as well! Keep us posted!

 

[OSUCavies]

Thanks Queen. She has another vet visit in less than 3 weeks, because the vet asked me to come back.

I'm hoping it's just a phase with the new home. She's been in there for less than a week.


Mummy-- I'm not sure if it was or not, but the vet made it sound like it. But like I said, I have another appt in 3 weeks so I'm guessing it's to check up on them and perhaps to another treatment.

Guinea Lynx :: Mange Mites
This link near the bottom where it says "alternate treatments" says Revolution is a 'single dosage that kills both lice and mites' so I figured that meant a one time treatment.
Shrug.

 

[Mummy]

I've treated many pigs with mites - some bad cases, some not so bad. Some cases require both Revolution AND Ivermectin, given several days apart to get fast relief.

If only using Revolution, I believe most people do two doses two weeks apart.

It's so easy to treat mites that it just doesn't make any sense to mess around with it. If you can, I'd treat sooner than 3 weeks. You can do it yourself easily.

 

[OSUCavies]

What should I use the second time around.


And where can I get it?

 

[Mummy]

If you go back to GL, there's a whole thread on what to use, where to get it, and how to use it:

Guinea Lynx :: Topic - Ivermectin usage ~ links and pictures included

You could also use Kitten Revolution instead (in the right dose), but you'll need to get this either from your vet or with a prescription from somewhere like KV Vet.

It's probably easier for you to get Ivermectin.

 

[OSUCavies]

Do you have to inject it or just topically put it on the skin/fur?

 

[rabbitsncavyluv]

It's not that she 'knew' you before. It's that she didn't have anywhere to run. It's their natural instinct to run as they are prey animals. A gp friend may reassure her.

 

[OSUCavies]

So even your guinea pigs do that every time you try to pick them up?

 

[Mummy]

The instructions are all in the thread: you do it topically - even the injectable.

Even my oldest pig will sometimes run - they're prey animals, and it's normal to do that.

 

[Ly&Pigs]

So even your guinea pigs do that every time you try to pick them up?

Some of my pigs I've had for two years and they still run like bats outta heck when I go to pick them up. It's normal.

 

[Slave to the Wheek]

It takes many months of daily work to get them to fight all their natural instincts when you walk into the room. Cavies have every single bone in their body scream to RUN! GET OUT WHILE YOU CAN!! SAVE YOURSELF!! at any loud sound and movement of any kind. They are not really truly domesticated like a dog or cat.

One of our boys still runs away at first and hangs in the back after 9 months. One of them is now quite tame and almost always lets me pick him up...but not until he runs away first. The only way I was able to hand tame them was when I started handfeeding their veggies to them.

I make them come to me to get their veggies or they don't get them. I don't leave in the cage anymore. It was the only way to get them to fight the urge to run away. I cut up all their veggies into small pieces so they eat them in a couple seconds and want another one. Fabio actually keeps taking another and another until he gets a pile of them. Such characters. I dedicate 30 minutes to working with them. If I sit still and wait until they are ready to come up. Now, Fabio just runs up to me popcorning whenever I ask him if he wants a treat. I try to talk like a pig..."treeeeet?" etc. They are sometimes so excited they can't take it. They have to make a lap around the cage before coming over.

Fabio learned to let me pick him up with another trick. Once they knew what all the main veggies were called I started withholding his favorite veggie, his baby carrot, and only giving it to him during lap time each night. Then, when it was time to pick him up I would say, "Come on" over and over while following him slowly around the cage. Even if he ran away I'd let him go past my hand, rather than make a grab at the last second to snatch him up. I wanted him to just learn to give up because he was gonna lose anyway and accept the inevitable. Then I'd get frustrated and say, "Well? You wanna carrot or not?" One day he stopped dead cold in his tracks mid-step as if to say.. "What did she say?...oh yeah..Carrot!!" And let me pick him up. I realized that he had figured out that he had to let me pick him up if he wanted his carrot.

I didn't do it on purpose, but now I make a point to announce to him when I'm going to pick him up and wait several seconds for him to accept it, before I even reach into the cage. "Fabio, Come On" I announce a few times upon approaching the cage and after about a minute he irritatingly decides to stop and wait. He won't come up to me just yet. I think they are very verbal animals and talking to them works much better than we realize.

He even lets me give him scritches when I walk by the cage now. Turbo is a whole other story. He's the wild man in charge. Still acts like he's sure you are gonna drop him into a pot one of these days...he just knows it. He'll eat out of my hand, but not without a great deal of back and forth hesitation. He get so disgusted because he knows he has to give in or he won't get his treats.

I think they have a very short memory, so you have to do it a long time before they learn that it's safe. I also hang out at their cage in the evening cleaning it up and rearranging and then watching them. I find that stopping to talk to them every time I walked by the cage made a difference too.

By the way, if they don't take them from me I just wait an hour and then go back in and try again.

 

[OSUCavies]

I knew it was normal for them to run away I guess I just kinda figured they'd get use to you trying to hold them after a little while.

She was usually pretty tame and would even run up to the edge of her cage whenever I came home as if she was saying "What'dya get me?!".

But in her new cage she kinda hovers under her ramp and acts afraid.


But thanks for all the suggestions.

Sounds like you've got all your piggies figured out Slave!

I might have to try the ol' veggies in the hand trick.