guinea pig allergies

Question
i have 2 female guinea pigs. our smallest and youngest guinea pig name blossom been having skin allergies from when we got her. the people who had her told us to use soft wood bedding with her. but it seems her allergies are getting worse. the local vet doesn't know what to do. he has never seen one an allergy like this. he recommends paper bedding. he thinks she is allergic to the bedding. from day one she sneezed all the time. now she has bald spots on her from scratching. she has taken the hair off her nose and on the side she lays on when she sleeps. could it be something else that we might be missing and should we go with the paper bedding to see if that is the problem.

Answer

Bag Balm It's unusual for a young pig to have such severe allergies. I would have to wonder if the skin issues are more than allergies. Few vets get any real experience with cavies because they just don't come in that much, so they have very little in the way of hands on experience.

If you are convinced it's an allergy to bedding you might try a product called CareFresh. It's recycled paper and is extremely soft and dust free. I would like to see a picture of the skin spots you're talking about. It might make it easier to get an idea of what you're describing.

I'm assuming you've already treated for mites? Trust me, even skin scrapings from the vet come up negative more than not and I wouldn't cross out that possibility until you've treated her and seen if the scratching went away.

Go to a feed store, vet supply or even most pet stores and buy some Ivermectin 1.87% Horse Paste. It's used for worms on horses but we've been using it on guinea pigs for many many years with absolute safety and good results. You will give it by mouth and you'll only give her a small little spot about the size of the head of a match. Use a popsicle stick or the end of a Qtip without the cotton to scoop it out.

Give one does now. Repeat in one week. Then give the last dose one week after the second.  Since you have two pigs treat them both whether you think they need it or not. It's not possible that only one pig in the cage will have mites and not the other.  Mites are invisible to the naked eye. The giveaway is the scratching and hair loss from the scratching.  

If she has sore spots or dry spots on her skin buy some Bag Balm. It's available in any drug store, many grocery stores and every pet store.  It's a small square green can with a picture of a cow's udder on it.  It's made for severely chapped and dry skin. It feels and looks like axle grease and has a menthol smell. It's one of the best and oldest things on the market and is good for darned near any kind of skin issue.

Just rub a little bit on each dry spot. Do that every day. My bet is that these spots will disappear within a week or ten days.