New research suggests guinea pigs need to be wormed?

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luv_my_guinea_pigz

Post   » Wed Aug 06, 2014 10:05 pm


Hi All,

Interesting article came in my email from Guinea Pig Medicine WA advising that guinea pigs need to be wormed.

Has anyone heard of this pin worm and do we need to be concerned?

Extract below:

New Research Suggests Worming Guinea Pigs
'Pin Worm' Found Inside Guinea Pigs

New research suggests a worm found inside Guinea Pigs can be the cause behind gut upsets and bloat. This worm is named the 'Pin Worm' and can be diagnosed with a simple faecal test. It is currently advised to medicate only if the worm is found present in your guinea pig, ongoing preventative treatment is not considered applicable at this stage.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Wed Aug 06, 2014 11:00 pm


Was the research in the UK? They seem to have more intestinal parasites than we do. Pin worms are not unheard of but rather uncommon, especially if your guinea pig is kept indoors (recommended).

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luv_my_guinea_pigz

Post   » Thu Aug 07, 2014 9:27 pm


The research was in Australia.

So if owners keep their cavies indoors and have outdoor playtime weather permitting we should not be too concerned?

Some vets in Australia are starting to regularly worm guinea pigs.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Thu Aug 07, 2014 9:45 pm


Yes, I don't think you need to be extremely concerned.

However, if worming is done with ivermectin, it does have the secondary valuable effect of treating for mites and other skin parasites.

Henle15

Post   » Wed Aug 13, 2014 3:39 am


Intestinal parasites are very rare in guinea pigs here in the US in my experience (at least in Florida where I live). The rescue I operate checks fecals on all new incoming piggies and I have only found a few that had coccidia (found outdoors, not knowing how long they were out there), never pinworms. Healthy animals should be able to fight off intestinal parasites for the most part as the immune system kills them. We have taken in about 700 piggies in the last 6 years so the percent is not even 1% of the piggies that have been through here have had any intestinal parasites.

We do treat with revolution or ivermectin because lice seems to be a really prevalent occurrence with piggies here in our area. Most that come in have it, most come from owners that got them from petstores that likely got the lice from the pet mills or even the petstores because of the horrific hygiene protocols they have.

I would imagine if you keep them outdoors then you would be more susceptible to them. Another great reason to keep them indoors!

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Jaycey
Supporter in 2014

Post   » Wed Aug 13, 2014 3:59 am


It's not a new thing over here in the UK.

Back when I was doing my Rodent Health Advisor course with the CCT in 2009 (I think) they were talking about it then.

They recommend a product called Panacur.

I don't work my pigs, but have tried it before on one of my boys many years ago when he was suffering with some unknown problem that was affecting his skin and makes his eyes dull and crusty. It didn't fix him but it didn't hurt him.

BillAndCharlie

Post   » Sat Feb 17, 2018 6:49 pm


I think that my piggies have worms. How can I know for sure?? What are some signs?? What caught my attention is that they slide there bums along the ground half the time, like dogs do when they have worms. Help!!

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Sat Feb 17, 2018 7:17 pm


Do you have males? That's a common behavior with them.

And dogs aren't doing it because they have worms. They're doing it because their anal glands are impacted and need to be expressed.

BillAndCharlie

Post   » Fri Feb 23, 2018 6:18 pm


Yes, they are both boys. Why do they slide their bums?? Is it for the same reason as dogs??
Thank you so much. :)

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Fri Feb 23, 2018 6:25 pm


They're marking their territory.

BillAndCharlie

Post   » Wed May 09, 2018 2:13 am


Thank you 😊

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