[Gpdd] Care

Cazza177 cazza177 at ntlworld.com
Wed Aug 9 14:02:04 EDT 2006


Dear Jemma

My two guinea pigs have had mites, and this may be what is wrong with yours.
They Are pesky little blighters to get to work on!  They will need to go the
the vets or a rodentologist.  It is not advisable to use any off the shelf
'flea' treatment on their skin until you are exactly sure what the skin
problem is ‹ some 'flea' treatments that are okay for some animals (i.e.
cats and dogs, may be LETHAL to guinea pigs), so please don't tale any
chances, and take them to a vets.

Please see what Peter Gurney says here (below) about mites.  You can usually
only get the IVOMECTIN he speaks of from a vet.  NEVER use
treatments/medications on a guinea pig which have run past their expiration
date.

I notice you have a UK email address.  If you are able to get your guinea
pigs along to the Cambridge Cavy Trust, I thoroughly recommend it.  I have
taken my two there and the lady who runs it is first rate and a qualified
rodentologist, and her knowledge of guinea pigs is far superior to that of a
regular vets.  You have to make an appointment to see her.  If you need her
details, please just email me.

I hope this helps, and good luck.  Carole

MITES
These are parasites that can be living either on or under the skin of guinea
pigs. The ones on the skin are usually referred to as running lice. The
symptoms are small bald patches, particularly around the shoulders and front
legs and hair shafts broke. Sometimes there are raised dots, like human
goose pimples on the skin. The running lice seem to cause less hair loss and
though they are quite small can been easily seen moving about by parting the
hair with the tips of the finger. Rest assured, they are species specific so
humans cannot pick them up. I also believe that they are photosensitive for
I have never seen them on a white or very light cream guinea pig, and in
tri-coloured piggies they seem to stick to the dark hair.
This is the easiest of skin conditions to deal with for there are many
products on the market that will kill these parasites without harming the
animal. The best by far is the prescription only medicine, IVOMECTIN. If
after two, maybe three injections of IVOMECTIN over the course of a week to
ten days, the animal is still scratching and the skin still looks raw, then
forget looking for parasites for the problem is probably a fungal one.
There are some very effective anti-parasitic shampoos formulated for human
beings, and despite the cries of despair that these can be harmful to guinea
pigs by members of the veterinary profession, they are not. They may be
harmful to the bank balances of veterinary surgeons, for they will want to
sell you the more expensive medicines that they stock.

----------
From: "Sene Jemma (Exeter PCT)" <jemma.sene at Exeter-PCT.nhs.uk>
Date: Wed, 9 Aug 2006 16:11:32 +0100
To: "'gpdd at gpdd.org'" <gpdd at gpdd.org>
Subject: [Gpdd] Care

Hello 

I was hoping to get some advice please.

My two little boys get to run around the garden when I'm sat outside and I
have recently seen them scratching a lot - I had a little look in their coat
(which proved a little difficult as they are black and ginger) and I think I
saw little fleas!!  Is it possible for them to catch fleas? And if so how
can I treat them and what should I use?? I am worried about them because
they are scratching a lot and it can't be comfortable for them.

Thanks 

Jemma (slave to poor itchy Crockett and Tubbs)












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