Can I get some advice please? Poorly piggie [sad] long so you have all the details

[SconeInSixtySeconds]

Well, we did the deed and brought our boars back from Australia -total insanity- and they had to spend 4 months in quarantine. Not sure if it was the stress or change or what but when we got them home (Christmas Eve!) they seemed fine.

Got one of our original pigs back from my sil, lovely sow called Rosie, unfortunately her boar partner died just before we got back in the country. Even keeping in different rooms, washing hands and wearing different clothes for cuddles, the boys got wind and started fighting, so I got them both neutered and decided to just have two sets of piggies!

So Luke (skywalker) is not hitched with Rosie and they seem v.happy together. Except he started scratching a lot. So we gave him a bath with gorgeousnguineas wash but it didn't work. After a bit of investigation I was pretty sure Luke had mange so off we trotted to the vet who gave him an injection of ivomec. Took Rosie too, although the vet thought she was fine and gave her an injection too, although she hasn't been scratching at all.

But Luke continued scratching, v.sad. To the point he started seizuring. back to the vet, she gave him some metacam and that seemed to help. So 3 weeks on, he has had 3 lots of ivomec, 2 lots of metacam, 1 lot of steroids and antibiotics and the poor little thing is still scratching.

He is also deeply suspicious of me now as well, not surprising at all I know. In the last 2 days he has started making a noise that I haven't heard before, it is like a coughed 'chu chu chu' but the vet says his chest is fine.

Any ideas? I tried aloe Vera patch test and that seemed to set him off even more. He now doesn't like being stroked, does a little head shake and is very skittish. I am really worried about him.

Sorry that this was so long. Btw, Marble the other Ozzie pig is fine, snuggled up with Coco (pets at home rescue, I felt so sorry for her, did quarantine etc) no scratching.

[guineapiglet]

Wow - what a stressful time for you all, really glad you brought them with you tho' - I guess they now need a period of adapting and settling. Has Luke been checked for mites/lice etc? I expect he has as it sounds like he has had lots of different treatments?

It struck me that he might be recovering from stress and therefore immune system very low - but also that he might be allergic/reacting to the bedding he is on if it is different to what you had in Oz - some different types of hay can make guineas react to it, - are you putting him on sawdust or shavings? - He might well be acclimatising to our damp climate - not sure where you are? - but it ranges from being very mild to freezing here and it might be too much for his system, particularly if he has spent last four months in a different kind of quarantine environment. Are you keeping him indoors? They are very sensitive little creatures and not brilliant at change, so they have had to adjust to a huge move, change of routine, foodstuffs, bedding etc.

I would continue to explore the mite/lice angle, but it sounds more like an allergic/nervous reaction to me, especially if the other one has settled so well.
Really hope he picks up, might be best to do proper food testing with him and give him one new thing over a period of time, same with bedding, that way you can eliminate any possible allergens causing itchiness.
Let us know how you go. :)

[SconeInSixtySeconds]

Thanks guineapiglet. They are all inside In the living roommate the moment on that white comfibed shredded stuff, with hay.

In oz they were on grass in the day and then inside on fleece/towels at night (snakes!) and the food is pretty similar (plenty of veg, greens and fruit). They may be addicted to parsley .

The vets did a tape test and pulled some fur out when he was being neutered to look at under the microscope as he was a bit dandruffy, but apparently they couldn't see anything.

[guineapiglet]

Yes, it might be the move from grass which he was used to , to hay, which he isn't - do you know what type of bedding he had in quarantine? - It doesnt sound like food is the problem from what you have written, could you pick him some grass from outside and see how he gets on with that? Im not sure what type of bedding you are describing as white comfined stuff - could that be causing itchiness? My girls were on newspaper and thick layers of hay from a bale, it might just be worth trying them on different types of bedding to see what kind of reaction you get. It might be he has mites/lice from the quarantine place, but if this has been checked, then you can rule that out.

It could also be the central heating? Is he used to that? Presumably not if you have been in Oz - one of mine was very sneezy when we put radiators on.

It will be so much easier next month or so when they can go out and.

[guineapiglet]

[Wink]

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

Hi Scone . Your boy really has been through alot in the last few months- emigration, quarentine, neutering, new friends. Then add the ivermectin, the antibiotics and the metacam in his system.

I think you have to treat the symtoms that are causing him the trouble- the scratch-itch-scratch.
Have you tried the Gorgeous Guinea Melts and Souffles? I've not used them on my hogs but from the website they look like you melt them in warm water and literally pour them over the pig to sooth the skin (in a basin,keep scooping it up and pouring) .A bit like those emulsifying baths for children with eczema.
I had a GP with skin conditions and the heartbreaking sound of him scratching and screaming is something I remember even now.He was coated in vet ointment but TBH I don't think it helped (this was in the late 1970s)

Seizures are mainly caused by mites or pain. So if the mites /lice have been addressed look at ear infections, dental (did the vet check his teeth) eye problems.

Luke Skywalker might find a bath soothing and give you some bonding time (he might not though but tell him its for his own good)

And I'd try giving him undyed paper or fleece to bed in and maybe hay in a rack so he can't bed in it but can eat it still.Just to rule out if there's anything on his skin that might irritate.

Poor lad

[SconeInSixtySeconds]

The aloe Vera gel that used was from gorgeous guineas 70 and that seemed to set him off big time so I haven't used the melts or baths just in case.

So far I have been using my l'occitane super rich Shea butter cream and body wash to bath him in - and that has seemed to help.

Not so much scratching last night and almost none so far this am, I am hoping that we have turned the corner.

Thanks for the help! If anyone knows what the coughing 'chu chu' noise means I would love to know...

[Sleepingbunnies]

Hope he gets better! No idea what the noise is!