Billy Bob has one ear full of a dark, waxy substance that comes off on a cotton ball moistened with mineral oil. I have never seen a gp with ear mites but it looks the same as a cat´s ear with mites. The other ear appears clean.
I read the mites link. Should I dose him with ivermectin? Orally? Can someone please help me determine how much to give him? I am not at all good with numbers--he weighs 2.97 lbs.
And, do I need to dose the little one too? They are in the same cage. Or should I just truck them both down to the vet? Trying to avoid this b/c the vet is a 1-hr drive.
ear mites? oral ivermectin?
Do you have ivermectin at home? What type do you have? You can do it at home. If I suspect ear mites, I do it topically; my vet has squirted it right in the ear before. Guinea pig mites are species-specific. That means you should treat the other pig, but you don´t need to treat the cat and dog.
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When treating shelter kittens with ear mites, one of my friends puts Ivermectin on a Q-tip and swabs it all around the inside of the ear (of course, not deep in there--you don´t want to damage the eardrum).
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When treating shelter kittens with ear mites, one of my friends puts Ivermectin on a Q-tip and swabs it all around the inside of the ear (of course, not deep in there--you don´t want to damage the eardrum).
Last edited by ladyveg on Sun Aug 11, 2002 8:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Lynx
- Celebrate!!!
Interestingly, the ear mites that guinea pigs get are supposedly rabbit ear mites.
I think it is possible the ears are just filthy (some are). They say you can see ear mites with the naked eye. Clean the ear further and see if there is any raw, red skin inside (an additional indication of mites) or if you can see anything moving in the debris you remove.
If your pigs have never been treated for mites, getting some injectable ivermectin (it is a handy, concentrated, liquid form) would be the easiest way to do it. A bottle is pricy but could last an eternity.
DO NOT treat your cat or dog. Contact a vet if you feel they have a problem (examine them). Both dogs and cats are more sensitive to ivermectin and some dogs can be killed if given the same dose (by weight) as most other animals tolerate well.
If you got a bottle of liquid ivermectin -- IVOMEC (see the Ivermectin page on Guinea Lynx), you would get a needled syringe and draw out a small amount, put half in each ear (it would be about a drop -- I can give you exact amounts if you decide after examining your animal more closely that there really are ear mites).
You might also notice shaking of the head and scratching at the ear, or general irritability.
I think it is possible the ears are just filthy (some are). They say you can see ear mites with the naked eye. Clean the ear further and see if there is any raw, red skin inside (an additional indication of mites) or if you can see anything moving in the debris you remove.
If your pigs have never been treated for mites, getting some injectable ivermectin (it is a handy, concentrated, liquid form) would be the easiest way to do it. A bottle is pricy but could last an eternity.
DO NOT treat your cat or dog. Contact a vet if you feel they have a problem (examine them). Both dogs and cats are more sensitive to ivermectin and some dogs can be killed if given the same dose (by weight) as most other animals tolerate well.
If you got a bottle of liquid ivermectin -- IVOMEC (see the Ivermectin page on Guinea Lynx), you would get a needled syringe and draw out a small amount, put half in each ear (it would be about a drop -- I can give you exact amounts if you decide after examining your animal more closely that there really are ear mites).
You might also notice shaking of the head and scratching at the ear, or general irritability.
Thank you for the advice. I have noticed a little head shaking and some scratching.
Only one ear is affected. The other is spotless. I could not see anything moving and the skin doesn´t look red.
Billy Bob is a rescue pig who was (supposedly) given ivermectin at the rescue 2 months ago. Piggy Boy had ivermectin (as a precaution) about 3 months ago.
What confuses me is that this pig has seen 3 vets and these things keep popping up without the vets noticing them (the arthritis, the pea eye, the malocclusion, and now this).
I will give them both the injectable ivermectin in the ear anyways because I don´t trust the vets out here to diagnose properly. I appreciate the input!
Only one ear is affected. The other is spotless. I could not see anything moving and the skin doesn´t look red.
Billy Bob is a rescue pig who was (supposedly) given ivermectin at the rescue 2 months ago. Piggy Boy had ivermectin (as a precaution) about 3 months ago.
What confuses me is that this pig has seen 3 vets and these things keep popping up without the vets noticing them (the arthritis, the pea eye, the malocclusion, and now this).
I will give them both the injectable ivermectin in the ear anyways because I don´t trust the vets out here to diagnose properly. I appreciate the input!
-
Lynx
- Celebrate!!!
FYI putting it in the ear is a topical application. Your pig weighs 2.97 lbs. This is 1.35 kilos (divide 2.97 by 2.2). The topical dose is 0.5mg/kg. 1 cc of IVOMEC injection has 10mg of ivermectin (quite a bit). You want to give only 0.675mg (1.35 X 0.5).
This amount is found in 0.0675cc.
It is a pretty tiny amount. If you use a needled syringe to draw it out of the bottle (it is a self sealing bottle), you would very carefully drip the drops in the ears (half in one, half in the other) and maybe rub a bit. Applying carefully with a needled syringe, it will be perhaps a dozen or so tiny droplets -- or about a regular drop per ear. If it looks like any more than about a regular drop per ear, there was something wrong with your calculations.
Read over the ivermectin page and check my calculations. I sure as heck am not perfect.
This amount is found in 0.0675cc.
It is a pretty tiny amount. If you use a needled syringe to draw it out of the bottle (it is a self sealing bottle), you would very carefully drip the drops in the ears (half in one, half in the other) and maybe rub a bit. Applying carefully with a needled syringe, it will be perhaps a dozen or so tiny droplets -- or about a regular drop per ear. If it looks like any more than about a regular drop per ear, there was something wrong with your calculations.
Read over the ivermectin page and check my calculations. I sure as heck am not perfect.
Wow! I am amazed at how you did that. Thanks for telling me how to convert, too. That way I can dose the other pig. I´m going to order it from the internet.
Ladyveg: I´m glad you brought that up. He does have one black-skinned ear, and this is the one with the dark wax in it. Perhaps I will give it a good cleaning first and hold the cotton balls under a magnifying glass to look for movement.
Many thanks for the replies!
Ladyveg: I´m glad you brought that up. He does have one black-skinned ear, and this is the one with the dark wax in it. Perhaps I will give it a good cleaning first and hold the cotton balls under a magnifying glass to look for movement.
Many thanks for the replies!
-
Lynx
- Celebrate!!!
Ah, yes, the epithileal (sp?) cells are dark in dark ears and light in light ears. Dark eared pigs look like they have filthy ears. Light eared ones look like they have wax.
Please make sure you read over the ivermectin page. The hardest thing for most people to get is that the dose is an amount in milligrams (mg -- a weight). The ivermectin you buy is an amount in milligrams found in a specific volume of an inert substance.
So you need to make sure you are using a volume that contains the correct dose in milligrams. It´s like mixing sugar in water. If you put a cup of sugar in a quart of water in one container, and a cup of sugar in a gallon of water in another container, you need different amounts of water in order to get the same amount of sugar.
Please make sure you read over the ivermectin page. The hardest thing for most people to get is that the dose is an amount in milligrams (mg -- a weight). The ivermectin you buy is an amount in milligrams found in a specific volume of an inert substance.
So you need to make sure you are using a volume that contains the correct dose in milligrams. It´s like mixing sugar in water. If you put a cup of sugar in a quart of water in one container, and a cup of sugar in a gallon of water in another container, you need different amounts of water in order to get the same amount of sugar.
Last edited by Lynx on Mon Aug 12, 2002 4:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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