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Is he loosing fur or is it just the breed?

T

Tomcr

New Born Pup
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East York
I just got slick for madam chubbs as another cage mate and I noticed a giant bald batch on his fur. Just wondering what you guys think
 

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:agr: He definitely needs to see a vet. He's lost a lot of his hair poor boy! He might actually be in some discomfort as mites/fungal infections can cause serious itching and sensitive skin that is uncomfortable when touched... and to lose so much hair me may have had this for some time. To be honest you might be looking at treating any pigs he's been in contact with too as some of these conditions are contagious and some piggies are more susceptible than others. We once had an old girl losing hair with a fungal issue (not ringworm) that didn't affect her cage mates or us people. But when mine have had mites I always always treat everypig.

Check out the vet locator at the top or if you're happy with your usual vet see them - but soon, for his sake.

If they think it's mites...
One point to raise if they think it is mites - you commonly get prescribed Ivermectin as a spot-on medication (Xeno 450... has to be prescribed according to body weight) and my vet says it causes the mites to 'spasm' as they die which can cause a frenzy of itching in a heavily infested piggie which can last a few hours and be very upsetting to see (so don't treat in the evening when everyone is tired and run down anyway). Ask whether there is any pain relief or something you can give him if they are expecting this to happen to help him through. A cage mate with no obvious signs should be completely unaffected. This stuff kills the critters but not the eggs so there is a repeat dose after 2 weeks to kill any eggs which have hatched out. There should also be a third dose after another 2 weeks to deal with any lucky escapees! The mite life cycle is about 3 weeks so the idea is to kill off hatchlings which are not yet at breeding maturity. Treat everypig at the same time and after 24-48 hours blitz out the cage, wash everything and throw out any cardboard boxes etc. Do this after every treatment.

You might have gathered that although I have little experience with fungal infections I've seen a few mites in my time but we've never had such serious hair loss as this. Sometimes the forum sees poorly piggies that have been off-loaded onto unsuspecting piggy-lovers via facebook or something because the original owner just doesn't want to know 😢 I hope you can give him the help he needs - he has a beautiful little face. Good luck, and keep us updated x
 
Hey thanks everyone for the info and the interest in these little guys. I took him to the vet and apparently he is just a mix between the a skinny pig and the really furry ones. everything is okay other than a little breathing problems due to my smoking. I have fixed that and it's okay now. They said to keep an eye on them and to check his dropping for any worms or movement just in case they are wrong and to switch hay types. They gave me some free vitamin drops to put in their food and water in case it's a nutritional problem. The vet hasn't seen one like slick before. Lol she was all over him😁
 
:flag:little update while their cleaning out the piggie stash. I'm taking madam chubbs to the vet soon because as you can see her leg seems weird.
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Merab's Slave said:
Thanks for the update.
Glad there’s nothing wrong with Slick.
I’ve never come across a piggy like him before!
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It's why I picked him out lol he's extremely fiesty too. Lol he grinds his teeth at me from his little spot by the counter if I open the fridge without getting him a little snack and he demands to be let sleep. He comes out of his hidey grids his teeth and stares me down if I laugh too loud while he's sleeping. He is definitely somthing else. Lmao he's like a roommate.
 
Just out of curiosity- which vet do you go to?
As we will be retiring to East Yorkshire we have a house there already. Due to COVID-19 the piggies have had to come with us when we’ve been allowed to stay there.
On one occasion Phoebe decided to develop a cyst by her eye and so I took her to a vet in Battleflats Vets in Stamford Bridge.
I was very impressed.
 
Merab's Slave said:
Just out of curiosity- which vet do you go to?
As we will be retiring to East Yorkshire we have a house there already. Due to COVID-19 the piggies have had to come with us when we’ve been allowed to stay there.
On one occasion Phoebe decided to develop a cyst by her eye and so I took her to a vet in Battleflats Vets in Stamford Bridge.
I was very impressed.
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Omg a cyst in an eye omg. That's brutal! I'm glad it was fixed though. That sounds like a really serious problem. And Well I'm not sure if this will get me kicked off this form but I'm living in Canada, lol I didn't realize this was a UK website until I already signed up and there isn't any other site dedicated to guinea pigs that I can find surprisingly. But I went to a local vet lol her name is Dr Beste so I figured she's the best vet lol. The covid really made this difficult too. I had to leave them at the vet for an hour and come back. It was nerve racking.
 
Well that's great news... and he definitely seems to be one-of-a-kind!
And - silly question - you've checked he's definitely a He?
If M Chubbs leg is causing her problems when she moves then hopefully a vet can tell you why. But if she moves fine and just lies with her leg out sometimes she might just be very relaxed! Check the FOF (Feet Out Friday) thread ☺

@Merab's Slave - I thought this poster was from outside the UK?!
 
Sorry - thought East York was our York.
If you live in Canada then my post is totally irrelevant :D
I am easily confused.
This is an international forum although UK based
 
Merab's Slave said:
Sorry - thought East York was our York.
If @Tomcr lives in another York then my post is totally irrelevant :D
[/QUOTE
Free Ranger said:
Well that's great news... and he definitely seems to be one-of-a-kind!
And - silly question - you've checked he's definitely a He?
If M Chubbs leg is causing her problems when she moves then hopefully a vet can tell you why. But if she moves fine and just lies with her leg out sometimes she might just be very relaxed! Check the FOF (Feet Out Friday) thread ☺

@Merab's Slave - I thought this poster was from outside the UK?!
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LOL I checked and he seems to have a little buldge growing but he is only around 7 or 8 months old so I'm not sure yet but he sure acts like a boar lol. And madam chubbs walks and runs perfects fine and chutts around all the time. She just sticks her leg out whenever she lays down. Everything is fine just I noticed when she walks over my feet she seems to not put alot of pressure on her back legs
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Tomcr said:
It's why I picked him out lol he's extremely fiesty too. Lol he grinds his teeth at me from his little spot by the counter if I open the fridge without getting him a little snack and he demands to be let sleep. He comes out of his hidey grids his teeth and stares me down if I laugh too loud while he's sleeping. He is definitely somthing else. Lmao he's like a roommate.
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Forgot to mention I have to sneak the fridge open or else he is right behind me lol. I even make the magnetic strip snap in caught 😂
 
Madam Chubbs might just be relaxing with her feet out and her new friend then! 💕

The reason I asked about Slick definitely being a boy is that girls can sometimes get cysts on their ovaries and if they are a certain type it affects the hormone balance and causes hair loss - but piggy isn't itchy or scratching like they do with mites or fungus. But it can sometimes cause stroppy behaviour! There's all different types of cysts that can appear on a piggy but as far as I know only the hormonal ovarian ones cause loss of hair - like in this current thread Ovarian cysts - what to do? I didn't think to mention this before as he is a He...

You'd think the vet would have said something though if she thought He might be a She! If you're happy that he's a He that's fine - if you're not sure there's a Sexing thread in the guinea-pig guides and if you get a photo of his bits people will weigh in with what they think (Oh so many sometimes!) but I'll just mention that although we discuss sexing freely we never encourage breeding so I'm hoping he's a neutered male - if you suspect he is 'intact' I'm sure you will act responsibly :tu:
Thanks for updating us and that photo is just lovely x
 
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