Can guinea pig scratch look like self harm?

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Follisro

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Apologies if in wrong spot. My 14 yo, 6 months out if a 2 year depression has been interacting a lot with her 2 gps. She has a few 2 inch scratches, periodically, but not she has a good 6-8 inch linear scratch . She said she wouldn’t self harm and joked about and seems in place. In another post, an owner mentioned sone scratches look like self harm and had to be explained. Can it be a scratch, or am I being naïve? Thank u, concerned dad
 
Hello and welcome to the forum. I’m sorry you are worried about your daughter. Once I had a new scared piggy scratch my neck. It was about an inch and a half long. It didn’t really break the skin though. Just a very red raised scratch. If she is sitting with them on her lap with bare legs and they have long nails then it’s very possible she could get scratched. I hope she continues with her recovery. ❤️
 
As someone who has been scratched by piggies and has also self harmed in the past I think this might be an impossible question to answer. Self harm comes in so many forms (eg I had a friend who was gluten intolerant and would purposely eat gluten causing eczema flare ups). A scratch is a scratch, we all know what one looks like whether it's from a piggy for from a baby/child fingernail etc. What we can't determine is exactly what caused the scratch and whether it was purposeful.

Do you feel able to talk to your daughter about your worries and feel she would understand? Or are there any 3rd parties involved in her care that could ask more frankly about it?
 
Thanks all, it’s reassuring to hear that there are still a few kind people left in this crazy planet… talked about it with kid , and she genuinely denies self harm(since she saw how traumatic it was when her older sis cut ) she describes resting the gp on one arm while cleaning it’s ear, and then a long scratch by the back foot .🤷‍♂️ Aw, the joys of parenting teens ! 🤪
 
Follisro said:
Thanks all, it’s reassuring to hear that there are still a few kind people left in this crazy planet… talked about it with kid , and she genuinely denies self harm(since she saw how traumatic it was when her older sis cut ) she describes resting the gp on one arm while cleaning it’s ear, and then a long scratch by the back foot .🤷‍♂️ Aw, the joys of parenting teens ! 🤪
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That's good news and great that she can have that conversation with you.
 
Make sure she's cleaning the scratches well ... I usually use some bacitracin/Neosporin when I get a piggy scratch if it may have broken the skin to make sure it won't get infected or anything. (A long sleeved shirt can be helpful in prevention. I have a designated sweatshirt for when I comb Lexa or have to give meds or anything like that.)
 
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