Bald Patch

[Cittycat]

Hello everyone

Worried first time guinea pig owner here. I have two piggies - Primrose and Hazel - who I've had since last October. I've been following the advice on these forums for new owners and things have been going along pretty well. Or so I thought. I went away on holiday for a week and had to leave my girls with a pet sitter (not necessarily related to the problem?). However, once I brought them home I noticed that Hazel had a small bald patch on her back. She's a long haired piggie so it wasn't obvious until I picked her up for cuddles.

The skin didn't seem irritated at all and she hadn't been scratching or acting unusually. She can be quite a nervous piggie, much more so than Primrose, so I did wonder if it might have been the stress of being away from home, or possibly even (self-)barbering...

Anyway, I feel absolutely dreadful now because I left her for a few days to see if it would improve but looking at her today I'm sure the bald patch is bigger. It's still not irritated or inflamed, and it honestly doesn't seem to be bothering her in the slightest (she's the one wheeking the loudest for her veggies), but the skin where she's lost the hair does now look a little bit flaky.

I'm making an appointment to see our vet just as soon as I can tomorrow, but I wondered if anyone on here could tell me what they think might be the problem? I'm guessing mites or fungal infection, but her symptoms don't quite seem to match what I've read about online.

 

[helen105281]

Don't blame yourself. You are right to go to the vet as skin problems can look very similar in the early stages. It is most likely either mange mites or fungal. There are many types of fungal though and not just Ringworm. I will post our Ringworm guide though in case you need it.

Ringworm: Hygiene And Pictures

If it is mange mites, the hairs may look broken half way down the shaft. The vet would treat with Ivermectin. Injections tend to be more effective than spot on but some vets will opt for spot on first.

Fungal is usually treated with either a cream, shampoo or Imaverol dips (my preferred treatment). It can also be treated orally with Itrafungol.

In the meantime, could you post a photo?

 

[Wiebke]

Hi and welcome!

My guess would be mites rather than fungal; most likely stress related. Whether it is mites or fungal (not necessarily ringworm), it sounds like a rather mild case in any way and should hopefully be pretty straight forward to treat.

You don't always get a classic textbook case with all symptoms in nice order (in fact, you often don't!); that is why the internet can only do so much and why a vet visit and a proper diagnosis cannot be replaced.

Best of luck!

 

[VickiA]

Definitely worth a trip to the vet for a proper diagnosis and treatment. Good luck.

 

[Jude]

Hello everyone

Worried first time guinea pig owner here. I have two piggies - Primrose and Hazel - who I've had since last October. I've been following the advice on these forums for new owners and things have been going along pretty well. Or so I thought. I went away on holiday for a week and had to leave my girls with a pet sitter (not necessarily related to the problem?). However, once I brought them home I noticed that Hazel had a small bald patch on her back. She's a long haired piggie so it wasn't obvious until I picked her up for cuddles.

The skin didn't seem irritated at all and she hadn't been scratching or acting unusually. She can be quite a nervous piggie, much more so than Primrose, so I did wonder if it might have been the stress of being away from home, or possibly even (self-)barbering...

Anyway, I feel absolutely dreadful now because I left her for a few days to see if it would improve but looking at her today I'm sure the bald patch is bigger. It's still not irritated or inflamed, and it honestly doesn't seem to be bothering her in the slightest (she's the one wheeking the loudest for her veggies), but the skin where she's lost the hair does now look a little bit flaky.

I'm making an appointment to see our vet just as soon as I can tomorrow, but I wondered if anyone on here could tell me what they think might be the problem? I'm guessing mites or fungal infection, but her symptoms don't quite seem to match what I've read about online.

How did you get on at the vets? I had a similar experience with Margaret a couple of weeks ago (just before we were due to go on holiday for 2 weeks of course!) . She is long haired and it thinned out just behind her head - no scabs, skin pink and healthy. Anyway she is being treated for mites and the fur is growing back. Hope she gets sorted. x

 

[Cittycat]

Hi everyone

Thank you so much for all of your kind replies. I don't feel like quite such a dreadful guinea pig mummy now. I couldn't get an appointment until 6:50pm this evening so I'm still waiting for a proper diagnosis from the vet. I really just want to go and get there and hear what she has to say - I hate this waiting around!

Hazel still seems like a happy little piggy though - she and Prim are just doing laps around their cage. I'll let you know how we get on and see if I can get her to stay still long enough to take a photo too!

Thanks again everyone x

 

[Cittycat]

How did you get on at the vets? I had a similar experience with Margaret a couple of weeks ago (just before we were due to go on holiday for 2 weeks of course!) . She is long haired and it thinned out just behind her head - no scabs, skin pink and healthy. Anyway she is being treated for mites and the fur is growing back. Hope she gets sorted. x

I'm glad to hear your Margaret is getting better. My appointment with the vet is just over an hour away so I'll let everyone know what the diagnosis is when I get home. I can't believe how kind everyone has been - I feel so much better now. x

 

[Cittycat]

So we got back from our trip to the vet a little while ago (all three of us, Prim came too, of course). The vet thinks Hazel might be suffering with mites (as so many of you thought might be the case). She's not 100% confident - apparently Hazel's hair loss is in a fairly unusual spot, and although she took a few little samples of Hazel's skin and hair she couldn't actually detect any mites. But anyway, Hazel's been treated with her first dose of Ivermectin. The vet used a spot on treatment, not an injection, alas (although I'm sure Hazel disagrees with that, lol). I have to take her back in a couple of weeks for her second dose and then in another couple of weeks for her final dose. I'll be keeping a close eye on her of course (and spoiling her no doubt) and really hoping this clears up everything!

Thanks for your support, everyone. I took a couple of photos so you could see Hazel - not terribly brilliant photos but will maybe give you an idea of what's going on. One of her skin and one of her looking slightly disgruntled by everything that's been happening to her, lol.

 

[VickiA]

Hazel is a beauty . My Violet has also been at the vets today and has had hair samples and skin scrapes taken for sending to the lab to find out the cause of her hair loss. She has the same look Hazel is giving you - how could you do this to me Mum?

 

[Cittycat]

Hazel is a beauty . My Violet has also been at the vets today and has had hair samples and skin scrapes taken for sending to the lab to find out the cause of her hair loss. She has the same look Hazel is giving you - how could you do this to me Mum?

Aww, thank you so much. Here's a pic of all of her, lol, I think she's a little cutie pie, but I also haven't quite worked out how to neatly cut her hair just yet - she has so much to put up with training me to be a good slave.



I hope you get your answers about your Violet soon, and I hope she's doing okay! Yes, they certainly know how to pull on the heartstrings don't they?