Guinea pig bald spot

[emiso]

Hello! Today while doing my daily spot clean I noticed a clump of hair so I looked over my piggy Venom and found a bald spot. It doesn’t seemed inflamed he is eating fine and acting perfect fine overall, still running around too. I’m not sure if this matters but he was neutered about a week ago.
I attached a photo of the spot!

 

[emiso]

I did some research about what it could be, I looked for mites and didn’t see any. He doesn’t have any issues getting comfortable and I haven’t seen any itching either. Its not a perfect circle so I don’t think its ringworm, you can’t see it much in the photo but it is long and not circular.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Please have him checked by a vet. A bald spot can be a variety of things.

Is the skin perfectly smooth like the hair has fallen out?
Or
Is there a stubble like the hair has been chewed?

Where is the bald spot?
They can chew their hair off if there is pain/discomfort in an area, so that is why I have asked if you can feel a stubble.

Ringworm tends to have white crusts, and be red and sore but you can’t go by it definitely being a circle. This doesn’t look like ringworm to me though.

You won’t see mites - they are invisible to the human eye. All you can see of mites is their evidence, such as scratching, hair loss and egg casings in the case of hay mites. Mange mites burrow into the skin.

 

[mommycoming]

snow rider​

I did some research about what it could be, I looked for mites and didn’t see any. He doesn’t have any issues getting comfortable and I haven’t seen any itching either. Its not a perfect circle so I don’t think its ringworm, you can’t see it much in the photo but it is long and not circular.

Ringworm, a common fungal issue, can cause hair loss without inflammation in early stages. Keep an eye on whether the spot changes or spreads

 

[emiso]

Please have him checked by a vet. A bald spot can be a variety of things.

Is the skin perfectly smooth like the hair has fallen out?
Or
Is there a stubble like the hair has been chewed?

Where is the bald spot?
They can chew their hair off if there is pain/discomfort in an area, so that is why I have asked if you can feel a stubble.

Ringworm tends to have white crusts, and be red and sore but you can’t go by it definitely being a circle. This doesn’t look like ringworm to me though.

You won’t see mites - they are invisible to the human eye. All you can see of mites is their evidence, such as scratching, hair loss and egg casings in the case of hay mites. Mange mites burrow into the skin.

The skin seems perfectly smooth to me, no lumps and didn’t seem dry or irritated either. The hair didn’t fall out whenever I was looking it over & he wasn’t sensitive about me touching it.

I’m sure it just fell out on its own because theres no stubble and I found the chunk of hair by itself, which confuses me because like I said no hair came out when I messed with the area.

The bald spot is on his left side.

He is not itching at all and as I mentioned he was recently neutered 5 days ago & just came off of his pain medication. Could it possible just be from the stress of it all? The vet trip, the daily force feeding of his medicine, etc.

I hate to say it but I’m a high school student & I don’t have the money to take him if it is something I could do at home with an ointment or if it is just stress. Of course if he worsens and it is clear its dangerous or if he shows genuinely any sign of discomfort I will drop any amount of money to take him to the vet, though.

 

[emiso]

snow rider​

Ringworm, a common fungal issue, can cause hair loss without inflammation in early stages. Keep an eye on whether the spot changes or spreads

I will, thank you so much!

 

[Piggies&buns]

The skin seems perfectly smooth to me, no lumps and didn’t seem dry or irritated either. The hair didn’t fall out whenever I was looking it over & he wasn’t sensitive about me touching it.

I’m sure it just fell out on its own because theres no stubble and I found the chunk of hair by itself, which confuses me because like I said no hair came out when I messed with the area.

The bald spot is on his left side.

He is not itching at all and as I mentioned he was recently neutered 5 days ago & just came off of his pain medication. Could it possible just be from the stress of it all? The vet trip, the daily force feeding of his medicine, etc.

I hate to say it but I’m a high school student & I don’t have the money to take him if it is something I could do at home with an ointment or if it is just stress. Of course if he worsens and it is clear its dangerous or if he shows genuinely any sign of discomfort I will drop any amount of money to take him to the vet, though.

We would never recommend any home treatment (it’s unlawful to do so) because you simply don’t know what is wrong - you could so easily use the wrong things and make things worse.
Should it turn out to be ringworm, then as it is a 10-14 day incubation; the issue will have spread much wider than is easily manageable.
Also don’t forget ringworm is not the only type of fungal infection which can present itself.
Attempting any home treating also means you are delaying getting a diagnosis and any necessary treatment and thus can make it harder and more costly to treat.
You are better off to make a vet appointment straight away.

 

[emiso]

Yes you’re right thank you.

Do you believe it could possibly be hair loss from the stress of the neutering?

 

[Piggies&buns]

Yes you’re right thank you.

Do you believe it could possibly be hair loss from the stress of the neutering?

I’m afraid we cannot say - our advice has to be that a medical angle and potential treatable condition must be ruled out first and foremost.

Some animals are going to respond to stress and they all respond differently - but the most common stress response would be to lose their appetite and become nervous.
What I can say is that I’ve kept small animals for over 35 years and never had one lose a patch of hair in an isolated area due to stress.

 

[emiso]

Okay thank you, I’ll call the vet & update if anything gets worse.