Need guinea pig adivice

[ninypants1]

So, I adopted this guinea pig a couple of months ago. Whenever I take her out and put her on my bed to play, she's OK for about 5min. Then she starts to scratch and shake her head, then something that looks like white tears comes out of her eyes. This only happens when she's on the bed, not the floor, or in her cage. My first thought was that she is allergic to my dog's fur (since she's ALWAYS on the bed). But her fur is everywhere, on me, on the floor, etc. So, then I thought she might be allergic to the detergent I used to wash the sheet, but I probly used the same stuff to wash my clothes. This is very perplexing and annoying. Does anyone have any suggestions? Could it be her bedding? I use Care Fresh, which might be kinda dusty...

Please help!

[Minibean]

Shaking the head and scratching could be ear mites. http://www.guinealynx.info/hairloss.html#earmite

Do you have a good exotics vet? I've never dealt with ear mites, so I can't really advise you on that other than giving you the GL page above. Have your vet check her.

Mange mites are an extremely common cause of itching/scratching in pigs. If there are no ear mites, I would treat for mange mites. http://www.guinealynx.info/hairloss.html#mangemite This can be done at home or at the vet - may be best to go to the vet if you're new to pigs. Just don't get talked into a skin scraping - they are painful and often show false negatives. Vets seem to go with injections most of the time, but you can ask them to treat topically or orally (less painful).

The white stuff you're seeing is probably the cleaning fluid that comes out of their eyes. Most likely nothing to worry about. It does look like white tears. No crusts around the eyes? Sneezing? Laboured breathing?

[ninypants1]

Thanks for the advice. I'm pretty sure it's not mites, she really doesn't itch that often and doesn't seem to be in any kind of pain or anything. Also, I usually check her at least once a week for any kind of fleas or anything while I'm brushing her.

And there is no crusties areound her eyes, no labored breathing (as far as I can tell), but she does occasionaly sneeze. Maybe like 3 times a week, more often if I don't clean her cage right away. Also, I haven't been able to find a good vet for her in my area. I meant to ask my dog's vet at her last visit, but forgot. I think I'll them later and ask if they have any reccomendations.

Thanks again!

[PETA4LIFE]

Yeah, does sound a little kile ear mites. My cats had that just a few months ago...

[nowoutonvinyl]

dosent really sound like mites since she only does it on the bed...but you can check to see if she has them by looking in her ears. if she has mites there will be a bunch of crud in there. Also get close and smell her ears they will have a really bad odor if theres mites. Other than that i guess i'm not much help

[animallover7249]

Three year old thread.

[Noelson]

Ha Ha!

[nowoutonvinyl]

heh...guess i didnt bother to check the date...

[Eclipse]

Heh...I've never experienced guinea pigs, but I love hearing them make cute noises at the petshop.

[nowoutonvinyl]

the noises arent cute for long...imagine being on the phone and all the other person can hear is "WHEEEEEET WHEEEEEEET!!" hahaha

[Gustagirl]

I miss the noise of my guinea pig....mine would do that wheet wheet wheet everytime you opened the fridge lol...he knew he got fresh veggies when that door would open :) heheheh

[SOFcowgirl]

There could just be some weird stuff on the bed. Who knows? As for bedding, try Woody Pet. It's amazing. It starts out kinda like little kernal things, then gets fluffier as it gets wet. It's very absorbant and easy to clean.