Sudden massive hair loss

[4boipigs]

Back at the end of October, I adopted a baby pig from an animal shelter. He had ringworm. We went to the vet, got a waterless shampoo and itrafungol, and treated the 6 week course. My baby looked great, and his cagemate never caught ringworm. Both pigs were treated with the meds. Now it's January, and yesterday when I had them out of the cage, I noticed the older pig has a massive area of hair loss on his left side along his rib cage. I didn't see any other lesions on him or on the baby. I'm going to the vet asap. What could this be from? I'm not sure if this is ringworm because it looks nothing like what the baby had. I did also switch hay from Oxbox to Small Pet Select and was thinking about mites, but idk. This pig also has a history of bumblefoot and he's starting to have some suspicious areas on his front feet.

https://preview.redd.it/z870j1yv3z9...bp&s=f79f6da9a82a56b87d1149a511b4fe37904f6d52

https://preview.redd.it/hh2jdr2w3z9...bp&s=4de63d0b854e78e4ccd2f78ad5efd8f33d358a76

 

[VickiA]

Poor piggy - that does look like a large amount of hair loss. I'm not sure - it could be mange mites or a fungal issue, so it's important for the vet to diagnose and then prescribe, especially if he has previously had bumblefoot. Good luck

 

[4boipigs]

Went to the vet today and they decided to do a fungal culture. The pigs also got Revolution (in USA) in case of mites.

The bad part is I was concerned about bumblefoot in this pig, and he indeed has it. The rescue I got him from treated it originally in 2020 and now it's back.

 

[shaggy and scooby]

I hope your piggy is okay and recovers!

 

[Free Ranger]

When we have had mites we've never seen such a large localised patch of hair loss. It's always been more general thinning - usually on the rump area - and the vet takes a little pinch of 5 or 6 hairs and very gently pulls. The hairs come away easily with a dot of root (and a bit of a pained squeak!) so even though they can't see mites with the naked eye or can't always find them under the microscope this seems to be some sort of diagnostic thing. Perhaps the skin dehydrates somehow and the hair is looser all over, I don't know.

From the history you might have ringworm back or it could just be a different fungal infection. It sounds like the poor fella is going through the wars at the minute but well done for getting him seen so fast. My older pigs have been more prone to bumblefoot esp if they have developed arthritis which seems to make the pads swell sometimes. George has very puffy feet some days - but luckily George likes soft surfaces so he sticks to the fleeced areas!

 

[Merab]

Just wanted to offer support

 

[Wiebke]

Went to the vet today and they decided to do a fungal culture. The pigs also got Revolution (in USA) in case of mites.

The bad part is I was concerned about bumblefoot in this pig, and he indeed has it. The rescue I got him from treated it originally in 2020 and now it's back.

I am very sorry for all the bad news. I do hope that you can get on top of it; a dual mites/fungal approach is pretty common for guinea pigs with a bad background whose immune system will take some time to build up and strengthen. If your vet recommends it, we will tell you how to go about it best.
Something has obviously breached it so all the things that are under control usually are flaring up again.

At least your boy has been lucky to find a caring and committed owner to battle all the long shadow of past neglect.

 

[Betsy]

My RB Piggy had bumblefoot. I adopted her so the vet suspected she had had it in the past and because she was stressed with a new environment where I had adopeted her it came back. Maybe because your piggy is unwell and therefore under stress the bumblefoot has come back again. I wish you luck in getting your piggy better.