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Matted fur..

ChunkyMunky

ChunkyMunky

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
May 15, 2012
Messages
57
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47
Points
205
Location
Scotland
Good evening everyone.

Apologies for messaging so late. I have taken in 2 sows for Foster & grooming. They have a home lined up. I'm unsure of breed, I was thinking Lunk or Texel (even alpaca at one point)

I wasn't sure whether to put this in grooming or illness, sorry!

I don't know their back story but their fur has been severely neglected. Can anyone shed some light to what process I need to do for this? Even what it is? (Attached images) it took me 40 minutes with a clipper to gently remove this huge matted piece of fur. Not sure if fungal or just dirt/buildup. Its still hard & matted. She would not let me touch her any further so ill continue tomorrow depending on what advice is given. Advice is appreciated.

First few images are the Mum. Last image is her daughter as far as I've been lead to believe.
20221006_232829.jpg20221006_233443.jpg20221006_234134.jpg20221006_221049.jpg
 
ChunkyMunky said:
Good evening everyone.

Apologies for messaging so late. I have taken in 2 sows for Foster & grooming. They have a home lined up. I'm unsure of breed, I was thinking Lunk or Texel (even alpaca at one point)

I wasn't sure whether to put this in grooming or illness, sorry!

I don't know their back story but their fur has been severely neglected. Can anyone shed some light to what process I need to do for this? Even what it is? (Attached images) it took me 40 minutes with a clipper to gently remove this huge matted piece of fur. Not sure if fungal or just dirt/buildup. Its still hard & matted. She would not let me touch her any further so ill continue tomorrow depending on what advice is given. Advice is appreciated.

First few images are the Mum. Last image is her daughter as far as I've been lead to believe.
View attachment 212142View attachment 212143View attachment 212146View attachment 212147
Click to expand...
Poor girls :(
 
ChunkyMunky said:
Good evening everyone.

Apologies for messaging so late. I have taken in 2 sows for Foster & grooming. They have a home lined up. I'm unsure of breed, I was thinking Lunk or Texel (even alpaca at one point)

I wasn't sure whether to put this in grooming or illness, sorry!

I don't know their back story but their fur has been severely neglected. Can anyone shed some light to what process I need to do for this? Even what it is? (Attached images) it took me 40 minutes with a clipper to gently remove this huge matted piece of fur. Not sure if fungal or just dirt/buildup. Its still hard & matted. She would not let me touch her any further so ill continue tomorrow depending on what advice is given. Advice is appreciated.

First few images are the Mum. Last image is her daughter as far as I've been lead to believe.
View attachment 212142View attachment 212143View attachment 212146View attachment 212147
Click to expand...

Hi

You may want to give them a gentle bath and then an overall haircut (or the other way round - the badly matted bum is always the part piggies hate) and have them vet checked.

Unfortunately, only a hands-on examination can tell you whether that is the genuine skin colour or something else. We simply can't tell and can't replace a vet visit, just from a picture.
My Nye had dark patches of skin (and developed more as he got older) but with still white hairs growing out of them but if that patch has texture, then it could be something caked on.
A gentle bath should hopefully give you an answer and a short haircut will expose any potential issues lurking underneath; if the matting is really bad and going right down to the skin, doing the de-matting in two stages with a bath in between can be the best way of tackling the problem.

Long-haired piggies whose regular grooming has been neglected can unfortunately hide a lot of sins underneath their fur coats. A short, more summer style haircut will expose any problems so they can be tackled before rehoming.
You (or other readers of this post) can find some helpful tips for safe bathing and haircuts with skittish customers in these guide links here if you need to:
Bathing (including cleaning grease glands)
An Illustrated Guide to Hair Cutting
 
i have a lunk and a minipil guinea pig,i find it easier to cut the hair short around the bum with round ended scissors.a bath as Wiebke has suggested really helps.cut alittle at a time,as if matts are bad it can be painful ,pulling on the skin.
i hope you get to the bottom of it.
 
Wiebke said:
Hi

You may want to give them a gentle bath and then an overall haircut (or the other way round - the badly matted bum is always the part piggies hate) and have them vet checked.

Unfortunately, only a hands-on examination can tell you whether that is the genuine skin colour or something else. We simply can't tell and can't replace a vet visit, just from a picture.
My Nye had dark patches of skin (and developed more as he got older) but with still white hairs growing out of them but if that patch has texture, then it could be something caked on.
A gentle bath should hopefully give you an answer and a short haircut will expose any potential issues lurking underneath; if the matting is really bad and going right down to the skin, doing the de-matting in two stages with a bath in between can be the best way of tackling the problem.

Long-haired piggies whose regular grooming has been neglected can unfortunately hide a lot of sins underneath their fur coats. A short, more summer style haircut will expose any problems so they can be tackled before rehoming.
You (or other readers of this post) can find some helpful tips for safe bathing and haircuts with skittish customers in these guide links here if you need to:
Bathing (including cleaning grease glands)
An Illustrated Guide to Hair Cutting
Click to expand...
Hey Wiebke!
I was hoping you'd reply, Spook the guinea pig with the massive bladder stone is still alive & kicking! (Fieldy Chan on Facebook) I'm wondering if there's somewhere to post if anyone would be interested in seeing the stone etc?


Her skin is completely pink. She's got very dry flaky skin everywhere & on her ears. The black is completely solid. I'm going to try a melt from GG to sit on it for a bit tonight before a bath. I'll do updates when I can :)
 
eileen said:
i have a lunk and a minipil guinea pig,i find it easier to cut the hair short around the bum with round ended scissors.a bath as Wiebke has suggested really helps.cut alittle at a time,as if matts are bad it can be painful ,pulling on the skin.
i hope you get to the bottom of it.
Click to expand...
Thank you. I got more upset the more I cut 😔
 
ChunkyMunky said:
Hey Wiebke!
I was hoping you'd reply, Spook the guinea pig with the massive bladder stone is still alive & kicking! (Fieldy Chan on Facebook) I'm wondering if there's somewhere to post if anyone would be interested in seeing the stone etc?


Her skin is completely pink. She's got very dry flaky skin everywhere & on her ears. The black is completely solid. I'm going to try a melt from GG to sit on it for a bit tonight before a bath. I'll do updates when I can :)
Click to expand...

Looks like she may have had some diarrhea or been sat in some wet, dirty bedding a goodly while ago with the hair growing back fully... :(

Take it gently; it may take several rounds to soak it and work it gently off in stages, depending on the thickness; but the relief should be immense. Use baby-warm water.

If you can find Spook's thread again (try the Find Thread/Your threads or the Search buttons by the top bar, which you can expand with the three horizontal lines icon), then it would be good to post it on that thread or just start a new Thread about Spook's bladder stone picture. ;)
 
If you have mats that you're can't get behind to trim or tease out, it can be helpful to carefully cut through the center of the mat. (I fortunately haven't needed this trick with my piggies, but we've used it on long haired dogs when they're being less than cooperative with letting us get out a mat.) It's kindof like cutting a knot instead of untying ... some of it just unravels and the mat gets easier to remove.
 
Hello everyone. Apologies for not messaging sooner. I'm trying to arrange a mass rescue of 34 pigs. Non stop messages requesting surrender(s). It's the time of year for it 😞

Seems to be her bum is that colour. I'm not fully convinced though. I have soaked her bum a good few times now. The curls have came back though! Beautiful little ringlets! I have used a GG melt but it hasn't shifted anything. I'm going to try another in a few days & I will update 😁
 
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