My guinea pig has strange ear skin and eye injury. Should I see a vet?

I am sorry to hear about your guinea pig! I would recommend having him examined by a veterinarian. If some of his skin is torn or hanging, it could be painful and a source of infection. I would also want to examine inside his ear and the skin around his ear to see if tehre is a reason why he might have been itching at the ear. I would also recommend check the cage/bowls/etc. for areas that could be sharp/could cause injury.

Hi and thanks for posting on Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sorry to hear about Hamtaro's ear- from the pictures you sent, it looks very red and inflamed. Ear mites may be a cause as well as fungal infections. A veterinarian can rule out ear mites with an ear cytology sample (basically a swab or sample of material from the ear) and a fungal culture of the hair near or around the ear. Treatment will depend on the underlying cause. I would try and keep the area clean for now. Mild cleansing cloth or 3% hydrogen peroxide to the affected area may help until a diagnosis can be made with your veterinarian. I hope this helps and best of luck to you!

Poor Ginger, I see what you mean in the picture. This could be due to mites or it could be an ear infection. Without seeing her in person, I can't say for certain. I can say she does need to see a vet to have it diagnosed and treated, and I would take her into the vet in the morning to get this done. I hope this helps.

Thank you for the picture, it is very helpful. I am so sorry that this is happening to Fidget - that looks painful! This should not have happened with a bath alone, and it is possible that something was happening underneath the skin, and then it just became more clear or the skin sloughed when you gave him a bath. The area looks a bit red and painful, and due to this I would recommend taking him to a veterinarian. They can prescribe a pain medication for him, and may recommend antibiotics as well. Please don’t give Fidget any human medications, as many of these can be harmful to our guinea pig friends. Until he can be taken to a vet, please keep the area clean. If needed, you can replace his bedding with towels or fleece for a few days to help with this. I hope that gives you a place to start, and that Fidget feels better soon!

This is probably due to an allergy, although it could also be infection or mites. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat with a high quality flea treatment, then ask the vet to perform a skin scrape - this might reveal an infection or a mite infestation. If all of those came back negative, the next step is to treat the allergy symptomatically and try to discover the cause of the allergy. Three main type of allergies are usually affecting pets: food allergies, flea and parasite related ones and environmental type (allergens coming from trees, pollens, dust etc etc). Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair any possible skin lesions (like steroids and antibiotics). Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

A small amount of dryness on the ears of guinea pigs can be normal. If Lily is not scratching at her ears and there are no other lesions present on her skin, then I would recommend you just monitor the condition for now. If however she seems itchy, lethargic, or her coat and/or skin is abnormal in other spots, I would recommend taking her in to your vet to be examined. It is true that guinea pigs frequently get ringworm infections but they can also get bacterial infections and mite infestations as well. A thorough exam by your vet will be able to determine which is causing the problem. I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck.

In my experience the huge majority of skin issues in guinea pigs falls into two categories: mites and fungal. It's uncommon to see flaking skin and hair loss without it being one of these disorders. Ringworm would be a concern and is very common in guinea pigs. Instead of being a worm, it's actually a skin fungus, and doesn't always have the classic "ring" shape. The only way to diagnose ringworm in guinea pigs is doing a fungal culture where you collect hairs and put them on a culture medium. It can take 10-14 days to get a result, though most positives show up within the first week. If you don't want to do the testing then what you can do is treat those scabs with an over the counter anti fungal cream like clotrimazole. It is basically jock itch cream. Apply a thin layer 2 times a day. It won't hurt anything if it is not ringworm but if it is ringworm, it will help. If you are going to shampoo him I would use a medicated shampoo like this one: https://www.1800petmeds.com/Malaseb+Shampoo-prod10667.html Lather it on, let it sit for 5-10 minutes and then rinse. The contact time of the shampoo is very important! This shampoo has an antifungal agent in it as well as an antimicrobial agent. If you try the ringworm cream and shampoo and it doesn't help at all within 7-10 days then I would recommend you get a second opinion from another vet and find a vet that specializes in treating exotic pets as he may have skin mites. Skin mites in these pets will always cause itching, sometimes severe enough to lead to seizures. If he is itchy then skin mites are very likely. Skin mites need to be treated with Ivermectin injections spaced 10-14 days apart and need to be done by a vet. Usually 2-3 injections are needed to clear the mites. If your vet doesn't specialize in treating exotic mammals/pocket pets then I would suggest you find one that does. I found this vet in your area based on your zip code: http://www.acsevh.com/ I hope this helps. Best wishes!