Kicking and squealing when being brushed

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Roo3

Roo3

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My long haired piggie Fifi hates being brushed. She squeals and kicks her legs and gets herself in such a state when I try to brush her. She's better when I brush her top half but the second I try to brush her bottom half she goes crazy.
She tries to jump off my lap and I'm worried that one day she'll hurt herself.
How can I keep her calm when brushing her. I'm thinking about building up her trust again by just sitting her on my lap with a bit of her fave veg, then slowly introducing the brush.
Does anyone think this will work? How do other people with long haired piggies keep them still and calm when brushing them?
 
Do you think it is uncomfy for her? Does she have flaky skin or any problems like tangles that could be unpleasent to be brushed? If she jumps or flinches when you brush only certain parts of her you might want to take a closer look for something that hurts.
 
Hmm my sheltie x has been doing that, but I've just in the last couple of weeks found running lice, and he was at the vets last night and she's treating him for mites too. There might be an underlying problem that's causing your girl to do it.

I've only had Woody for about 7 weeks from a local rescue, he came to me recovering from a patch of fungal skin so I blamed that at first. He was much better after a GG Manuka and Neem bath, only for his problems with grooming to start getting worse about 4 weeks later, so I then found lice in his coat so GG Lice and Easy which he's due again tommorrow, and hopefully after his trip to the vets again next week we should be back to stress free grooming.

I've found that keeping Woody's coat trimmed around his rump and nether regions helps to keep knots to a minimum.

Hope you find a solution for stress free grooming, because they can really kick out can't they?
 
I dont have this problem when brushing my piggies, however my Matilda is like a bucking bronco when I take her out of the cage. I have sustained many a scratch by those little back legs of hers. Maybe your piggy has a skin infection or a boil under the skin..
 
I have 2 long hairs that do this. I have treated them for mites and they don't seem to have lice they just do exactly as you describe - not on their heads but the minute you touch the bottom half of their body they squeak and jump about.

I bathed them last night and was trying to brush them, front half fine back half I had to go VERY slow and gently.
 
She's recently been treated for mites, but I'd not thought about lice. I don't think it's a boil as she does it when I brush either side. I'll have a good look under the hair to see if I can see anything that might make her uncomfortable.
She never used to be too bothered about being brushed until after she was treated for mites. It's really only been over the past 6 weeks or so that she's really struggled.
 
If she always kicks and bucks then I'd say it's 'normal' - some of my pigs are right drama queens when it comes to grooming.

However if, as you say, it's a change in behaviour, i.e since the mites treatment, then I'd say that indicated there is still some sensitivity there. Have you tried bathing in something soothing from Gorgeous Guineas?

I also tend to just chop bits off rather than tug too much!

Sophie
x
 
That's what I did with the scissors. Trimmed the back tangled bits off as i didn't want to hurt them, and used a short haired guinea brush very gently.

Mine have always done it and I think it's just them.
 
What I ended up doing with Woody was fingertipping in the area which was most likely to cause a kick out and start there, he moves his butt round when I'm getting closer to any of his itchy areas, I just go gently through his coat, but his rump is black so the lice were quite easy to see.

My poor little boy is going through so much at the minute, and he is being an absolute angel, and I have to admit he's probably getting more cuddles than the other boys.x)x)
 
We trimmed her bum last week. I think I'll have a good rummage around in her hair to see if there's anything there. She's got such thick hair it'll take a good rummage around to find anything.
I've not tried bathing her as the vet told us not too as she's a little nervous and the vet said it might stress her out too much.
 
slackalice2k said:
What I ended up doing with Woody was fingertipping in the area which was most likely to cause a kick out and start there, he moves his butt round when I'm getting closer to any of his itchy areas, I just go gently through his coat, but his rump is black so the lice were quite easy to see.

My poor little boy is going through so much at the minute, and he is being an absolute angel, and I have to admit he's probably getting more cuddles than the other boys.x)x)
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear Woody is going through a lot at the moment. We have had problems with 3 out of our 4 pigs since February and they all seemed to get special treatment when they weren't well.
Problem is that Fifi is white so any lice will be difficult to see. I'll have to have a rummage.
 
You can use a nit comb in the bits she's happy to let you comb. That should work, a wire one would show them up better than one of the cream combs.
 
I've just had Fifi out on my lap and she was quite comfortable. I didn't try to brush her but had a little feel around her bottom half. Couldn't feel any lumps or bumps on her but she didn't like it when I touched the top of her back legs.
I then put her on the kitchen work top and my boyfriend held her still whilst I had a better look at her. I can't see anything that looks like lice but as she's light haired it will be difficult to spot them. She was squealing and kicking when I was trying to look at her.
I have got some spot on which I can use on her- does anyone think it would be worthwhile doing that?
I am wondering whether to take her to the vets to get her checked out? Would this be a good idea or should I use the spot on and see if that improves anything? If I use the spot on do I need to treat her housemate Peppa, who isn't showing any signs of discomfort when she is held?

Sorry for the long post!
 
Spot on treats mites rather than lice - lice would need a bath in Lice n Easy or similar, twice, to sort out the lice and the eggs.

It sounds like she's just being a drama queen to me! Some of mine do this (and worse) and they don't have mites or lice (nearly put mice or lites then! mallethead)

Sophie
x
 
:)):))
She was happily eating brocolli on my lap and since we put her back she's chomped on a bit of carrot. She was the same last night and was completely unconcerned as soon as she was back in her house!
How do you deal with your pigs that are drama queens?
 
Well I keep my long haired pigs trimmed round the back so they don't get too bad anyway, then when I groom them I have them on a table, one hand on their shoulders quite firmly and the other to groom them. What brush are you using? I use a small dog slicker (wire) brush on mine, as it seems to do the best job. Mine have kind of learnt that if I want to groom them, I usually win - but they do make such a fuss sometimes, even though the brush is going through the hair easily rolleyes
 
I bought some brushes from a pet shop, there's 3 all together, one metal one which the vet told me to use to get rid of the dead skin cells and one that's like a baby's brush. They don't like the other ones.
I'll maybe try to get one similar to yours to see if that works.
I normally try to brush her when she's sat on my lap so maybe if i try when she's on the table or work top I might have a bit more luck with her.
Thanks for all your advice!
 
Oh I'm so pleased it not lice for you and just a mardy girlie, Woody and Spike have just had their second Lice and Easy, and are currently argueing over a green bean. rolleyes

Good luck with your groom reluctant girlie!
 
I alo use a smal dog slicker brush on my longhaired piggies.

Most of mine dont mind being groomed but the lovely Tony squeals and kicks and tries to eat the towel. He's always done this from a tiny baby - really thought he might have given up by now, he's 18 months, but he's just as bad as ever rolleyes

Teresa x
 
My other 2 long haired pigs are fine when being brushed, they both squeak with happiness whilst I'm brushing them. It's just Fifi who doesn't like it! I'll definitely have a look for one of those brushes at the weekend.
 
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