I got her about 2 weeks ago from a local pet shop and unfortunately she currently has a parasite mite issue! When I bought her I noticed a very small spot on her leg and also on her face and I thought it was a small battle wound from her cage mate...After a few days it worsened and now today it looks like this :(
It actually looks worse in person but you get the point. I will make another post all about the mite issue though.
She is so sweet! She does run a little when I try to play with her but after a few seconds she realizes I am there to give her love and she comes right to me! When I took her back to the pet shop to show the owner she told me I could just trade her in if I wanted to but there was no way I was going to give her back now! I already fell in love with her as did my kids! My son had a guinea pig last year and she was also very sweet! Her name was Penelope! She was fine one day and we woke up the next morning and she was dead. We believe a friends little daughter got into her cage while everyone was sleeping and possibly broke her neck :( It was very sad for us all because we only had her a few months!
Anyway, again, this is Miss Priss/Daryl and I hope you are looking forward to seeing a lot more of her! Be sure to subscribe to this blog to see more posts on her!
Please listen to what I share- I have cared for about 20 pigs over past decade....cared for them well with many living into old age. I am a human MD and very good with veterinary care of guinea pigs. This pig with the mites and nose wound MUST see a vet immediately. You are being cruel and irresponsible by not taking her to the vet. I am sorry if this hurts your feelings but the truth matters more than anything else. The pig needs a vets help immediately. The wound on her nose looks very bad- I cannot see enough detail from the pictures but it may need a stitch, professional flushing and/or antibiotics. It is unfair to let her mites get worse while you wait for medicine to come in the mail AND many people have accidentally killed their guinea pigs by giving the wrong dose of Ivermectin because they did not understand the solution concentration and math involved in dosing. The pig cannot wait another day suffering. They need a vets care for the mites and the snout wound first thing in the morning. If you are going to take on the responsibility of fragile pets like guinea pigs and hedgehogs then you must understand that they have to go the vet when they are sick- or they will soon die needlessly. Her nose looks terrible and I promise you she is SUFFERING with the mites when you could help her- relief comes usually within a day or two of proper ivermectin dosing in many cases. If you let the mite infestation go as you are, it could get to the point where it does not respond to treatment in time- mites can kill pigs in bad cases and she looks bad to me. Vet care is not that expensive....give something up to afford it if money is an issue. Do you smoke? drink? have nice clothes? cable tv? PLEASE do the right thing, be kind to your pets and take her to the vet in the morning and every time she is sick. If you do not learn to do this, pets like guinea pigs and hedgehogs will not last very long at all in your home- that is a fact. If you are going to take them on, you must be a responsible adult and provide veterinary care.
ReplyDeleteand in case you didn't realize this and have her living w/ the pig she fought with: you cannot continue to house the injured pig with the pig who hurt her in the first place. there will be more fights. they need separate homes for safety's sake. They will not be lonely if you let their pens/cages face each other and they can touch noses through the fence.
ReplyDeleteOk first of all like I said there is NOT an emergency vet anywhere near me! Secondly I called my local vet this morning and she said she cannot get him in until Thursday and by then I will have the meds I ordered which she also told me she will show me how to administer them so I made the appointment for Thursday so that either way he will get his treatment even if the meds dont come in by then. Another thing I never said I had a second guinea pig so I dont know where you got that. I said there was another one in the cage with her at the pet shop. Not my home! No I do not smoke or drink and have no need to give anything up. I never said money was an issue I said there were no available vets as of right now in my area. Again I have been caring for him and cleaning his skin and doing what I can until he gets the medication. As far as stiches there are no cuts to be stitched. The wound on his nose is from him scratching and the hair falling off...no cuts. I live in the middle of nowhere Indiana so sorry that there is not always a vet available if needed! I have done plenty of research and feel I am doing what is responsible and what is right by taking care of him and not giving him back to the shop owner to be put down like she wanted to do! The only person being cruel here is you insinuating I am not caring this poor animal because I am doing nothing all day but making sure his face is clean and and has ointment to stop the itching and loving on him and making sure he is comfortable. So maybe instead of judging me and my character you should ask questions first before just assuming what you think is going on!
DeleteI scanned your blog...I'm sorry but I didn't have time to read it word for word- am very busy. I did see the part where you refer to the wound as "a small battle wound" and in my opinion that is a very poor assessment of the pig's condition and shows poor judgement and inexperience to me. You are right- I cannot begin to know all the details of anyone's full situation from some tweets and a blog but I feel it is most important to STRONGLY impress upon you that this animal is in serious need of immediate medical care. Also, in my opinion it is very cruel to allow a guinea pig to scratch and suffer with mites even one day past when you realize its presence no matter how far a drive the vet is. From your blog it appears your pig has been suffering with worsening mites for several days now. To me your blog came across as minimizing the health difficulties your pet is having so I felt it very important to be as direct as possible about the need for veterinary care. Even people living in rural areas must have a plan in place to provide medical care for a suffering animal- or don't take on that responsibility in the first place. If you are in fact a vigilant responsible pet owner- wonderful. I don't know you, it is not for me to say. This is not about you-it is about your animal. I don't even know who you are- I care about your pet because they have no voice to tell you it hurts. I do know for a fact it is cruel and irresponsible to allow a guinea pig to suffer several days with a mite infestation. I am glad to read they are going to vet and I hope you understand that anytime a small fragile pet like a guinea pig or hedgehog is sick, they need to see vet within one to two days- delaying it can sometimes result in death. The choice and responsibility is yours and ultimately something you must live with. Did your vet advise you to put oil on the wound? I am not aware of any information that would prompt a vet to advise that. If you have some pure iodine at home (can get at walgreens) it is safe to dab a small amount of that onto the open portion of the wound to help prevent infection, being careful not to get into the eyes or let the guinea pig ingest it. I won't be responding again. Please divert your attention from me back onto your pig's veterinary care. thank you.
ReplyDeleteWell I'm happy you had all that to say without even reading the whole blog and yes the vet did advise me to clean it and put coconut oil as it has healing properties and helps to starve the mites! And it has stopped the spreading after just 2 days of using it! If I had known it was mites to begin with and not just dandruff he would have been at the vet the day I got him! It took days for it to itch him bad enough for him to scratch before I knew it was a serious issue and not just dandruff or small scratches from the his cage mate at the shop! Thanks for understanding :)
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